Aerial Profiling of Terrain System (APTS) - A laser-inertial airborne surveyor

An airborne surveyor, APTS, (aerial profiling of terrain system), which incorporates an inertial navigation system with laser ranging and tracking devices is examined. The laser profiler which obtains terrain clearance measurements, the laser tracker which provides range and pointing data, and the digital computer system which is the system controller and data logger of the APTS are described. The modifications required in order to install the APTS into a small aircraft are discussed. The surveying operation and post flight data processing procedures are analyzed. The performance evaluation and survey application flight conducted confirm the ability of the APTS to produce useful terrain profiling data and achieve its positional design goal of + or - 15 cm in the vertical and + or - 60 cm in the horizontal coordinates.