Fugro has a wealth of Lidar and Airborne Lidar Bathymetry experience. In 1992, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded Fugro a contract to operate, maintain and process data from the SHOALS-200. Originally, a team of Fugro specialists worked with USACE on the system's development. Additional Fugro field personnel were added to the SHOALS team when the system became fully operational in 1994. In 1998, the system was upgraded from 200kHz to 400kHz and Fugro personnel began supporting the SHOALS-400. This upgrade also permitted the use of a fixed-wing twin otter aircraft instead of the Bell 212 helicopter as the airborne platform, increasing productivity rates to 20 - 25 square miles of data collected per day. Since 1994, Fugro has supported USACE in the execution of over 400 projects within the United States and around the world, including Guam, the Bahamas, Canada, West Indies, Portugal, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.

Fugro has been providing Airborne Lidar Bathymetry services to NOAA in support of nautical chart production since 2001. The goal has been to collect nearshore Lidar bathymetry in uncharted waters before vessel operations in the areas of interest. Fugro is one of only two companies in the United States that is considered "technically qualified" by NOAA to collect Lidar-based hydrographic survey data for the purposes of hydrographic charting. In fact, Fugro has pioneered the introduction of marine Lidar technology for hydrographic charting purposes in the United States. The following summarizes Fugro's accomplishments in this area:

- Fugro was the first company to provide marine Lidar services to NOAA under a hydrographic survey contract.
- Fugro was the first company to integrate marine Lidar and acoustic multibeam datasets in smooth sheets for NOAA.
- Fugro was the first company to use CARIS to process and conduct quality control of marine Lidar data.
- Fugro was the first company to verify for NOAA that the SHOALS-400, SHOALS-1000T and Tenix LADS MkII systems meet IHO Order 1 standards.

In February 2003, the SHOALS-400 was finally retired and in August of the same year, it was replaced with CHARTS, which is the United States Navy's name for their SHOALS-1000T system. This is the latest generation system from Optech, which combines both a 1kHz bathymetric laser and a 10kHz topographic laser. The U.S. Navy owns this system and Fugro Chance's contract will be with the U.S. Navy's Naval Oceanographic Office after June 2004. System acceptance tests for the CHARTS system were completed in Florida in August / September 2003 and the system has been used on surveys in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Washington State, Japan and Morocco since then.

Also in February 2003, Fugro signed a teaming agreement with Optech Inc. and has been providing SHOALS-1000T-based Airborne Lidar Bathymetry surveys since July 2003. These projects were for NOAA, USACE and the Bureau of Reclamation. Fugro has completed SHOALS-1000T-based Lidar surveys in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Washington, Alaska and California. Fugro is one of the few companies in the world that has successfully acquired and delivered Lidar data for the purposes of hydrographic charting and marine resource management.

View Fugro's current Airborne Lidar Bathymetry project listing
View Fugro Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Services brochure