About Laser Scanning

Laser Scanning is the process of shining a reflectorless laser line over a surface in order to collect 3-dimensional data. The surface data is captured by a camera sensor mounted in the laser scanner which records accurate dense 3D points in space. The 3D survey points collected combine together to form a point cloud that represent the surface surveyed.

Point clouds can be viewed in multi hue colours (based on signal intensity return) o r true colour from a digital camera. This technique provides a solution for the rapid surveying of inaccessible surfaces or complex geometrical details. The data can be linked in 3D to your site grid and matched seamlessly with topographical survey plans, elevations and & sections.

Laser scanning or LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) covers a number of techniques:
Close range: Sub ‘mm’ small objects or highly detailed surfaces observed from less than 0.5m away
Terrestrial: Ranges from 20m to 2km depending on the equipment, accuracy from 3mm to 100mm
Airborne: Usually helicopter based covering large areas to a lesser accuracy.

We utilise both phase based (HDS 6100), time of flight (HDS Scanstation) and helical trolley based (Amberg) scanners to allow our surveyors to find the best, most productive solution to a given survey problem.

For a brief animation on 'How a Scanner Works' please see here...

Fly through of 3D Laser Scanned Church, interior and exterior.

For further information on 3D Laser Scanning and other surveying services please visit www.severnpartnership.co.uk, call Nick Blenkarn or Mark Combes on 0844 880 8247 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it