The Global Market for Airborne Lidar Systems and Services

February 2009

This report provides an analysis of the global market for airborne lidar systems and services in early 2009. Online surveys, a questionnaire, interviews and extensive internet research were used to collect information.

Survey results were presented at the International Lidar Mapping Forum in New Orleans. Kathleen Hastings, Editor of GeoReport, wrote about the conference: "I was most impressed with the presentation by Tina Cary, president of Cary & Associates, who addressed the status and growth trends of the LiDAR market."

Compared to the baseline year of 2005, we found a 75% increase in systems and a 53% increase in lidar operators. Survey responses indicate the number of users appears to have doubled during the same period.

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• Sources of Market Intelligence
  • Introduction
  • Online Survey
  • Questionnaire
  • Internet Research
  • Interviews
  • Other Market Reports
  • Baseline 2005
• Developments 2005-2008
  • Software
  • Hardware
  • Business Landscape
  • Industry Infrastructure
  • Summary
• 2008 Status
  • End Users
  • Value-added Processing
  • Lidar Acquisition and Processing
  • Software
  • Hardware
  • Data
• Vertical Market Segments
  • Lidar Applications
  • Applications Worldwide by Region
• Lidar Market Quantification
  • Number of Topographic Lidar Operators Worldwide
  • Number of Topographic Lidar Sensors Worldwide
  • Total Topographic World Market 2008
  • Number of Bathymetric Lidar Operators Worldwide
  • Number of Bathymetric Lidar Sensors Worldwide
  • Total Bathymetric World Market 2008
• Competing Technology
  • Competition for Airborne Topographic Lidar
  • Competition for Airborne Bathymetric Lidar
• Barriers to Growth
  • Lidar Data Costs
  • Shortage of Experienced Analysts
  • Costs of Hardware and Software
• Market Trends and Projections Next 3 to 5 Years
  • Trends by Place in the Value Chain
  • Trends by Geographic Region
  • Global Market Projections
• Conclusion
• Appendices
  • Lidar Collection Capacity
  • Lidar Infrastructure: Books on Lidar Mapping
  • Lidar Infrastructure: Specialty Services
  • Web Address for Lidar Operators
  • Profiles of Lidar Operators

List of Figures

1. Respondents by continent.
2. Respondents by place in the value chain.
3. Type of employer by place in value chain.
4. End user respondents by employer type.
5. Number of employees by place in value chain.
6. Revenue by place in value chain.
7. Six US states have or are acquiring statewide lidar coverage.
8. Number of years end users have been using lidar data.
9. Frequency of lidar data updates.
10. Number of years value-added processors have been processing lidar data.
11. Three-fourths of respondents have been acquiring and processing lidar data for four or more years.
12. Growth in lidar processing 2005–2008.
13. Other data collected in conjunction with lidar data.
14. Other data processed in conjunction with lidar data.
15. Other data used in conjunction with lidar data.
16. Typical end user deliverables.
17. Geographic area for lidar purchases.
18. Linear miles for lidar purchases.
19. Types of acquisition offered.
20. Top lidar applications.
21. Number of topographic lidar operators worldwide 2005 and 2008.
22. Number of topographic lidar sensors worldwide 2005 and 2008.
23. Market size by geographic region 2005 and 2008.
24. Data replaced by lidar among end users.
25. Price per square mile as a function of the contiguous area project size.
26. Growth in sales of lidar processing next 3-5 years predicted by value-added processors.
27. Growth in sales of lidar processing next 3-5 years predicted by acquisition and processing respondents.
28. Growth in sales next 3-5 years predicted by software respondents.
29. Lidar sensor in belly pod under DA-42 MPP.
30. Expected sales next 3-5 years by place in value chain.

List of Tables

1. Respondents by employer type and role in the lidar industry.
2. Primary occupation/area of interest of all respondents.
3. Number of employees in respondents’ organization.
4. Lidar-related annual revenue.
5. Lidar-related annual budget for end users.
6. Years respondents have been using, processing or acquiring lidar data.
7. Pulse repetition rates for commercially available systems.
8. Statement that best describes lidar software, hardware, or processing market during 2005–2008.
9. Software used by end users to work with lidar data.
10. Software used by those who only process lidar data, by those who acquire and process data, and total for both groups.
11. Market sector as a percent of total volume of data collected.
12. Applications typically used by each market segment.
13. Responses to the question, “For what applications do you see demand increasing the most over the next three years?”
14. Bathymetric systems and owners / operators.
15. Top three barriers by place in the value chain.
16. Major trends in the lidar industry in the next three years.
17. Collection of lidar data by geographic region in 2008 and 2009.
18. Expected growth in selected geographic regions.