Some examples of European activities in airborne laser techniques and an application in glaciology

Airborne Laser Altimetry (ALA) has experienced a rapid increase in popularity as a method serving a wide range of applications in Remote Sensing, Geodesy, Geophysics and Geodynamics. Besides the ‘traditional’ approach of using laser scanning solely as a supplement for photogrammetry in acquiring digital terrain models, ALA has also been applied to various geoscience research problems. After a short overview of airborne laser altimetry activities in Europe, an application of airborne laser scanning dedicated to Alpine Glaciology is presented.