Ing. Wolfgang Grumeth, Managing Director of Diamond Airborne Sensing GmbH, personally delivered the first DA42 Multi-Purpose Platform (MPP) in serial production to Dr. Johannes Riegl, CEO of RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems GmbH on November 13th, 2007. The company RIEGL plans to use this aircraft as a customer demonstrator for aerial surveying via laser scanning and as a prototype for testing and continued development of laser technology.
The two market leaders, RIEGL, located in Horn, Austria and Diamond Aircraft Industries located in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, brought together their know-how in aerial laser scanning and aviation to develop the only complete airborne laser scanning system (aircraft with integrated scanner) on the market. Diamond Aircraft and RIEGL were recently awarded the “Karl Ritter von Ghega” Prize for innovation in Lower Austria for their efforts in developing this complete system solution for aerial laser scanning.
This highly modern aircraft outfitted with an integrated laser scanner has already surveyed areas in Lower Austria, the entire city of Vienna, and continual laser scanning missions outside of Austria with plans for further projects already on the table. One of the main businesses of Diamond Airborne Sensing remains the marketing of complete systems for aerial surveying. The level of interest in this sector is very high and the company continues to receive orders.
Laser scanning technology is a new and highly accurate method of surveying and it is applied in fields such as catastrophe prevention and flood, avalanche, landslide and rockslide area mapping. This revolutionary technology is also applied in the planning and building of highways, railways, pipelines, and power lines.
Both companies expect worldwide sales of surveying aircraft to reach up to 100 aircraft per year. The interested parties are surveying companies, who are switching from traditional terrestrial surveying to aerial surveying or surveying companies, who organise with great difficulty their own aircraft with integrated surveying equipment. The companies RIEGL and Diamond are in high-demand for the distribution of turn-key, complete surveying aircraft.
The use of Diamond aircraft as a surveillance aircraft for reconnaissance missions is also in high-demand, as every DA42 MPP can be easily transformed from a surveying aircraft into a reconnaissance aircraft by exchanging the surveying equipment with a camera system and vice versa.