The detailed three-dimensional characterization of site topography is critical to many geomorphologic studies. Whether it's a matter of glacial advance and retreat, coastal-seacliff landsliding, river-sandbar accretion and erosion, or the failure of civil infrastructure during disasters, understanding how these changes progress over time depends directly on detailed collection of topographic data. A new terrestrial (land based) laser system used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) exploits

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... ncements in light-detection-andranging (lidar) technology to collect an unprecedented amount of data in a very short time. For rapidly changing natural environments, such as rivers, landslides, and beaches, sites can now be efficiently surveyed repeatedly over a period of months, days, or even hours. The high resolution of lidar data, in combination with the ability to obtain multiple datasets over a short period of time, allows researchers to more fully understand the mechanics of these dynamic natural phenomena and to calibrate models for predicting future change.