Lidar ( / ˈ l aɪ d ɑːr/, also LIDAR, LiDAR or LADAR, an acronym of 'light detection and ranging' or 'laser imaging, detection, and ranging' ) is a method for determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. Vegetation heights are depicted in shades of green, where dark greens are closest to the ground and light greens are the highest.
For ground-level features, colours range from deep brown to tan. This visualisation shows an airplane collecting a 50 km swathe of lidar data over the Brazilian rainforest.
