Aerial LiDAR at scale
AI-powered LiDAR for secure earth restoration.
About us
Harry McKenzie-McHarg
Advisor
Harry is a geospatial data specialist with expertise in forest carbon modelling and nature-related risk assessment. He has led the design of LiDAR and remote sensing workflows across global landscapes. Harry brings experience with complex geospatial and regulatory requirements carbon markets, and risk management.
Dr Vian Sharif
Advisor
Vian is a sustainability expert who has worked in the global asset management industry for over 18 years. She is the founder of NatureAlpha, selected by the UN’s International Research Centre in AI as one of the world’s top 10 projects solving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She holds a PhD in environmental behaviour change and a master’s degree from Cambridge University.
Dr Tom Mulder
Founder
Tom has extensive experience collecting large-scale environmental data in the African context. Tom has worked at the intersection of academia, conservation NGOs and government officials to improve environmental monitoring and inform wildlife management. With a PhD in remote wildlife sensing, he ensures high quality data delivery.
Our Services
Aerial LiDAR & Orthophoto
Our primary product is large scale aerial LiDAR collected using our Cessna 182 and Riegl VUX-160 scanner. We do it faster and for less. We produce clean high-density point clouds (50 – 150 pts/m, LAZ format) and orthophotos (TIFF format) to model landscapes, above-ground biomass, and carbon stocks. Common applications include baselining & MRV for […]
Bush plane hire
We make our Cessna 182 and pilot available for daily hire, at an extremely competitive rate, to facilitate environmental research and conservation projects. Based out of Windhoek, Namibia, we service projects around sub-Saharan Africa.
Fire risk insights
We use AI to drive the integration of our unique LiDAR data with high-spec satellite layers to predict fire risk for carbon project developers and insurers.
Partners
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Abridge Systems
Managing Director
As providers of insurance data warehousing and reporting services we work with StarNat to translate their fire risk insights layer to the format desired by insurers and catastrophe modellers.
Process
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Discovery chat
We have a brief chat about your project and StarNat may be a suitable partner to help you drive it forward.
30-60 minutes
Exchange project requirements
Exchange of project details, e.g. location (KML), total area (ha), desired resolution (pts/m²)
1 week
Ballpark quote
Based on the details provided we will generate an estimate quote within 1 week of exchanging project details. We are very happy to discuss any quotes via videocalls as well. Also, we offer discounts for referrals, repeat-scan subscriptions multi-site projects!
< 1 week
Final quote & contract exchange
Once you are satisfied by the ball figure and all project details have been exchanged we share the final quote and contract for the project to be approved in Docusign. Once signed, we begin our scan preparations!
< 1 week
LiDAR scan & data delivery
Once scans begin, we can cover 15,000 - 30,000ha per day depending on the desired point density and weather conditions. To deliver the georeferenced and clean point cloud (LAZ) and orthophoto (TIFF) to our clients we process our data - which takes roughly 2 days per 1 day of scanning.
15,000 - 30,000ha per day
FAQ
Which industries do you work with?
We work with anyone advancing nature initiatives, advancing our understanding of the natural world, and supporting communities. Most commonly however, we work with carbon project developers, registries and verification agencies to support baselining and MRV.
What does your LiDAR product look like?
The LiDAR point clouds we deliver are of extremely high resolution: 50 – 150 points per square metre. Using our Cessna 182 as the platform we can scan an immense 15,000 – 30,000 hectares per day, depending on point density preference, terrain complexity and vegetation density.
Our scans also include RGB orthophotos, which can be used to get a lay of the land and/or colour the resulting point clouds.
Both layers are georeferenced, and the LiDAR point cloud is run through a basic classifier.
How does your pricing structure work?
Our pricing structure is flexible and can be tailored to the specific needs and budgets of our clients. We offer both one-off project pricing (per hectare), as well as subscription-based repeat contracts to offer a better rate per hectare overall. Ultimately we aim to make LiDAR accessible to nature projects where it was previously prohibitively expensive.
Also: if you refer us to another client, and it results in a successful contract – we will discount your next scan!
How much does LiDAR cost?
Costs per hectare vary immensely from project to project – with total area as the main variable. However, we will always offer a competitive rate, so don’t hesitate to get in touch to request a quote.