Leica Geosystems announces performance upgrades for airborne deep bathymetric surveys

(Heerbrugg, Switzerland, 13 February 2023) – Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, announced today the release of the Leica HawkEye-5, the new highly efficient airborne bathymetric LiDAR solution for deep water surveying.

The upgraded technology increases survey efficiency by up to 25% compared to previous generations. The Leica HawkEye-5 expands the capabilities of the Leica Chiroptera-5 bathymetric LiDAR system, enhancing the productivity of applications such as nautical charting, environmental monitoring, and maritime surveillance in deep waters.

The HawkEye-5 is designed to fit the Leica PAV100 gyro-stabilised mount, which isolates the sensor from unwanted aircraft movements, resulting in consistent data density and more efficient area coverage. Greater flight efficiency leads to faster data collection and minimises the operational costs and environmental impact of each mapping project. Users can complete more projects in a shorter time frame, maximising their revenues and return on investment.

The combination of the Chiroptera-5 with the HawkEye-5 features three LiDAR sensors, one 4-band camera and a QC camera. Each module is optimised for a specific task, allowing seamless acquisition of the highest quality geospatial data from land to deep ocean seafloors.

The HawkEye-5 fully integrates with Leica Geosystems’ bathymetric data processing and analysis workflow, providing users with powerful tools from mission planning and execution to product generation. The LiDAR Survey Studio (LSS) software suite enables full waveform analysis, automatic data classification and advanced turbid water enhancement to support multiple applications.

The new technology is available as an upgrade package to the owners of previous HawkEye systems, who can easily enhance their sensor capabilities for deep water bathymetric surveying while leveraging their initial investment.

“The HawkEye-5 is the world’s only stabilised sensor performing advanced bathymetric surveys in deep waters”, said Anders Ekelund, Vice President of Airborne Bathymetry at Hexagon. “Paired with the Chiroptera-5, the new system provides a comprehensive solution to efficiently address the most diverse application requirements, equipping customers to take on the challenges of the growing bathymetric market, and to optimise their financial outcome".