The New York Times had two — count ‘em — two articles on using LIDAR as a mapping tool earlier this month.

This article is about using airplane-based LIDAR to map the topography of New York City: “The data will be used, among other things, to create up-to-date maps of the areas most prone to flooding, the buildings best suited for the installation of solar power and the neighborhoods most in need of trees.”

And this one is about using it to map Mayan archaeological sites despite dense jungle cover: “In only four days, a twin-engine aircraft equipped with an advanced version of lidar (light detection and ranging) flew back and forth over the jungle and collected data surpassing the results of two and a half decades of on-the-ground mapping, the archaeologists said.” Via Boing Boing.

Previously: Portland LIDAR Survey.