*CH-8832 Wollerau, **CH-1015 Lausanne

Natural hazard occurs over inaccessible and extremely dangerous areas where standard mapping techniques are a misfit. Moreover, the rapidity of the intervention is a crucial aspect when natural catastrophe strikes. In such event the standard photogrammetry or classical airborne Lidar are usually not flexible enough to become operational in few hours. Originally developed for avalanche mapping, HELIMAP (www.helimap.com) is a portable mapping system for fast helicopter deployment. It integrates high accuracy navigation sensors (GPS/INS) with Airborne Laser Scanner (ALS) and 22Mpix digital (CCD) camera. The system can be mounted on most types of helicopters within minutes and offers autonomous 3D surface mapping (Digital terrain model-DTM and orthophoto) of any terrain (including snow) with decimetre-level accuracy up to 500m flying height above ground level. HELIMAP creation is a result of research carried out at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) in the laboratories of Photogrammetry and Geodesy. The system’s flying services and expertise are provided by a small private company (UWR SA). The application field of the system spans from natural hazard mapping (avalanche mass balance, snow drift, debris flow volume, landslide, rockfalls, floods, etc.) to corridor applications (powerlines, rivers, roads, coast line, ect.) including large scale mapping over small areas. The paper presents the system concept and characteristics, its different modes of operation and synthesis of practical experiences