The term LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. It is a remote sensing technique which employs light in the kind of a pulsed laser to record ranges (variable spaces) to the earth. The light pulses joined with other data measured by the airborne system to create precise, 3D information regarding the extent of the Earth and its surface nature. A LiDAR system mainly contains of a scanner, a laser and a specialized GPS receiver. Helicopters and airplanes are the most generally employed stages for acquiring LiDAR data across wide areas. The two forms of LiDAR are bathymetric and topographic. Topographic LiDAR naturally employs a near-infrared laser to record the land, though bathymetric LiDAR employs water-penetrating green light to record riverbed elevations and seafloor.

LiDAR systems enable mapping professionals and scientists to study both manmade and natural environments with flexibility, accuracy, and precision. The NOAA scientists are applying LIDAR to create highly accurate shoreline maps, create digital elevation models for utilization in geographic information systems, to support in emergency answer operations and so on. These are some basic applications of LiDAR.

The major factor that is encouraging the LiDAR market demand is increasing use of drone in many applications. The UAV drones application is increasing in various areas such as oil & gas, defense etc. For civil & commercial, UAV drone is used for security, search & rescue, monitoring activities, disaster management, agriculture and survey. Thus, it is helpful factor for increasing demand of UAV LiDAR. More driving factors of LiDAR market are automation in LiDAR technology with the rising efficiency and decreased human efforts, rising use of LiDAR in engineering projects, government support for the adoption of LiDAR technology and increasing demand of 3D imaging in various applications. Therefore, due to large number of driving factors, the LiDAR market is expected to grow with the CAGR of 13% during the forecast period. But, there are some negative factors affecting the market growth are lack of knowledge about LiDAR advantages and high cost of LiDAR systems. The market has lot of scope due to rising adoption of aerial LiDAR systems, rising demand from automotive industry and growing new applications such as Google car demanding LiDAR technology. The market is facing some challenges such as reliability issues in airborne LiDAR and environmental restrictions regarding utilization of LiDAR technology.

The Global LiDAR market is segmented according to application, product, components, service & software. On the basis of application, the market is sub segmented into seismology, corridor mapping, engineering, exploration and other applications. Corridor mapping application holds the major share in 2015. The segment growth is accredited to the records created from these investigations that can be utilized to shape 3D elevation models of the globe’s surface. Infrastructure growth is more expected to enhance in near future, which will lead to expand use of LiDAR. These above advantages boost the LiDAR market in the corridor mapping application. On the basis of product, the LiDAR market is segmented into Aerial LiDAR, Ground-based LiDAR. Aerial LiDAR is again classified into bathymetric LiDAR and Topography LiDAR. Ground-based LiDAR is also again classified into Mobile LiDAR and UAV LiDAR. UAV LiDAR was anticipated to grow with the largest CAGR during the forecast period. Growing adoption of UAV for many applications such as precision farming, media and entertainment and various applications is expected to be the major cause for the growth of the UAV LiDAR. On the basis of component, the LiDAR market is further segmented into inertial navigation system, micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS), GPS/GNSS receiver, lasers and camera. On the basis of service & software, the LiDAR is sub-segmented into GIS service, asset management, ground-based surveying, mapping & modeling and others.

Geographically, the LiDAR market is segmented into four major regions i.e. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and RoW. North America is the major region of the LiDAR market due to large investments from local manufacturers such as Velodyne LiDAR. However, Europe follows closely the North American market growing environmental concerns and heightened homeland security requirements have been stimulating the North American market for data services and commercial imagery. High demand from European region due to high penetration rate of LiDAR devices in various applications such as volumetric mapping corridor mapping, military and transportation is expected to contribute significantly to the LiDAR market and Asia-Pacific region is growing with the fastest rate due to rising consumer awareness regarding the use of LiDAR in various applications such as agriculture, oil & gas etc. 

The major players profiled in the report are AutonomouStuff, Blom, Faro Technologies, Velodyne LiDAR, Trimble, Teledyne Optech, Riegl and so on. These companies are using mergers & acquisitions, product launches etc. to expand market share globally. For example: On Oct 2016, Riegl has introduced new products at intergeo 2016. The developed new VQ-1560i is a leading-edge tool with totally combined high performance GNSS receiver and Applanix IMU perfectly suitable for a range of aerial surveying missions from ultra-broad field, high altitude mapping to mapping of compound city modeling and urban environments.

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