LIDARUSA Chooses Global Mapper for Erosion Control

Hallowell, Maine – November 29, 2016 – Blue Marble Geographics is pleased to announce that LIDARUSA has selected Global Mapper and the accompanying LiDAR Module for processing high-volume point cloud data as part of a stream study project spread across several non-contiguous areas in Western Tennessee. The project involves the collection of very high density point clouds, often containing several billion individual points, and the creation of terrain surfaces that are used to gauge changes in the structure of the stream channels over time.

Global Mapper is a fully functional GIS application has been steadily gaining an eager and dedicated worldwide following among geospatial professionals. Recent development work has focused on the visualization and analysis of 3D data, especially LiDAR and other point cloud formats. The software played an essential role in LIDARUSA’s stream morphology project with the automatic ground point detection process providing the necessary data intelligence to allow non-required points to be quickly and easily removed from the point cloud.

An innovative cross-sectional viewing function in Global Mapper is used to display a cutaway view of a swath of points and to allow manual reclassification or removal of erroneous points. The extent of the swath from a defined linear path is adjusted to allow a more focused view of a target area. Global Mapper’s powerful gridding tool is then used to convert the ground points into a terrain model, forming the basis for the terrain analysis, volume calculation, and change detection functions.

Global Mapper and the accompanying Global Mapper LiDAR Module were chosen by LIDARUSA because they include all of the required point cloud processing capabilities and they provide the means to maximize the return on investment in LiDAR data.

“Global Mapper is easy to use and constantly being updated. If there is something we need to do with the LiDAR data we collect, there usually is a tool or feature in the software that will make it easier,” stated Daniel Fagerman, Chief Technology Officer at LIDARUSA. “The automated ground classification tool is worth its weight in gold for classifying data in a timely and stress free manner.”

As part of an ongoing analysis process, additional data will be captured over a prescribed time series and incremental changes in the stream morphology will be measured and analyzed to instigate erosion control procedures.