An excellent option to taking measurements of very complex surfaces, footprints or terrain is the use of 3D scanning from photographs. The technique is optimal when you need to vacate an accident or crime scene since the setup time is minimal when compared to trying to take measurements with a total station.
The quality of the 3D scans is similar to LiDar scans and the resulting point cloud and mesh can be used for measurement and analysis.
Some samples can be viewed on our website:
3D Scanning of Tire Treads Some images are shown below.
Eugene
