As infrastructure networks evolve, so too must the mapping technologies that support them. This session showcases new approaches and tools designed to improve efficiency, precision, and usability in corridor mapping for utilities, transportation, and energy sectors. Presentations will explore how high-density lidar and innovative imaging methods can streamline workflows, bridge the gap between geospatial and engineering disciplines, and reduce project costs without compromising data quality. From integrating survey and lidar data for utility corridor modernization to leveraging novel flight configurations that minimize image overlap and processing time, attendees will gain insights into the latest advances shaping the future of corridor mapping.
The following presentations will be shared in this session:
Powering the Grid Forward: Streamlining High-Density LiDAR Workflows for Midwest Utility Corridor Modernization
Presented by Drew Knight, Ayres Associates
As power infrastructure in the Midwest undergoes rapid modernization, high-density lidar offers new opportunities to support utility corridor management at large scales. This presentation explores the practical challenges of translating between the geospatial and utility worlds, where standard geospatial data formats don’t always align with what utility companies need and expect for their design workflows. We will explore how traditional survey data can be integrated with lidar-derived products to create deliverables that utility engineers can readily use, even without extensive geospatial backgrounds. Through real-world case studies from recent utility projects in the Midwest, the presentation shares both technical solutions and organizational hurdles encountered in bridging the geospatial and utilities domains.
STRIP Mapping
Presented by Joe Mostowy, WingMan
This presentation introduces STRIP Mapping, a novel approach developed by WingMan for efficient corridor mapping applications. Utilizing the Phase One PAS280 camera sensor mounted in an along-flight-path orientation, this method acquires portrait-style imagery, leveraging its 20,000-pixel along-track width (14,000 across-track). The core innovation lies in the seamless integration of three critical data streams: imagery, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data, and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data. This integrated approach significantly enhances efficiency by reducing the need for multiple flight strips, thereby lowering overall mapping costs for utilities, pipelines, railways, and roads. A key finding is that the IMU-measured roll angle critically improves triangulation, a common challenge in single-image strip scenarios. Furthermore, this solution achieves superior color balance and remarkably reduces the number of images, seamlines, and orthorectification processing by 50%. STRIP Mapping presents a highly efficient, cost-effective, and technically advanced solution for high-precision corridor mapping, overcoming traditional limitations and streamlining post-processing workflows.
UAV-based Laser Scanning With RIEGL’s RiLOC Systems in Corridor Mapping Applications
Presented by Philipp Amon, RIEGL Laser Measurement
Airborne laser scanning enables efficient acquisition of 3D point clouds, particularly in corridor mapping applications. Therefore, in cooperation with the state-owned company SNCF Réseau that operates the railroad infrastructure of the French state and a HyLighter airship platform – a 105-km BVLOS UAV-mission has been carried out to acquire a comprehensive dataset of the railway infrastructure along a track. After describing the challenges of data acquisition, we present the processing of the data which have been acquired by a laser scanning system with integrated navigation unit. We specifically address the corresponding georeferencing workflow which jointly fuses data from GNSS, IMU, and LiDAR and thus ensures highly consistent point clouds. Corridor mapping especially poses difficulties for navigation and georeferencing due to the lack of turns or other dynamics, which leads to drift in the estimated trajectory, especially with respect to the aircraft heading. The use of strip adjustment or similar techniques is standard in airborne laser scanning, but the benefits are limited in corridor mapping as point cloud overlap is intentionally minimized in order to maximize covered ground in a given time frame. The proposed approach aims to improve georeferencing by tight coupling of IMU and LiDAR data which allows for better in-run estimation of IMU errors and thereby improves the overall accuracy of the trajectory and the georeferenced point cloud. In addition, multi-view laser scanners are particularly effective in corridor mapping, as they minimize scan shadows and create point cloud overlap within a single pass of the corridor. Benefits of such an approach and practical aspects of the systems and software used are discussed for various applications – with a focus on corridor mapping, such as powerline or railway mapping.
Floodplain Mapping and 2D Hydraulic Modeling with UAS Topobathymetric Lidar
Presented by Paul Burrows, Whiteout Solutions
Topobathymetric lidar has long been a technology available exclusively on fixed-wing manned aircraft, making it costly and inefficient for smaller targeted surveys. Recent innovations have allowed for the development of more compact systems, allowing organizations to utilize unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to provide more timely, efficient, and affordable topobathymetric lidar. On a UAS platform, a topobathymetric survey can produce 200 points of elevation per square meter, capturing microtopology, scours, sediment impoundment and other geomorphologic characteristics. Whiteout Solutions is one of the only organizations leveraging these technological advancements. In the past three years, Whiteout Solutions has conducted more than 20 topobathy lidar surveys on river corridors to support flood plain analysis and dam removal design.
The rural community of Lyndon, Vermont has been subject to substantial flooding in recent decades. In 2023, the Town of Lyndon contracted SLR Consulting to conduct a floodplain study and to design flood mitigation strategies. Utilizing its topobathy capabilities, Whiteout Solutions surveyed roughly six miles of the Passumpsic river and adjacent floodplain. SLR leveraged the topobathymetry data to develop high-resolution 2D hydraulic model, allowing them to test and validate the effectiveness of various flood mitigation strategies. The results of this work provided the community with a series of options for how to improve the flood capacity and reduce the impact on the community. The high-resolution data not only is providing the engineering firm with more confidence in their models but also results in a Lyndonville becoming more resilient to the inevitable increase in flooding that will occur in the future.
With the introduction of topobathy lidar on the smaller platforms, engineers, scientists, government officials, and conservation groups can be armed with higher accuracy and higher resolution data, resulting in more accurate models, better designs and safer communities.
