A light detection and ranging, LIDAR, system, comprising: a laser source configured to generate an optical signal; a modulator configured to modulate at least one of a frequency or a phase of the optical signal; one or more scanning optics configured to transmit the modulated optical signal (126; 205); and a processing circuit (802; 903) configured to: operate the one or more scanning optics to obtain a plurality of first range measurements (R(α,ε)) in a field of view (501; 511) of the one or more scanning optics using a first angular resolution; assign a second angular resolution to a particular range gate (RGn) of a plurality of range gates (RG1-RG6) using one or more first range measurements corresponding to the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates and using a target spatial resolution for the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates, wherein the first angular resolution is coarser than the second angular resolution, wherein each range gate is defined by a different, non-overlapping interval given by a different, non-overlapping near range (Rnear n) and far range (Rfar n); dilate a minimum angle (632; 668; 1218) and a maximum angle (666; 1216; 1316; 1326) assigned to the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates; operate the one or more scanning optics, using the respective second angular resolution, the respective dilated minimum angle, and the respective dilated maximum angle assigned to each of the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates, to obtain a plurality of second range measurements; and control a vehicle using the plurality of second range measurements. a laser source configured to generate an optical signal; a modulator configured to modulate at least one of a frequency or a phase of the optical signal; one or more scanning optics configured to transmit the modulated optical signal (126; 205); and a processing circuit (802; 903) configured to: operate the one or more scanning optics to obtain a plurality of first range measurements (R(α,ε)) in a field of view (501; 511) of the one or more scanning optics using a first angular resolution; assign a second angular resolution to a particular range gate (RGn) of a plurality of range gates (RG1-RG6) using one or more first range measurements corresponding to the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates and using a target spatial resolution for the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates, operate the one or more scanning optics to obtain a plurality of first range measurements (R(α,ε)) in a field of view (501; 511) of the one or more scanning optics using a first angular resolution; assign a second angular resolution to a particular range gate (RGn) of a plurality of range gates (RG1-RG6) using one or more first range measurements corresponding to the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates and using a target spatial resolution for the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates, wherein the first angular resolution is coarser than the second angular resolution, wherein each range gate is defined by a different, non-overlapping interval given by a different, non-overlapping near range (Rnear n) and far range (Rfar n); dilate a minimum angle (632; 668; 1218) and a maximum angle (666; 1216; 1316; 1326) assigned to the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates; operate the one or more scanning optics, using the respective second angular resolution, the respective dilated minimum angle, and the respective dilated maximum angle assigned to each of the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates, to obtain a plurality of second range measurements; and control a vehicle using the plurality of second range measurements. dilate a minimum angle (632; 668; 1218) and a maximum angle (666; 1216; 1316; 1326) assigned to the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates; operate the one or more scanning optics, using the respective second angular resolution, the respective dilated minimum angle, and the respective dilated maximum angle assigned to each of the particular range gate of the plurality of range gates, to obtain a plurality of second range measurements; and control a vehicle using the plurality of second range measurements.