LiDAR data acquisition methods in emergency management applications

More and more new data acquisition methods are beginning to emerge for providing abundant spatial data. LiDAR as a fast, high accuracy data acquisition way is increasingly adopted in many information systems. It is crucial to get the field data in the first place for emergency management. The up to date, real-time, good quality data can better serve for the emergency response decision making. Diverse approaches of using LiDAR technology are coming in emergency management. This paper introduces the state of the art of the LiDAR data acquisition method. Its advantages and shortcomings comparing with traditional data acquisition method are given. Based on the special needs of emergency management applications, the requirements of spatial data are discussed and explained in detail. Some examples of applying LiDAR data acquisition in emergency management are offered to show its features. Lastly, its characteristics are summarized and the developing trend will be concluded.