Episodes
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In this episode, we introduce Austin Madson, associate editor of LIDAR Magazine and co-host of the podcast. An Earth scientist by trade, Austin has research interests that intersect the hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere. Currently a professor at the University of Wyoming School of Computing, we discuss how he became involved with geospatial technology. We also address his drone lidar venture, Mad Nadir Mapping.
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McKim & Creed is an engineering and surveying firm with 24 offices in the southeastern US. In this episode, Matt LaLuzerne, National Director of BD & Geospatial Services, and Ravi Soneja, UAS Program Manager, talk about their careers and why they joined McKim & Creed. We discuss the firm’s characteristics, capabilities and approach to project management. The conversation broadens to consider the evolution of the industry and how it has been influenced by the high cost of sensors mounted in crewed aircraft and the arrival of highly performant UAV-photogrammetry and UAV-lidar systems.
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Missing episodes?
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In this episode, Dr. Austin Madson interviews Chris Crosby, the co-principal investigator and director of operations and strategy for the OpenTopography project. OpenTopography facilitates efficient access to topographic data, tools, and resources to advance our understanding of the Earth’s surface, vegetation, and the built environment. Funded by the National Science Foundation, it’s arguably the most comprehensive source of topographic data on the internet. During our session, we review the different resources available at OpenTopography.org (and who can/can’t access them) as well as the varied landscape of modern topographic data access and management.
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The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is perhaps the best-known standards body in the lidar world. In this episode, Chief Standards Officer Scott Simmons describes the organization, its structure and processes. We also discuss lidar, especially OGC’s work with the LAS and LAZ lidar data formats and the efforts of its Point Cloud Domain Working Group. Our discussion delves further into OGC’s interactions with other standards bodies, such as the International Standards Organisation (ISO) and buildingsSMART International. We close with a review of OGC’s changing membership and its future directions.
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Ron Roth, Product Manager Airborne Topographic Lidar, Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon talks about his life in lidar since the mid-1990s and about the evolution of Leica Geosystems’ airborne topographic lidar product line, of which the latest model is Leica TerrainMapper-3. He explains the trend to hybrid airborne systems that capture both imagery and lidar. He also touches on the topobathymetric, bathymetric and single-photon lidar parts of the portfolio.
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Ron Chapple has devoted his amazing career to flying helicopters, first for cinematography, but then to acquire imagery and lidar for geospatial purposes. His work has won multiple awards, including a Pulitzer prize, and has been instrumental in the discovery of archaeological wonders in Latin America. His company, GEO1, was acquired by US geospatial services giant, NV5 Geospatial, in 2022 and Ron now serves as Vice President Global Strategic Solutions - Digital Twins, NV5 Geospatial. In the podcast Ron discusses his life in flying, his transition to geospatial, the acquisition by NV5 Geospatial, and the creation of and data acquisition for digital twins.
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Recently, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation commissioned Surdex Corporation to fly high-density lidar over the 5000-acre Monticello estate in Charlottesville, Virginia. In this episode, we speak with Brad Barker, Director of 3D Mapping at Surdex, and Derek Wheeler, research archaeologist at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, to discuss how lidar has brought Monticello into focus.
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Vivien Hériard-Dubreuil, co-founder and CEO of mdGroup, discusses the evolution of drone surveying at Microdrones, their subsequent acquisition of GeoCue, recent developments with GeoCue’s LP360 software, a move to manufacturing in the United States and more.
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Jason C. Fries is a forensic scientist and founder of 3D Forensic, Inc. Over the last 25+ years, Jason has been a been a pioneer in developing modern standards in forensic laser scanning, forensic animation, nighttime visibility, and officer-involved shooting (OIS) reconstruction, molding the industry’s methods and growth since its inception.
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In this episode, Dr. Stewart Walker, Managing Editor of LIDAR Magazine, interviews Volkan Akbar and Rick Householder of Woolpert to discuss how airborne lidar helps coastal communities respond to and prepare for extreme hurricane seasons.
