LiDAR

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is an active remote sensing method: it uses pulsed laser light to measure distance and generate precise, real-time 3D models (point clouds) of an environment.

LiDAR systems operate by emitting millions of laser pulses per second and measuring the 'Time of Flight' (ToF) for the light to return to the sensor. The core instrument package—laser, scanner, and a specialized GPS/IMU—calculates distance using the constant speed of light (approx. 299,792,458 m/s), compiling the results into a dense 3D point cloud. This high-resolution data is critical for multiple applications: autonomous vehicles (for real-time object detection), high-accuracy topographic mapping (e.g., the USGS 3DEP program), and infrastructure inspection (power lines, bridges).

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lidar.html