Production of airborne laser scanner skilled advanced unmanned air vehicle and the potential of preliminary data

By means of providing dense, precise, low-cost and periodical point clouds and accurate three dimensional digital surface and terrain models of target areas, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) became respectable in a short time in remote sensing technologies and accepted as an alternative method to the photogrammetry especially in financially strong European Countries and USA. However, the technique could not be utilized sufficiently in underdeveloped or developing Countries due to the high cost of ALS equipment consists of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) mounted aircrafts, airborne laser scanner, and high capacity work stations. To provide the utilization of ALS technique in underdeveloped and developing Countries which have financial problems, we generated a low cost airborne laser scanner skilled advanced unmanned air vehicle in the scope of a National Research and Development Project. The device is able to provide very accurate and high resolution ALS data in target areas with advanced properties such as novel ALS gimbal design and real time kinematic positioning. In the paper, the precise point clouds and the quality of generated digital surface model achieved from novel device are presented with visual and statistical approaches in a preferred test area which includes open, forest, and built-up terrain formations.