Lidar capture / Powerline corridors
Powerline corridor lidar and vegetation clearance
Wires, poles, trees and ground captured together in one point cloud, then every tree measured against every conductor, so clearing crews start with the worst spans.
Why it matters
Alberta's utilities are leaning on vegetation management in their wildfire mitigation plans. AltaLink's 2026 plan, for example, models danger trees that could fall into its lines.
Our long range lidar payload is rated by its manufacturer to detect a 21.6 mm steel core aluminum conductor at up to 300 m, so conductors, structures and vegetation sit in the same dataset and clearance is measured rather than estimated.
What you get
- Vegetation encroachment map by clearance zone
- Danger tree identification: trees tall enough to fall into the line
- Conductor sag and ground clearance measurements
- Pole and structure positions with heights
- A prioritised clearing list for vegetation crews, as GIS and spreadsheet
- Repeat capture to confirm clearing was done
Who uses it
Distribution utilities, Rural Electrification Associations, vegetation contractors, municipalities with street lighting corridors and engineering firms planning line rebuilds.
Capture reference
- Conductor detection
- 21.6 mm at up to 300 m
- Outputs
- Encroachment, danger trees
- Deliverable
- Span by span clearing list
- Pairs with
- Close visual or thermal
- Captured with
- Lidar plus RGB, one flight
- Coverage
- AB base, BC and SK direct
How it works
See how we do the restHow lidar measures vegetation clearance on a powerline
Read the steps
- Scanning the corridorThe drone flies the corridor with lidar, capturing the ground, the vegetation, every tower and every conductor in one pass.
- Point cloudEach laser return becomes a point. Lidar picks up thin conductors that photos struggle with.
- ClassificationPoints are classified into ground, vegetation, towers and conductors.
- Clearance checkA clearance envelope is set around each conductor. Any vegetation inside it is flagged with its measured distance.
- Clearance reportEncroachments are listed by span with distances and locations, ready for your vegetation crew.
Example scenario
Illustrative, to show the workflowA rural electrification association needs to prioritise clearing on 40 km of distribution line through mixed bush before next fire season.
- The corridor is flown over three days, following the line.
- The point cloud is classified into wires, poles, ground and vegetation.
- Every tree is scored by distance to conductor and fall in risk.
- The association gets a ranked list of spans, so crews start with the worst first.
Deliverables in this scenario: Encroachment map, danger tree shapefile, span by span report, orthomosaic, LAS.
Have a site like this? Send the location and what your team needs out the other end, and a scoped quote comes back, usually within one business day, with the positioning method and delivery window stated.
Get a quote for this workCommon questions
Answered plainlyDo you fly near energized lines?
Yes, from a planned standoff. Our heavy lift airframe carries obstacle sensing designed to detect power lines, and routes are planned with the utility before the flight.
How much corridor can you cover?
It depends on the payload, access, terrain and airspace, so the coverage for your line is stated in the quote. Long corridors are planned as a multi day program, and may suit beyond visual line of sight operations where approved.
Can you inspect the hardware too?
Lidar finds clearance problems. For insulator and hardware defects we add close visual or radiometric thermal capture on the same mobilisation.
Related lidar work
All lidar work
Forestry and wildfire
One flight records the tree layer and the ground beneath it: canopy height, stand structure and fuel, plus bare earth for roads, drainage and fireguards.
Well site and pipeline reclamation
A measured record of the site at each stage: before work, after recontouring and at certificate application.