To maintain safe and reliable electric service, it's critical to manage the vegetation growing near power lines. One of the most advanced tools Liberty uses for this work is Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR).
LiDAR is a remote sensing technology that uses laser pulses to measure the distance between objects with incredible accuracy. For vegetation management, LiDAR is typically deployed via aircraft with specialized laser scanning equipment mounted underneath. Flights are carefully planned to follow power line corridors, so we can collect detailed 3D data from above.
As the aircraft flies, millions of laser pulses are sent and received, generating precise data about the location of trees, branches, and other vegetation relative to power lines. Once collected, this data is reviewed and mapped to identify areas where vegetation may be encroaching too closely on electrical infrastructure.
When a potential clearance issue is detected, our team develops targeted work plans to prune or remove the vegetation as needed to comply with regulations and reduce the risk of outages or wildfires.