Overview
ISO/TS 19159-2:2016 - Geographic information - Calibration and validation of remote sensing imagery sensors and data - Part 2: Lidar specifies how to capture, calibrate and validate airborne lidar (light detection and ranging) sensor data. The technical specification defines coordinate reference systems, transformations, metadata and calibration procedures for airborne lidar systems and the associated data types and code lists that are not covered by other ISO geographic-information standards. Bathymetric lidar is excluded.
This standard supports creation of reliable lidar point clouds (lidar clouds) and derived products such as Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and 3D city models by standardizing the geometric and radiometric calibration and validation workflows.
Key topics
- Data capture methods for airborne lidar and required service metadata.
- Coordinate reference systems (CRS) and frames: sensor frame, body frame, earth-centred earth-fixed, and mapping frame.
- Transformations and observation equations, including strip adjustment procedures for aligning flight strips.
- Calibration elements: boresight (orientation), lever-arm offsets, IMU/GNSS trajectory positioning and attitude, scanner and scanner-assembly behavior.
- Radiometric considerations such as intensity handling.
- Error modeling and uncertainty for trajectory, boresight, lever-arm and scanner components.
- In‑flight calibration, residual strip error assessment and validation workflows.
- Conformance and testability via the Abstract Test Suite (Annex A) and a normative data dictionary (Annex B).
Applications
ISO/TS 19159-2 is directly applicable to organizations and workflows that require traceable, documented lidar sensor performance and data quality, including:
- Topographic mapping, DEM production and terrain analysis
- Urban 3D modelling and infrastructure mapping
- Forestry inventory, vegetation structure and canopy studies
- Flood risk modelling, hydrology and corridor mapping
- Geomatics and surveying projects requiring precise georeferencing of lidar point clouds
Standardized calibration and metadata help ensure interoperability, repeatability and reliable uncertainty characterization across lidar campaigns and data exchanges.
Who should use it
- Geomatics engineers and lidar survey teams
- Remote sensing laboratories and calibration service providers
- National mapping agencies and geographic data custodians
- Software developers implementing lidar processing, strip adjustment and quality-assurance tools
- QA managers and data producers aiming for ISO-conformant metadata and calibration traceability
Related standards
Keywords: ISO/TS 19159-2:2016, lidar calibration, airborne lidar, coordinate reference systems, lidar metadata, boresight, strip adjustment, lidar point cloud, lidar validation.