Combining LIDAR and IfSAR: What can you expect?

Three-dimensional mapping products in the form of DEMs (Digital Elevation Models) have become much more accessible in recent years, in part due to the implementation of LIDAR and IFSAR technologies. While there is considerable familiarity with one technology or the other, they are not often examined in terms of their mutually similar characteristics or equally those that are dissimilar. The purpose of this paper is to summarize those factors which will ultimately help to determine whether one technology or the other is appropriate for a particular application. We present two examples to illustrate and suggest that in many ways they can be viewed as complementary rather than competitive technologies.