Applications of airborne LiDAR mapping in glacierised mountainous terrain

Discusses logistics and applications of the first complete airborne scanning LiDAR survey of a glacierised mountain basin. The survey was conducted over a 25/spl times/6 km area with ground height variation from 1800 m asl to 3400 m asl. The resolution of survey points on the ground varied from 1 per sq metre to around 1 per 4 sq metres, depending on elevation. Correspondence from swath to swath is very good despite the extreme nature of the topography and individual ground laser heights are accurate to within 20 cm. Glaciological applications for the high-resolution digital elevation data are outlined. Special attention is paid to radiation loading model-scaling issues.