For Lloyd, the idea to implement LiDAR into mosquito control came from watching a reality TV show called Expedition Unknown, where archaeologists used LiDAR to find a lost Maya civilization hidden beneath tropical forests.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point I realized I wonder if we could find mosquitoes with this technology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During the 2026 dry season (January to May), Lee County Mosquito Control mapped approximately 519,003 acres of coastal and inland mosquito habitat using a LiDAR system mounted aboard a helicopter.<\/p>\n
After the LiDAR creates a digital elevation model, a Lee County Mosquito Control inspector will conduct a further examination of an area to determine if it\u2019s truly a mosquito larvae breeding spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps a lot,\u201d Donald Claytor, geographic information system (GIS) coordinator, said. \u201cThis is far better than boots on the ground because you can sit at the computer, look at this LiDAR image and study the areas and then you can pick out an area and you can actually go to it and verify and see what it\u2019s showing you.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Provided by Lee County Mosquito Control District<\/p>\n
This graphic demonstrates how helicopter-mounted LiDAR surveys the land to generate centimeter-level elevation models capable of revealing subtle changes in terrain that determine where floodwaters collect and mosquito larvae develop. Those data allow field biologists to refine treatment areas with greater precision.<\/p>\n
LiDAR-mounted helicopters are flown 500 feet above the ground at 70 mph. For comparison, helicopters performing typical mosquito treatments are flown at lower altitudes and at faster speeds.<\/p>\n
In addition, Lee County has approximately 56,000 acres of salt marshes that are inaccessible by ground, which is why helicopters are needed to help the agency identify mosquito breeding areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe capability of that system is just mind-blowing,\u201d Gerhard Geertsema, one of six Lee County Mosquito Control pilots, said. \u201cThat we can fly on a helicopter at 70 miles per hour and map the whole terrain in such high resolution, I think it\u2019s a small miracle of modern science.\u201d<\/p>\n
The benefits of the system extend beyond its operational capabilities. The expectation is that the technology will also create cost-savings to the control agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that LIDAR is going to save the taxpayers money by reducing the amount of chemicals that we put out in an area,\u201d Lloyd said.<\/p>\n
Beautiful Island, an island located in the Caloosahatchee River north of Fort Myers, has been a treatment area for many years because mosquito control personnel assumed the entire island had mosquito breeding larvae. However, Lloyd said a recent LiDAR survey revealed that only about half of the island required treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen LiDAR exposed that these parts that you can\u2019t access are actually high and dry, you don’t need to put larvicide there,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cSo we reduced our chemical usage by 55% and that one polygon (an area scanned by LiDAR) alone has saved us $15,000 a year in chemicals, and we still maintain control of the mosquitoes [in the area].\u201d<\/p>\n
The operational framework developed by Lee County Mosquito Control District could serve as amodel for other mosquito control agencies. Discussions were had with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District to implement LiDAR technology in their district.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are industry leaders in mosquito control,\u201d Lloyd said. \u201cWe\u2019re extremely lucky to have the assets and the resources that we have that the taxpayers provide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Support provided by the Franklin R. Edwards Memorial Fellowship.\u00a0WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and\u00a0donate\u00a0<\/a>now. Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lee County Mosquito Control District is continuing its innovative ways. The agency recently became the first mosquito…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-369307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}