The U.S. Geological Survey and partners launched World Lidar Day at the Denver Geography Week conference on February 12

The first World Lidar Day, which celebrates lidar and its expanding applications each year on February 12, will be held this Monday. The first World Lidar Day will be held in conjunction with Geo Week, one of the world’s largest geospatial conferences, which opens on Sunday in Denver, Colorado.

World Lidar Day was launched by a group of public institutions and private industry representatives to raise awareness of the value of lidar. Lidar, or light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses the bounce time of pulses of light to determine the distance to a surface and, therefore, its shape. Lidar data is collected at different resolutions from air, land and sea vessels to simulate altitudes in natural and built environments on land or underwater.

High-resolution lidar data is available to the public (including some smartphones) to meet global demand. Uses include coastal zone management and resilience, emergency response, disaster mitigation, flood risk management, forestry management, water supply and quality management, infrastructure and building management, transportation planning and autonomous vehicles, aviation navigation and safety, wildlife and habitat management, invasive species mitigation, critical mineral mapping and mining, agriculture and precision farming, and natural resource conservation.

Its value is due to its evolving advantages, sustained return on investment, and continued growth in demand. Global LiDAR Market It is reported to reach $2.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to more than $12 billion by 2032.

Founding members of World Lidar Day include the U.S. Geological Survey, NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey, the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, the National Association of Professional Surveyors, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technology Center, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Foundation, Woolpert, Hexagon, RIEGL, Teledyne Optech and LIDAR Magazine.

The founding members’ goal for World Lidar Day is not only to raise awareness of the technology, but also to create an annual platform for learning and collaboration. Any organization developing or using lidar is encouraged to share and promote the value of lidar on February 12.

For more information, visit lidarday.com.