The Lee County Mosquito Control District is continuing its innovative ways.
The agency recently became the first mosquito control agency in the nation to integrate helicopter-mounted Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology into routine mosquito control operations.
The LiDAR system emits laser pulses to measure the Earth’s surface beneath vegetation, producing detailed digital elevation models that reveal where water is likely to collect following rainfall or tidal flooding. That will allow the agency to distinguish productive mosquito larvae habitat from non-productive areas, which in turn enables the district to reduce unnecessary larvicide applications and apply treatments only where they are needed.
“We believe that we’re going to be able to use LiDAR to provide the most precise mosquito control treatments that our industry’s ever seen,” Aaron Lloyd, executive director of Lee County Mosquito Control District, said.
LiDAR technology has existed since the 1960s. NASA notably used a LiDAR instrument to measure the lunar surface during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971.
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.
“At that point I realized I wonder if we could find mosquitoes with this technology,” he said.
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.
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’s truly a mosquito larvae breeding spot.
“It helps a lot,” Donald Claytor, geographic information system (GIS) coordinator, said. “This 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’s showing you.”
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.
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.
“The capability of that system is just mind-blowing,” Gerhard Geertsema, one of six Lee County Mosquito Control pilots, said. “That we can fly on a helicopter at 70 miles per hour and map the whole terrain in such high resolution, I think it’s a small miracle of modern science.”
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.
“We believe that LIDAR is going to save the taxpayers money by reducing the amount of chemicals that we put out in an area,” Lloyd said.
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.
“When LiDAR exposed that these parts that you can’t access are actually high and dry, you don't need to put larvicide there,” Lloyd said. “So 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].”
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.
“We are industry leaders in mosquito control,” Lloyd said. “We’re extremely lucky to have the assets and the resources that we have that the taxpayers provide.”
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