Toronto - Optech announced the release of the Optech Pegasus HA500 ALTM, a purpose-built wide-area mapping sensor that is expressly focused on maximizing collection efficiency.

Capable of altitudes up to 5000 m AGL (16,500 ft), this powerful new sensor has the unique ability to collect multi-beam LiDAR data throughout its entire operating envelope, for point cloud density and accuracy at any altitude. With two new high-performance lasers and an embedded 60-MP digital metric camera, the efficiency of the Pegasus HA500 is increased.

“Our clients have been demanding an active sensor for day/night use that not only combines high altitude collection efficiency with high point density, but also provides the point precision, accuracy and tree canopy penetration that only a LiDAR sensor can provide,” commented Michael Sitar, Optech's airborne business and product manager. “The Pegasus HA500 is the culmination of that effort, in that its unique twin-laser configuration ensures the same data fidelity and measurement precision irrespective of the number of beams, unlike lesser single-laser multi-beam designs."

The Pegasus HA500 also incorporates many of the same productivity-focused performance features as the Optech Orion ALTM sensors. The Orion sensors are popular for their ultra-compact size, flexibility in installation and scalability with external peripheral sensors, which enable custom yet seamless multi-sensor configurations. Performance features common to both ALTMs include: real-time point display for in-air true coverage verification; a real-time in-air LAS file generator for rapid response applications that demand immediate high-accuracy data delivery possible only with its OmniSTAR-enabled POS system; LiDAR auto-calibration software incorporating rigorous least-squares adjustment methods for data quality and accuracy quantification; and full compatibility with the latest true 12-bit Optech IWD-2 Intelligent Waveform Digitizer.