An increasing number of countries are applying airborne laser scanning (ALS) for national or statewide elevation modeling (e.g. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Germany, US). In Finland, the technology was transferred from research done by members of the CoE-LaSR to National Land Survey of Finland (NLS, Maanmittauslaitos), which now uses laser scanning operationally. The benefits are the results 5-10 times higher in accuracy (compared to photogrammetry), highly increased automation in processing, and significantly decreased costs. Swedish Lantmateriet adapted the NLS process to Sweden.
National Laser Scanning Finland and Sweden since 2008
