As 2025 draws to a close, we can look back on a fascinating year—and look forward to the continuance of current trends.
One of the frustrations of editing LIDAR Magazine is that every week in life there’s an enticing trade show or conference at which more could be learned about lidar innovations, but it’s possible to attend only a few of them. Nevertheless, it’s a privilege to have attended Topographic Mapping from Space dedicated to Dr. Karsten Jacobsen’s 80th birthday in Istanbul, Geo Week in Denver, 59th Photogrammetric Week in Stuttgart, ISPRS Geospatial Week 2025 in Dubai, Hexagon LIVE Global 2025 in Las Vegas, Esri International User Conference in San Diego, Fifteenth Session of UN-GGIM in New York, Intergeo in Frankfurt, and Latin America GRSS and ISPRS Remote Sensing Conference (LAGIRS 2025) in Foz do Iguaçu. These events were very different. Some were research-oriented, the ISPRS-related ones being focused on PhD students and early-career researchers presenting their work. They reinforced the huge importance being attached to AI and the strides being made in extracting useful information from lidar data, though we must remember that researchers also provide useful information on the performance of both experimental and off-the-shelf hardware and software. They were reminders, too, of the surprising range of application areas where lidar is playing an important role—socioeconomic analyses of cities in Brazil was an unexpected one reported at LAGIRS. UN-GGIM was more policy-focused, but reminded attendees how lidar is a key component in the geospatial arsenal being brought to bear in pursuit of the elusive SDGs. The others were more commercial, conduits for the launches and exploration of remarkable hardware and software.
Reports from many of these events have been posted on www.lidarmag.com. Probably the most useful was Intergeo. Not only is it an enormous event, perennially chosen by suppliers to launch new products, but it included excellent panel discussions. While there was no hiding from ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and the economic woes hovering in its wake, there was optimism about geospatial technology and its benefits. Again, AI was on most people’s lips, as was processing of gigantic volumes of data, usually in the cloud. A critical implication, however, is that the use of all these developments hinges on a workforce with different skills from those of today. For example, using an instrument in the field remains important, but it’s easier than it used to be. Judging whether AI results are sensible is a different matter. “Soft skills” are more useful than heretofore.
We will look back on 2025 as one in which there were major developments on the airborne side. The Sony IMX811 247-megapixel CMOS chip, for example, has rapidly been incorporated in many airborne sensors. Hybrid sensors generating both imagery and lidar are here to stay. Topographic and topobathymetric lidar sensors offer more performance. Scan patterns seem more significant, and a geospatial services company may select a sensor because it offers a scan pattern well suited to the requirements of its end market. A recurring theme is the demand for fast, less expensive deployment, for example to meet the needs of first responders, provoking development of smaller, lighter systems suitable for use on helicopters or lighter aircraft, often in pods, as well as UAV-photogrammetry and UAV-lidar innovations. US regulations have resulted in different UAV market conditions compared to other G20 countries, but this has been healthy in the sense that the demand for NDAA-compliant solutions has encouraged integrations that would not otherwise have occurred. Nevertheless, in situations where NDAA is not the prime driver, the announcement of certain platforms has resulted in the refinement of sensors developed to suit.
Some of these trends are reflected in this issue’s articles. Brett Thomassie of Bowman discusses the importance of fast deployment and data production for first response, search and rescue and mitigation after events, such as hurricanes, which are increasing in frequency and intensity. Bret Burghdurf of GeoCue describes a practical example of laser scanning of schools in a Louisiana parish, generating deliverables tuned very carefully to the requirements of first responders and their dispatchers.
The piece by Martin Vojtek of Hexagon underlines the point about the breadth of applications. Martin joined Hexagon through its acquisition of Accur8vision in 2020, an early response to the fast-growing market for 3D lidar-based surveillance. The client in this case is an electrical utility.
There are two deeper articles. Contributing writer Qassim Abdullah provides further detail on the ASPRS Positional Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data, in this case the 3D components. Geospatial standards are typically separated into planimetry and elevation, but they can be combined. The underlying principles, however, are the same as for the other standards in the set, which have been the subject of earlier articles.
We are delighted to provide the fourth and final part of Gottfried Mandlburger’s tutorial series on “Airborne Lidar—A Tutorial for 2025.” This one is on UAV-lidar, so it’s timely in view of the unmistakable energy in this area at Intergeo.
A second contributing writer and Woolpert leader, Amar Nayegandhi, brings another of his Full Coverage columns to end this issue. We don’t try to influence Amar’s choice of topics, so it’s serendipitous that he has chosen geospatial data for hurricane response and resilience. Naturally, several of his points echo those of Brett Thomassie and, in turn, those made by panelists at Intergeo about fast deployment and processing.
Thanks to these authors, LIDAR Magazine has been able to offer material to substantiate industry trends. That is indeed be one of our roles, so it is satisfying to conclude the year with some success. It’s reassuring, too, that the US geospatial industry has resources and management expertise on hand to respond to the exigencies occasioned by the forces of nature.
We also have a book review of It Is Your Game by well-known lidar and imagery veteran and EAASI vice president, Simon Musaeus. The book is a compendium of business management techniques that can be used to develop and refine strategy. It’s relevant to many small- and medium-sized geospatial businesses, of course, and one of its strengths is a chapter written for the manager who knows that things have to change but is on the verge of panic and doubts he has time to think about strategy. Of course, none of us has been there…
It Is Your Game is intense, requiring conscientious study. Simon has not put his keyboard aside, however, and has provided me recently with a manuscript of another book, this time a “business novel,” albeit based on a real case. It’s co-authored by Frank Zijlstra and has the engaging title From Chaos to Exit.
All our authors, therefore, are acknowledged industry heavyweights. This is an apposite moment, moreover, to mention the LIDAR Magazine Podcast Series and record our gratitude to guests in this endeavor for preparing and giving their views. By the end of the year we will have made 28 podcasts, 14 in 2024 and 14 in 2025. The guests exemplify one of the characteristics of our geospatial community: it brims with talented, energetic individuals, many of them entrepreneurial, and it’s an honor to work in this milieu. The new technologies announced with fanfare in 2025 will be deployed in 2026 and beyond. Lidar will remain center-stage.
Thank you, readers, for accompanying us in 2025. We look forward to sharing more with you in 2026.