text: LIDAR Laser Radar Finding More Uses If you've ever been pulled over for speeding, you may already know something about LIDAR. A laser-based radar system, LIDAR can tell if you're speeding by bouncing a light beam off your car and seeing how quickly it returns. From an airplane or a satellite, LIDAR can calculate the distance to the ground, and by repeating the process millions of times as it flies over, map the lay of the land.