Increasing use of the lidar in maritime applications raises a wide variety of research questions regarding performance and applicability to certain tasks. One such question is how well can lidars detect navigation aids used in maritime traffic, and whether there are steps that could be taken to improve this detection by better design of either the lidars or the navigation aids. In addition, lidar technology could be utilized, for example, in remotely surveying the condition of navigation aids. This report summarizes research findings done on the detection of typical navigation aids used in national waters of Finland using lidar technology. The report includes results of lab measurements assessing optical properties of reflector materials used in navigation aids, as well as field tests of test targets measured with commercial lidars. In addition, the report examines related issues, like eye-safety and theoretical aspects in the detection of navigation aids.