Laser giving ‘superhero vision’ following natural disasters

Helicopter-mounted laser scanners are going where emergency personnel cannot following natural disasters, helping to spot unstable slopes, sinkholes, structural problems and flood-prone zones before they become deadly.

The technology was recently deployed by Bennett + Bennett, a surveying company with offices in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Northern Rivers, following Cyclone Alfred.

The firm is one of only a handful in the Southern Hemisphere with the Ultra Rich Aerial Laser Scanning technology, which works like “giving city planners superhero vision from above”.

Gold Coast aerial mapping of damage post Cyclone Alfred. Supplied.

While the human eye sees trees, buildings and seemingly solid ground, the RIEGL VUX-160 LiDAR laser scanners fire off millions of precise laser beams to reveal what’s hidden to the naked eye and the problems that traditional surveys might miss entirely.

The RIEGL VUX-160 LiDAR laser scanner. Supplied.

“The technology fires two million laser pulses per second through the air and can even

penetrate vegetation,” Bennett + Bennety general manager of spatial team Liam Thierens said.

“Each pulse measures distance to whatever it hits, building up a rich 3D picture of what’s actually there versus what you can see from the surface.

“Traditional surveys might miss stress lines, depressions or other defects, but this technology captures it all.

“It’s like having detailed blueprints of areas that have never been properly mapped before.”

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Erosion on Gold Coast beaches after Cyclone Alfred. Picture supplied by City of Gold Coast.

From 300m above, the technology can detect objects as small as a coffee cup and measure distances accurately within millimetres, turning what used to be weeks of dangerous ground work into hours of safe aerial mapping.

Source: Bennett + Bennett

Bennett + Bennett CEO Craig Wood said that when a natural disaster strikes, the team could map the damage in days instead of weeks, allowing for councils, first responders and recovery teams to make critical decisions faster.

“But more importantly, we’re identifying risks before they become disasters,” Wood said.

“That hidden sinkhole, that unstable slope, that flood-prone area that looks perfectly safe, we find these invisible threats before they can harm anyone.”

Source: Bennett + Bennett

The technology is a far cry from the traditional way to survey an area on foot using wooden pegs, he said.

But it is not just disaster-affected areas that are being surveyed.

The technology is also being used on major projects such as Queens Wharf, the Maroochydore City Centre, Cross River Rail, Snowy Hydro 2.0 and the new Coomera Hospital.

Ultra Rich Aerial Laser Scanning works by mounting sophisticated LiDAR laser equipment onto helicopters or light aircraft.

The system sends millions of laser pulses per second toward the ground, with each pulse measuring the exact distance to whatever it hits, whether that’s a tree canopy, building roof, or the ground beneath vegetation.

The result is an incredibly detailed 3D point cloud containing billions of data points that reveal not just what’s visible on the surface, but what lies beneath vegetation, structures, and other obstacles.

This data is then processed into actionable intelligence for councils, developers, engineers, and emergency responders.

“Every scan helps create safer communities, smarter cities, and more resilient infrastructure,” Wood said.

Buildings damaged by the “relatively low wind speeds” of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred have revealed what aspects will need to be drastically improved so communities can continue to function after future cyclones. Source: James Cook University

Cyclone Alfred menaced the Queensland coastline from February 21 to March 9, reaching category four intensity while offshore on February 27.

It then travelled down the coast and crossed over Bribie Island as a category one system on March 8.

“Alfred caused significant damage to southeast Queensland and northeastern New South Wales through damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall with subsequent flooding impacts and severe coastal erosion of beaches,” a statement from the Bureau of Meteorology said.

“Heavy rainfall was recorded for a prolonged period over northeastern NSW and southeast Queensland.”

The second Bribie Island breakthrough increased in size after it formed in the aftermath of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Photo: Caloundra Fishing World

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