How lidar measures distance
In short: A lidar times a laser pulse's trip to a surface and back, and turns the time into a distance.
1. The lidar fires a short pulse of laser light at a surface. 2. The surface reflects the light, and some of it heads back to the sensor. 3. A sensor records the reflected light when it returns. 4. The time for the light to go out and return is measured. 5. Half the round-trip time multiplied by the speed of light gives the distance. 6. Many pulses together give precise three-dimensional information about surfaces.
Sources: NOAA, “What is lidar?” (Public domain (US Government work)); Wikipedia, “Time of flight (Wikipedia)” (CC BY-SA 4.0); Wikipedia, “Lidar (Wikipedia)” (CC BY-SA 4.0). Illustrative, not to scale.
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Sources
- Source: NOAA: What is lidar? · Public domain (US Government work)
- Also: Wikipedia: Time of flight (Wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Also: Lidar
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