LiDAR strips landscapes down to their bare glory

LiDAR is having a moment right now helping self-driving cars and robots not hit things, but don't forget about what else it can do. In a study called The Bare Earth, scientists from the Washington Geological Survey used it to image the ground right down to dirt and rocks. Stripped of trees and other distractions, the images provide not only valuable geological survey data, but stunning, otherworldly views of our planet. The image above depicts a LiDAR relative elevation model (REM), showing current and previous channels carved out by the Sauk River in Washington State's Skagit and Snohomish counties. In the regular satellite image below, however, only the active, vegetation-free channels are clearly visible -- a striking display of what the technique can reveal.