Airborne LiDAR Market by Type, by Solution Type, Service by Application Type, Service by End-Use Industry Type, by Platform Type, and by Region - Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, and Competitive Analysis: 2020-2025

The Market for Airborne Lidar is Estimated to Grow at a Double-Digit Rate over the Next Five Years to Reach US$ 673.0 Million in 2025

The global airborne LiDAR market offers excellent growth opportunities in the entire ecosystem of the market. The market for airborne LiDAR is estimated to grow at a double-digit rate over the next five years to reach US$ 673 million in 2025.

There is a growing interest among a large number of economies across the globe to embark on the process of developing their cadastral systems. This is opening doors for extensive surveying requirements. Surveying technologies have undergone a remarkable transition over the past few decades, with airborne lidar among the most suitable technologies in the current scenario.

A multitude of factors are driving the growth of airborne lidars, few of which are noted below:

• The growing number of geospatial surveys
• Superior performance of LiDAR as compared to photogrammetry
• Increasing use of UAVs for aerial surveys
• Increasing spending of government on updating country/regional maps
• Advancements in technologies

Market Studied at Systems & Services Level

The airborne LiDAR market can be understood at two different levels: Systems and Services, as most of the companies present in LiDAR systems are not into services and vice versa. At the system level, there are three iconic brands Leica (Hexagon), RIEGL, and Optech (Teledyne) which together hold a large share of the market. These three players have been driving the market at the global level and will continue to remain dominant in the foreseeable future.

Acquisitions Leading to Consolidation

The market’s attractiveness has led to a series of acquisitions of small players by big players, leading to greater market consolidation. Acquisition of Leica Geosystems by Hexagon AB, Optech by Teledyne Technologies Inc., and the recent announcement of the acquisition of Quantum Spatial, Inc., a leading player in the North American airborne LiDAR services market, by NV5 Global, Inc. are among some major acquisitions in the market. With advancements in technological offerings, companies are striving hard to develop products with unmatched features. High pulse rate, a wide range of flying altitude, high accuracy, variable scan speeds, fast data delivery, and greater point densities are the major areas of focus of the market participants.

Airborne Lidar Market Share Analysis by Type

The author has firstly segmented the airborne LiDAR market based on the type as topographic, bathymetric, and topo-bathymetric. The topographic segment is expected to remain the dominant segment of the market during the forecast period. Topographic LiDAR is majorly used for applications such as country and city mapping, urban planning, transportation, utilities, and forestry. Bathymetric LiDAR uses green wavelengths in contrast to the topographic lidar system, which uses infrared wavelength. Nautical charting, marine & coastal engineering, habitat mapping and coastal zone management are some of the key applications of bathymetric LiDAR.

Airborne Lidar Market Share Analysis by Solution Type

The report segments the market based on the solution type as systems and services in which systems are further bifurcated into hardware and software. We have further broken down the hardware segment into sensor, navigation, GPS/GNSS, and others in order to provide the crystal-clear picture of the market. Between systems and services, services are estimated to remain larger as well as the faster-growing segment of the market during the forecast period. Key market participants at the service level include Fugro, Quantum Spatial, Inc, Woolpert Inc., COWI A/S, AAM Pty Ltd, and Terratec AS, Veris Ltd, and BSF Swissphoto.

Wide-area Mapping is the Dominant Application

The services market is also segmented based on application as corridor mapping, wide-area mapping, natural resources, and others. The study’s outcome on different application types evinces that wide-area mapping is the most dominant application in the market. Key application areas of wide-area mapping include urban mapping, country-wise mapping, infrastructure, and flood mapping. Corridor mapping is another significant application segment, which primarily includes mapping of roads, rail, transmission lines, interstate infrastructure, etc.

Civil Engineering is the Largest End-user Segment of Airborne Lidar Services

Similarly, the services market is also broken down on the basis of end-use industry into aerospace & defense, civil engineering, forestry & agriculture, transportation, mining, and others. Civil engineering is expected to remain the largest segment of the airborne lidar services market during the forecast period. Big projects executed in civil engineering include country-wise mapping, where the digital terrain model (DTM) and digital surface model (DSM) are developed from surveys. Forestry & Agriculture is also likely to offer sizeable growth opportunity in years to come. Airborne lidar remote sensing enables structural data collection with high spatial resolution, making it a reliable technology for even complex forest inventory, such as those of California and Amazon forests.

Regional Analysis

In terms of regions, North America is projected to remain the largest market during the forecast period, whereas Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the fastest-growing market during the same period. Major government and private organizations of the USA conduct aerial surveys annually. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United States Geological Survey (USGS), American Electric Power (AEP), The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are some of the major organizations in the USA that conduct aerial survey and mapping projects.

Key Players

• The supply chain of this market comprises component suppliers, airborne lidar system manufacturers, distributors, service providers or survey companies, and end-users.
• The key airborne lidar system manufacturers are Hexagon AB (Leica Geosystems), RIEGL, Teledyne Technologies, Inc., Velodyne LiDAR, Flir Systems Inc., Pheonix Lidar Systems, and YellowScan.
• The key airborne lidar service providers are Quantum Spatial, Inc., Fugro N.V., Woolpert Inc, EUROSENSE GmbH, Diobotics, Merrick & Company, AAM Pty. Ltd., COWI A/S, Bluesky, and DIELMO3D.

Research Methodology

This report offers high-quality insights and is the outcome of detailed research methodology comprising extensive secondary research, rigorous primary interviews with industry stakeholders and validation and triangulation with the author's internal database and statistical tools. More than 1,000 authenticated secondary sources, such as company annual reports, fact book, press release, journals, investor presentation, white papers, patents, and articles, have been leveraged to gather the data. About 10 detailed primary interviews with the market players across the value chain in all major regions and industry experts have been executed to obtain both qualitative and quantitative insights.

Report Features

The strategic assessment report provides a comprehensive analysis that reflects today’s airborne LiDAR market realities and future market possibilities for the forecast period of 2020 to 2025. The report segments and analyzes the market in the most detailed manner in order to provide a panoramic view of the market. The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for the stakeholders in the identification of attractive opportunities as well as the formulation of growth strategies.

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights into the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market.

The following are the key features of the report:

• Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis
• Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter’s five forces analysis, SWOT analysis
• Market forecast analysis
• Market segment forecast
• Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.
• Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities
• Emerging trends
• Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players
• Key success factors
• Market Segmentation

The airborne LiDAR market is segmented into the following categories:

Airborne LiDAR Market, By Type

• Topographic LiDAR (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Bathymetric LiDAR (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Topo-bathymetric LiDAR (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Airborne LiDAR Market, By Solution Type

• Services (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• System (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• (Product Type Analysis: Hardware, and Software)
• (Hardware Type Analysis: Sensor, Inertial Navigation System, GPS/GNSS, and Others)

Airborne LiDAR Services Market, By Application Type

• Corridor Mapping (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Wide Area Mapping (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Natural Resources (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Airborne LiDAR Services Market, By End-Use Industry Type

• Aerospace & Defense (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Civil Engineering (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Forestry & Agriculture (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Transportation (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Mining (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Airborne LiDAR Market, By Platform Type

• Fixed-Wing Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• Rotary-Wing Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)
• UAV (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)

Airborne LiDAR Market, By Region

• North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico)
• Europe (Country Analysis: Germany, France, The UK, Nordics, Russia, and Rest of Europe)
• Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, Japan, Australia, and Rest of Asia-Pacific)
• Rest of the World (The Middle East, Latin America, and Others)