QUANTIFICATION OF TOPOGRAPHY USING A LASER-TRANSIT SYSTEM

A laser transit is a surveying instrument that projects a pulsing lase r beam at a point of interest and calculates the three-dimensional coo rdinates of the point from the reflection. We tested the laser transit on a rock slope and compared the results with a photogrammetric surve y. The case study showed that laser technology is a fast and accurate technique to quantify topography with a range of 350 m and an accuracy of 10 cm. The three-dimensional model of the topography can be printe d in real time and can serve as basis for geological mapping and deter mination of bed thicknesses, dips, and other structural elements of th e rock, We foresee applications in seismic modeling of outcrops and st udies of sediment anatomy and structural geology.