Conference presentation for the 29th Annual Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems (SAGEEP) in Denver, Colorado on Monday, March 21, 2016. “Drones in Geophysics” session (1 PM), presented by Bill Emison, Director of Marketing, Juniper Unmanned.

1. DATA ACQUISITION CASE STUDY
Unmanned LiDAR

2. Corporate Overview
• Corporate Headquarters: Golden, CO
• Founded in 2014; privately owned & operated
• 15 employees
– Significant expertise in flight operations, operator training, program
management and solutions engineering
• Professional Services Offering:
– Official training services provider for Trimble’s UX5, UX5 HP & ZX5
unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)
• Software Products:
– SPARROW Flight Management System

3. Showcase Event
The International LiDAR Mapping Forum is a technical conference &
exhibition focused on airborne, terrestrial and underwater LiDAR as well as
emerging remote sensing and data collection tools and technology used for
applications including asset management; civil infrastructure; coastal zone
mapping; emergency services & disaster response; land and natural
resource management; and urban modeling.
www.lidarmap.org/international

4. • YellowScan – LiDAR Sensor vendor
www.yellowscan.fr
• Helicopter UAS Manufacturer (VAPOR 35)
www.pulseaero.com
Project Partners

5. Project Objective
• Compare vertical accuracy of unmanned LiDAR
data acquisition against manned LiDAR data
collection; provide flight demonstration for
ILMF conference attendees
• Highlight Juniper’s ability to engineer / operate
UAS solutions with the best-in-class hardware
offerings from Pulse Aerospace & YellowScan

6. UAS Platform
• UAS Platform: Pulse Aerospace VAPOR 35
helicopter
• Five (5) pound payload
• Hover / Cruise Endurance: 45 / 60 minutes
• Nadir or fully stabilized gimbal options for
EO/IR digital camera payload

7. YellowScan Mapper Sensor
• “Turnkey” LiDAR: Fully integrated system
includes: Laser scanner, GPS, IMU, data
storage, power source and on-board computer
• Allows operator to collect, process and view
LiDAR data in the field!

8. VAPOR UAS with LiDAR Sensor

9. Collection Details
• Test Site AOI: Peaceful Valley Boy Scout Ranch
(Elbert, CO)
• Flight Altitude: 60 meters; 7 - 8 meters / sec

10. LiDAR Collection Results
• LiDAR Point Density
– Averaged 28 points per square meter (single pass)
– 56 points per square meter (double pass)
• Ground Control:
– CH2M provided ground control (collected with high
accuracy GPS receiver)
• Vertical Accuracy
– Approximately 5 cm – 6 cm
• Data Products
– Classified LiDAR point cloud, digital surface model
(DEM), and one (1) foot contours

11. UAS vs. Manned LiDAR Acquisition
> 55 points / square meter 3 - 4 points / square meter

12. LiDAR Point Cloud (All Returns)

13. Bare Earth LiDAR Returns

14. Colorized LiDAR Point Cloud

15. System Benefits
• Supports efficient data collection capability for
small geographic areas (< 4 square miles)
• LiDAR supports canopy penetration, resulting in
more data (points) under canopy / vegetation
• System portability allows operators to map in
remote, hard-to-reach rural areas (ex. all-terrain
vehicle access)
• Data collected and process in near real-time; flight
plan supports repeat data collection efforts
• Vertical accuracy range 5 cm – 10 cm range
(YMMV!)

16. USGS Technical Reference
• Photogrammetric Accuracy of Real Time Kinematic
(RTK) Enabled Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems
• The purpose of this study is to research and
compare different approaches for image data
collection with RTK-enabled unmanned aerial
vehicle (UAV) platforms
• Study Link:
http://uas.usgs.gov/pdf/Reports/USGS_FINAL_REPORT_1
0212015.pdf

17. Contact Information
Bill Emison, Director of Marketing
Juniper Unmanned
Mobile: 303.884.6004
bill.emison@juniperunmanned.com
www.JuniperUnmanned.com
@JuniperUnmanned
https://www.linkedin.com/company
/juniper-unmanned

18. UAS simplified.