Welcome to GEOG 481 - Topographic Mapping with Lidar

I'm Karen Schuckman and I teach topographic mapping with lidar. Lidar is one of the most interesting and popular forms of GIS data available today because it's a very rich three-dimensional dense point cloud that shows us representations of terrain building features and so on. Along with the richness of lidar data, there's also increased complexity in terms of the data format, the way that it's classified, and the ability of various software packages to be able to import it and use it effectively.

This course is really important because it gives students insight into how lidar systems operate and how the data is processed to produce useful information such as, topographic maps and tree canopy studies. In the course, you'll get a lot of step-by-step instructions about how to use lidar data, but you'll also have an opportunity to actually work with data of your own choosing in an application that's of interest to you. Students have done projects such as understanding shoreline change after Hurricane in coastal areas, looking for archaeological evidence of Indian mounds, and also estimating solar potential by studying building rooftops in an urban environment.</p>

These are just a few examples. The possibilities are endless. Take this course and explore some ways to use lidar data in an application that's of interest to you!

Hello. I'm Karl Heidemann, one of the Lidar science instructors in the Penn State online geography program. Interestingly, my first career was as a stage lighting designer. I believe that my affinity for three-dimensional modeling in that environment ultimately led to 3D modeling with Lidar. My Lidar career began about 20 years ago while the technology was still in its formative stages. Initially, I focused on product development, process automation, later shifting into writing standards and specifications for both the ASPRS and the USGS. I now focus primarily on teaching. Lidar has always been fascinating to me, with a wealth of information still undiscovered within the point clouds. I hope that I can instill my students with a similar passion for Lidar and a desire to continue exploring this ever-developing technology.

I'm Karen Schuckman, and I'm the lead faculty for the Remote Sensing and Earth Observation Certificate Program at Penn State. And these are my friends, Isabella, and Harley. And horses are really an important part of my story about how I became a photogrammetrist and ended up being an instructor here at Penn State.

When I was in high school, I was an Olympic gymnast and a National Merit scholar. I had a lot of choices about where to go to school, although at that time there were no scholarships or varsity gymnastics in college for women. Thanks, Isabella.

So I came, I did come to school here, I was actually a meteorology major, and I learned to ride horses, not far from here over in the Oak Hall Quarry. I moved to California at a certain point and lived outside of Fresno and, to make a long story short, ended up owning a small horse ranch with harness racing horses. And I was just a horse trainer and a mom at the time. And there was an accident on our farm that sort of caused me to do a reality check on my professional life.

And at the local university, Cal State Fresno, they happened to have a really good program in their civil engineering department that included surveying and photogrammetry. I worked in private industry and surveying mapping for almost 20 years and reached a point in my life where I decided I was ready to do something a little bit different.

Part of the reason I came to teach at Penn State is because of my love for this area and the landscapes. We're actually standing in my front yard, right in front of my home office. So not only am I using this area as a way of teaching you about remote sensing, but I'm also able to communicate my real appreciation and love for the beauty of the landscape here in central Pennsylvania. So here I am, and I hope to stay here for a long time to come and get to meet many of you as you become my students.