DOUGLAS FARMER, SENIOR EDITOR [email protected]A team of researchers led by archaeologists from the University of Arizona has used a laser mapping system from the air to uncover the buried ruins of an ancient Mayan site. After determining that an area in Tabasco in the southeast part of Mexico was worthy of further study, the researchers zeroed in on a particular location with lidar. Lidar stands for light detection and ranging, a remote sensing method that uses light from a pulsed laser to measure varying distances to the ground. A 3D image of the site known as Aguada Fénix, with the aid of lidar technology. Courtesy of...Read full articleRelated content from Photonics MediaARTICLESRemote Sensing Gives Photoacoustic Microscopy a Beneficial WrinkleResearchers at the University of Hong Kong showed that biological tissue can be imaged with greater sensitivity through remote sensing of photoacoustic signals than through conventional photoacoustic...Photonics.com 4/18/2023Remote Sensing, Neural Networks Combine to Measure Tree HeightScientists at ETH Zurich’s EcoVision Lab have developed a deep learning framework to map treetop height globally at high resolution, using publicly available optical satellite images as input....Photonics.com 4/29/2022Retroreflective Material Could Help Autonomous Vehicles to Read Traffic SignsResearch at the University at Buffalo has explored the science behind microscale concave interfaces (MCI) — structures that reflect light to produce beautiful and potentially useful optical...Photonics Spectra December 2021 IssueA New Alexandrite Laser Drives More Sustainable Atmospheric ScienceAs anyone who has ever worked with an alexandrite laser can attest, its lasing medium demands respect. “It has about every problem a laser engineer can imagine,” said Josef Höffner,...Photonics Spectra February 2023 IssuePRODUCTSOptical Filters for Sensing and ImagingIridian designs and manufactures custom wavelength selective optical filters between 300 nm to 15 µm, providing “more signal, less background” to applications employing remote...Promoted Content March 2023 IssueCustom WL Selective Optical FiltersIridian Spectral Technologies designs and manufactures wavelength selective optical filter solutions providing “more signal, less background”, customized to meet the technical and...Promoted Content February 2023 IssueReliable Thin-Film CoatingsDSI produces a wide variety of highly reliable, durable, and heat-resistant optical coatings which include Conformal AR’s, AR coated ball lenses, Dark Mirrors, Bandpass Filters, Coating...Promoted Content October 2021 IssueHigh Performance Line Beam LiDAR TxLE02 Pro, one of the BeamRazor™ series LiDAR transmitters from Focuslight, generates a line-shaped laser beam with short-pulsed high peak power up to 700 W, and a small divergence on the narrow...Promoted Content May 2022 IssuePHOTONICS HANDBOOK ARTICLESSilicon Photonics: Light Is the Ultimate Medium for High-Speed Communications: Thanks to innovations with heterogeneous material integration and multiphotonic layer stacking, silicon photonics will drive optical solutions to high volumes and low costs.Silicon photonics is widely considered a key enabling technology for further development of optical interconnect solutions needed to address growing traffic on the internet. From the first submarine...Photonics HandbookLasers: Understanding the Basics: Although lasers range from quantum-dot to football-field size and utilize materials from free electrons to solids, the underlying operating principles are always the same. This article provides the basic information about how and why lasers work.Over 60 years have passed since the first demonstration of a laser in 1960. After the initial spark of interest, lasers were for a while categorized as “a solution waiting for a problem,”...Photonics HandbookTunable Lasers: Generating Wavelengths from the UV Through the IR: Many lasers allow the operator to tune or change the output wavelength from the UV to the IR on demand.Applications facilitated by tunable lasers fall into two categories: situations in which one or more discrete wavelengths are not available from any single- or multiline fixed-wavelength laser, or...Photonics HandbookDriving Diode Lasers: A Straightforward Procedure: Observing the basic principles and understanding the physical behavior of diode lasers helps users operate them correctly and safely.By observing a few simple rules that govern diode lasers’ properties, driving them loses much of its mystery. Below its threshold current, a diode laser emits LED light with spontaneous...Photonics HandbookWHITEPAPERSImproving the Efficiency of Monte Carlo Raytracing using Importance SamplingMonte Carlo raytracing algorithms have long been used in optical design and analysis software. A limitation of the Monte Carlo method is that low probability events or ray paths may be undersampled....Photonics.com 9/29/2022Methods of Imaging with Photoelastic ModulatorsThis paper highlights a range of options to utilize Photoelastic Modulators (PEMs) with imaging systems to generate full field polarimetric measurements. Due to the resonant nature of the...Photonics.com 10/26/2022Novel Hyperspectral Cameras for Low Light ApplicationsThe white paper presents HERA, a novel hyperspectral camera, and a series of results obtained in different applications (agri-tech & food, plastic sorting, remote sensing, and microscopy). The HERA...Photonics.com 3/2/2022Pesticide Detection on Apple Skin Using SERSProtecting food crops is vital to the world’s food chain, and pesticides are a critical tool to kill, repel, and control pests. One method to reduce the dangers of pesticides is limiting the allowed...Photonics.com 1/17/2023WEBINARSMeasuring the Power and Beam Profile of Divergent Laser SourcesLasers with large beam divergence are used in a number of applications, such as remote sensing, optical communications, and materials processing. Large beam divergences create challenges for reliably...Photonics.com 5/20/2021Freeform Optics for Imaging: Design MethodsPart 1 of the 2021 Freeform Optics Series The rise of freeform optics in imaging applications has led to optical systems with increased etendue, more compact volumes, and superior performance....Photonics.com 5/26/2021Advantages, Risks, and Challenges: Applications of Portable LIBS for Field ArchaeologyInstrument manufacturers have invested heavily in recent years to improve and expand their collection of portable measurement devices for use in both industrial and research applications. These tools...Photonics.com 4/19/2023Lidar: Trends in Remote Detection and Measurement in Aerospace and DefenseActive optical technologies such as lidar have been scientifically evaluated in a broad range of fields. Nikolaus Schmitt provides a short overview of key application fields and lidar technologies...Photonics.com 1/19/2021PHOTONICS DICTIONARY TERMSground truthA term variously applied to remote sensing techniques that essentially refers to all parametric conditions that influence the sensor system; includes the quantitative reality that the sensor sees and...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009remote sensingTechnique that utilizes electromagnetic energy to detect and quantify information about an object that is not in contact with the sensing apparatus.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009hyperspectral imagingMethods for identifying and mapping materials through spectroscopic remote sensing. Also called imaging spectroscopy; ultraspectral imaging.EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009multispectral scanner (MSS)An instrument used to record the emittance or reflectance of an object by scanning with discrete spectral resolution over a wide spectral band, or recording many discrete spectral bands...EDU.photonics.com 9/8/2009MEDIAMapping Ice Melt & Curing Alzheimer's - LIGHT MATTERS 11.06.2013-Brighter LEDs -Curing Alzheimer’s -Mapping Ice Melt This week on Light Matters: Phosphors are optimized for better and brighter LEDs, Lasers might be the cure for brain diseases such as Alzheimer's...Photonics.com 11/6/2013Fluorescence Filter Set FITC DAPI - Optolong Optics Co. Ltd.Fluorescence filters like FISH products, single-band filters DAPI, FITC, TRITC, Texas Red, GFP, CFP, Cy5 are the other direction of Optolong. Filters we produce are with the dark background and bight...Photonics.com 4/19/2022Fluorescence Filter Images - Optolong Optics Co. Ltd.Optolong Optics Co. Ltd., brand owner of Optolong, is a manufacturer of fluorescence filters and astronomy filters. We also offer other interference filters including UV filters, visible filters, and...Photonics.com 4/19/2022FLARE: Vicarious Calibration Network in Action - LabsphereThe amount of electro-optical airborne and satellite data available today is expanding exponentially, but its inherent optical performance and signal quality is not matching pace. Better data is...Photonics.com 3/22/2022PHOTONICS BUYERS' GUIDE CATEGORIESRemote Sensing Laser SystemsLidar SystemsHo:YLF LasersHyperspectral Imaging CamerasCOMPANIESFOCtek Photonics Inc.FOCtek provides customers with all types of custom manufactured lenses, Precision Optical Components, Polarizing Optics, Prisms, Filters, Coatings, Optical Systems, Crystals, Nonlinear Crystals,...Photonics Buyers' GuideLaCroix Precision OpticsOptics that Defend, Build, Cure and Discover The LaCroix name is synonymous with quality precision optics. Since 1947, three generations of family leadership have placed LaCroix Precision Optics...Photonics Buyers' GuideOZ Optics LimitedEstablished in 1985, OZ Optics is a leading worldwide supplier of fiber optic components, test equipment and sensors. OZ Optics manufactures its products in three locations, Ottawa (Canada),...Photonics Buyers' GuideOhara Corporation, Western OfficeOhara manufactures precision optical glasses: strip/slab, cut/molded blanks, pressings, high homogeneity blanks, fine gobs, polished ball lenses, near-UV transmitting i-Line glass, ceramic...Photonics Buyers' Guide