The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 20, 1980
Filed:
Jan. 15, 1979
Richard A Boulais, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Laser Systems, Inc., Phoenix, AZ (US);
Abstract
An aerial surveying method to determine ground contour utilizes a rotating laser beam to establish a horizontal reference plane to which all contour measurements are referred. A stacked-array optical sensor, suspended below the aircraft, is utilized to measure the relative height of the aircraft with respect to the reference plane. A survey track along the ground for the aircraft is determined and the position of the aircraft along the track is continuously measured. The aircraft is flown continuously along the track and repeated altitude measurements of the aircraft are continuously made. The relative height of the aircraft with respect to the laser beam, the altitude of the aircraft above the ground and the position of the aircraft along the survey track are correlated to determine the ground contours.