Researchers at NGS are evaluating several remote sensing technologies for possible integration into the airport obstruction charting and coastal mapping programs.   Information on the specific experiments can be found at the NGS Remote Sensing R&D website.

• At present, Airport Obstruction Charts are generated by a combination of field survey data and analytical photogrammetric data.   However, new technologies such as digital photogrammetry, LIDAR, SAR, and imaging spectroscopy may be useful in determining obstructions - or in the development of new products such as the classification of ground cover.  We have experiments underway at Harrisburg International Airport with hyperspectral, LIDAR, and digital photogrammetric data.  You can follow the progress of these experiments at the Harrisburg International Airport website.
• Airport Obstruction Charts have typically been composed of discrete point obstruction data depicted on a vector background which delineates the aircraft movement areas, the Part77 surfaces, and the buildings.   One promissing concept is to extract the necessary obstruction data from digital surface models (DSM).   This approach amounts to rasterizing the earth's surface in the area of interest, and then computing obstructions on a pixel-by-pixel basis.  Because the imagery is often flown months before the field survey, this approach offers the interesting possibility of generating the DSM before the ground survey crew visits the area.   Recent experiments of this type are shown at the Asheville Regional Airport website.

This page updated on October 1, 1999