01
What Is Traditional Survey Data Collection?
Traditional surveying generally involves collecting individual measurements at specific locations using equipment such as total stations, GNSS/GPS receivers, levels, and other surveying instruments.
A survey crew determines which points need to be measured and collects those points in the field. This approach is extremely effective when a project requires precise measurements at specific locations.
Common applications can include:
- Property and boundary surveys
- Establishing survey control
- Construction staking
- Elevation verification
- Utility locations
- Specific structural measurements
- Legal survey documentation
- Layout and positioning
02
What Is LiDAR Data Collection?
LiDAR takes a different approach.
Instead of measuring only selected individual points, LiDAR systems rapidly collect large numbers of measurements across the surrounding environment. Those measurements are used to create a three-dimensional point cloud representing the surfaces and features captured during the scan.
Depending on the project and equipment being used, LiDAR can capture information about:
- Ground elevations
- Roads and access areas
- Buildings and structures
- Stockpiles
- Excavations and pits
- Slopes
- Construction areas
- Site improvements
- Existing terrain and surface conditions
03
When Does LiDAR Make the Most Sense?
LiDAR is particularly valuable when the project requires information across a large area or a detailed understanding of existing site conditions.
Large Sites
The larger the site becomes, the more valuable rapid data collection can be. Collecting hundreds or thousands of individual survey points across a large property can require substantial field time.
LiDAR can capture a much denser dataset while allowing crews to move through the collection process more efficiently.
Topographic Mapping
LiDAR is well suited for collecting elevation and surface information used in topographic mapping. A dense point cloud can help support the development of contours, digital terrain models, surface models, grading information, and existing-condition drawings.
This can be especially useful for civil engineering, land development, construction, and infrastructure projects.
Stockpile and Pit Volume Calculations
When calculating material quantities, having a detailed representation of the entire surface can be extremely valuable. LiDAR can capture the shape of stockpiles, aggregate piles, excavations, and pits so the data can be used to calculate volumes.
This can make repeat measurements significantly faster when companies need regular inventory or earthwork information.
Construction Documentation
Construction sites change constantly. LiDAR can create a detailed record of site conditions at different stages of a project — before construction, during grading, at major milestones, after installation, and at project completion.
Comparing datasets over time can help contractors, engineers, and owners understand how the site has changed.
Pre-Construction and As-Built Data
LiDAR can also help document conditions before work begins and compare those conditions with completed construction. A detailed dataset can support as-built documentation, design verification, grading review, and other project requirements.
Complex or Difficult Terrain
Sites with significant elevation changes, uneven terrain, large material piles, or difficult access can require substantial effort to measure point by point. LiDAR can reduce the amount of time crews need to physically move throughout some of these areas while still collecting extensive surface information.
04
When Does Traditional Surveying Make More Sense?
LiDAR is powerful, but it is not the right tool for every measurement. Traditional survey methods remain essential for many applications.
Boundary Surveys
Determining property boundaries is a professional surveying function that involves much more than simply measuring visible terrain. Boundary work can require research, monument identification, legal interpretation, and licensed professional judgment.
LiDAR can provide useful site information, but it does not replace the professional work required to establish legal property boundaries.
Construction Staking
When a contractor needs a specific location physically marked in the field, traditional surveying is often the appropriate solution. LiDAR may help create or verify project information, but construction staking requires crews to establish precise locations on the actual jobsite.
Establishing Survey Control
Accurate control is critical to many mapping and LiDAR projects. Survey control provides known reference locations that help tie collected data to the correct coordinate system and project requirements.
Traditional survey equipment is often used to establish or verify this control.
Specific High-Precision Measurements
Sometimes a project does not require millions of points. It may simply require a small number of extremely important measurements. In those situations, directly measuring those locations with conventional survey equipment can be the fastest and most appropriate approach.
05
It Is Not Always an Either-Or Decision
One of the biggest misconceptions about LiDAR is that it needs to replace conventional surveying. In reality, the technologies often work best together.
A surveyor may use conventional equipment to establish control points and collect critical measurements while using LiDAR to efficiently capture the surrounding terrain and site conditions. This creates a workflow that combines the strengths of both technologies.
Traditional survey methods provide precise control and targeted measurements. LiDAR provides speed, density, and broad site coverage.
Together, they can reduce unnecessary fieldwork while still producing the information required for engineering, surveying, or construction applications.
06
A Simple Way to Compare the Two
The right choice depends on the purpose of the project, accuracy requirements, site conditions, deliverables, and how the information will ultimately be used.
| Project need | LiDAR | Traditional surveying |
|---|
| Large-area data collection | Excellent | More time intensive |
|---|
| Dense surface information | Excellent | Limited to collected points |
|---|
| Topographic mapping | Excellent | Excellent |
|---|
| Stockpile volumes | Excellent | Possible, but may require more field measurements |
|---|
| Existing-condition documentation | Excellent | Good |
|---|
| Boundary determination | Supportive only | Essential |
|---|
| Construction staking | Limited | Excellent |
|---|
| Survey control | Uses established control | Excellent |
|---|
| Capturing unexpected information for later use | Excellent | Limited to points originally collected |
|---|
| Specific targeted measurements | Good in some applications | Excellent |
|---|
07
The Biggest Advantage of LiDAR: Data Density
One of the most important differences between these methods is not simply speed. It is the amount of information collected.
With conventional surveying, the crew generally decides which points to measure while they are standing in the field. With LiDAR, a much denser representation of the site can be captured.
That can become extremely valuable later. If an engineer needs an additional elevation or a contractor wants to review another portion of the site, the information may already exist within the original point cloud.
Without that additional data, someone might otherwise need to return to the jobsite. Reducing those repeat mobilizations is one of the ways LiDAR can save both time and money.
08
Which Method Is Right for Your Project?
Start by asking what information the project actually needs.
If you need a handful of precise measurements, construction staking, boundary work, or survey control, traditional surveying may be the right solution.
If you need detailed terrain information across a large area, stockpile volumes, existing-condition documentation, topographic data, or a comprehensive three-dimensional record of a site, LiDAR may provide a much more efficient method of collecting that information.
And for many projects, the most efficient solution is a combination of both.
