United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

Michael D Vanek

Farzin Amzajerdian

Alexander Bulyshev

A method for creating a digital elevation map ('DEM') from frames of flash LIDAR data includes generating a first distance Rfrom a first detector i to a first point on a surface S. After defining a map with a mesh &#x398; having cells k, a first array S(k), a second array M(k), and a third array D(k) are initialized. The first array corresponds to the surface, the second array corresponds to the elevation map, and the third array D(k) receives an output for the DEM. The surface is projected onto the mesh &#x398;, so that a second distance Rfrom a second point on the mesh &#x398; to the detector can be found. From this, a height may be calculated, which permits the generation of a digital elevation map. Also, using sequential frames of flash LIDAR data, vehicle control is possible using an offset between successive frames.

Methods of real time image enhancement of flash LIDAR data and navigating a vehicle using flash LIDAR data

A method for enhancing a three dimensional image from frames of flash LIDAR data includes generating a first distance Rfrom a first detector i to a first point on a surface S. After defining a map with a mesh &#x398; having cells k, a first array S(k), a second array M(k), and a third array D(k) are initialized. The first array corresponds to the surface, the second array corresponds to the elevation map, and the third array D(k) receives an output for the DEM. The surface is projected onto the mesh &#x398;, so that a second distance Rfrom a second point on the mesh &#x398; to the detector can be found. From this, a height may be calculated, which permits the generation of a digital elevation map. Also, using sequential frames of flash LIDAR data, vehicle control is possible using an offset between successive frames.

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Poquoson, VA, United States of America

Michael D Vanek