When I first started selling backscatter lidar systems to municipal planners back in 2018, I got more than a few confused questions. One city engineer even asked if we were just selling fancy laser pointers. Today, though, my team and I sit in on weekly planning calls where our equipment comes up right alongside traffic counts and zoning maps. That shift isn’t random—backscatter lidar, the technology that bounces light off surfaces to map the physical and environmental features of an area, has quietly become one of the most versatile tools in urban planning. And as someone who’s supplied this gear to 47 North American cities so far, I’ve seen firsthand how it fixes problems that traditional survey methods have struggled with for decades. Backscatter Lidar
Let’s start with the biggest pain point for planners: getting accurate, up-to-date data on the built and natural environment. For years, cities relied on aerial photos or ground surveys, both of which have big gaps. Aerial imagery can’t see through dense tree canopies, so planners often guess how much space a new road will take up under the foliage. Ground surveys are slow, expensive, and dangerous when you’re mapping busy intersections or flood zones. Backscatter lidar solves both of these problems by firing millions of laser pulses every second, recording how long each takes to bounce back to the sensor. That lets it map everything from the top of a skyscraper to the root systems hidden under a sidewalk, even in heavy rain or fog.
One application that’s blown up over the last five years is flood risk modeling. After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, many cities realized their old flood maps were outdated by as much as 20 years—they didn’t account for new development that had filled in natural drainage areas, or mature trees that had blocked stormwater flow. Backscatter lidar can map the height of every inch of land in an urban area, including low-lying neighborhoods and storm drains that are often missed. In 2021, I supplied a lidar system to the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, which used it to update their FEMA flood maps. Before that, their old maps put 12,000 residential properties at low risk; after processing the lidar data, they found that 4,200 of those properties were actually in high-risk zones. That let the city offer targeted flood mitigation grants to homeowners instead of wasting money on broad, ineffective programs. It’s not just about avoiding disaster, either—planning for green infrastructure like bioswales and rain gardens requires knowing exactly where water will flow, and lidar’s data is accurate enough to design those features with almost no guesswork.
Another game-changing use case is urban green space planning. As cities densify, finding land for parks and tree planting is one of the most contentious issues planners face. A decade ago, cities would rely on old property records to count tree canopy, which missed half the trees that grow in alleyways, on rooftops, or in vacant lots. Backscatter lidar can map every tree in a city, from 6-inch saplings to 100-year-old oaks, and even calculate their health by looking at the pattern of laser reflections. A city in Portland, Oregon, used our lidar system in 2022 to do a citywide canopy assessment. They found that 18% of their tree cover was in neighborhoods with low median incomes, far less than the 25% city goal. That let them target a $5 million tree-planting program specifically to those areas, cutting down on the environmental injustice that plagues many urban regions. The technology also helps with things like heat island mitigation: lidar can measure how much shade each tree provides, so planners can prioritize planting large, fast-growing species in areas with the highest summer temperatures.
Traffic and transportation planning is another area where backscatter lidar adds value, especially as cities move toward smart infrastructure. Traditional traffic surveys count cars during rush hour, but they miss patterns that happen at night or on weekends. Backscatter lidar can operate 24/7, collecting data on vehicle speed, lane use, and even pedestrian activity without needing to place multiple sensors on every block. In 2020, a city in Phoenix used our mobile lidar units (we make both ground-mounted and vehicle-mounted systems, by the way) to map traffic flow on 120 miles of arterial roads. They discovered that 30% of rush-hour delays were caused by poorly timed traffic lights at intersections with heavy pedestrian traffic, a problem that radar sensors had missed because they can’t distinguish between slow-moving bikes and stopped cars. Using the lidar data, they adjusted light timing across 17 intersections, cutting rush-hour commute times by 12% within six months. That’s the kind of tangible result that makes city councils willing to invest in new technology.
I’ve also seen backscatter lidar help with historic preservation, a part of urban planning that often gets overlooked. Planners need to know the exact dimensions of old buildings, but many historic districts don’t have updated blueprints. Traditional ground surveys can be disruptive, requiring crews to block sidewalks and work around sensitive architecture. Backscatter lidar can capture detailed 3D models of buildings from a distance, even in dense historic areas where you can’t get a crane close enough to take measurements. Last year, a city in Charleston, South Carolina, used our lidar system to document 400 historic homes ahead of a zoning update. The 3D models they produced were precise enough to help adjust setback rules so new construction wouldn’t damage the facades of old buildings, while still allowing for necessary upgrades like new HVAC systems. Before lidar, that kind of detailed documentation would have cost the city $2 million in survey fees; the lidar project came in at a third of that cost, and took half the time.
Of course, no technology is perfect, and backscatter lidar has its limitations in urban environments. It can struggle with very reflective surfaces like glass skyscrapers, which can bounce laser pulses back incorrectly, and it can’t always distinguish between different types of materials—you might have a hard time telling asphalt from concrete just from the laser reflections. That’s why our team works with planners to pair lidar data with ground-truthing surveys, so we can fill in those gaps. We also prioritize training for city staff, because even the best lidar system is useless if no one knows how to process the data into something useful for planning. We offer free two-day training sessions for all our clients, and we have a dedicated support team that’s available 24/7 to help with data processing, something a lot of larger lidar vendors don’t provide.
The biggest trend I’ve noticed in the last two years is that backscatter lidar isn’t just for big cities anymore. Small towns and suburban counties are starting to adopt it too, as they deal with the same issues as urban areas—development pressure, flood risk, and aging infrastructure. Last year, a suburban county outside of Atlanta used our lidar system to map a 50-square-mile area to plan for a new elementary school. They needed to find a site that had enough space for a playground, access to public transit, and wasn’t in a 100-year flood zone. The lidar data let them narrow down 12 potential sites to one in less than a month, a process that would have taken six months with traditional methods. That’s the kind of efficiency that makes a $50,000 lidar system a no-brainer for small governments with tight budgets.
Looking ahead, I think backscatter lidar will become even more integrated into urban planning as the demand for climate-resilient cities grows. Planners are facing pressure to address heat islands, stormwater management, and sea-level rise, all of which require high-resolution, accurate data that lidar provides. We’re currently testing a new airborne lidar system that can cover 1,000 square miles in a single flight, which will make large-scale flood and canopy assessments even faster. We’re also working on integrating our lidar data with other urban datasets, like crime statistics and public transit ridership, to help planners make more holistic decisions about neighborhood development.
For anyone who’s still on the fence about adopting backscatter lidar, let me be clear: this isn’t just a fancy survey tool. It’s a way to make urban planning more equitable, more efficient, and more accurate. Too often, planning decisions are based on outdated data that favors wealthy neighborhoods, but lidar lets you see the entire city, not just the parts that are easy to map. If you’re a city planner or municipal official looking to update your data, improve flood preparedness, or build more green infrastructure, we’re here to help. We offer flexible rental options for smaller projects, as well as full sales and support for long-term deployments. Reach out to our team to discuss your specific needs, and we’ll work with you to design a solution that fits your budget and timeline.
Meteorological Sounding System References
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (2021). LiDAR Applications for Urban Planning and Climate Resilience.
- American Planning Association (APA). (2022). Technology Tools for 21st Century Urban Planning: A Field Guide.
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). (2020). Backscatter LiDAR for High-Resolution Topographic Mapping in Urban Areas.
- International City/County Management Association (ICMA). (2021). Case Studies: Urban Green Space Planning Using Remote Sensing Technology.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (2022). Update of Flood Risk Maps with High-Resolution LiDAR Data.
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