Award-winning software for efficient LiDAR processing (with LASzip)
Tools for processing LiDAR data files. The data files are in ASPRS LAS format (version 1.0-1.4) or lossless compressed, (but otherwise, identical twin), LAZ format. The table below provides information about the tools and converters provided.
LAStools consist of different parts:
- LASlib, the low-level processing API.
- LASzip, the compression/decompression API. Both parts are free and open source.
- LAStools Software Suite. Additional tools based on LASlib and LASzip for processing LiDAR data. Some of the tools are free to use, others are licensed.
All code is written in ultra-lightweight, very efficient, and super-fast C++.
LAStools are a collection of highly efficient, multi-core batched, scriptable tools to process LAS, compressed LAZ, Terrasolid BIN, ESRI Shapefiles (SHP), ASCII, and others.
The open-source part is located in .\LASlib and .\LASzip The documentation is located in .\bin
laszippowerful, lossless LiDAR compressor that turns large LAS files into much smaller LAZ fileslas2lasextracts last returns, clips, subsamples, translates, etc. ...las2txtturns LAS into human-readable and easy-to-parse ASCIItxt2lasconverts LIDAR data from ASCII text to binary LAS formatlasindexcreates a spatial index LAX file for fast spatial querieslasmergemerges several LAS or LAZ files into a single LAS or LAZ filelasinfoprints out a quick overview of the contents of a LAS filelascopcindexcreates a COPC *.laz file for a given set of *.las or *.laz fileslasdiffcompares LIDAR data and reports whether they are identical or differentlasprecisionanalyses the actual precision of the LIDAR points
lasvalidatedetermine if LAS files are conform to the ASPRS LAS specificationslasviewvisualizes a LAS file with a simple OpenGL viewere572lasextracts the points from the E57 format and stores them as LAS/LAZ filesdemzipcompresses and uncompresses raster data from ASC, BIL, TIF, IMG format to the compressed RasterLAZ format
las2demrasters pointclouds (via a TIN) into elevation/slope/intensity/RGB DEMslas2isoextracts, optionally simplified, elevation contourslas2shpturns binary LAS into ESRI's Shapefile formatlas2tintriangulates the points of a LAS file into a TINlas3dpolymodifies points within a certain distance of 3D polylineslasboundaryextracts a boundary polygon that encloses the pointslascanopycomputes many raster and plot metrics for forestry applicationslasclassifyfinds buildings and the vegetation above the groundlasclipclips points against building footprints / swath boundarieslascolorcolors the LAS points based on ortho imagery in TIF formatlascontrolquality checks elevations for a list of control pointslascopycopies ttributes using the GPS-time stamp and the return numberlasdatumtransforms rom one horizontal datum to anotherlasdistanceclassifies,flags, or removes points based on distance from polygonal segmentslasduplicateremoves duplicate points (with identical x and y, z optional)lasgridgrids onto min/max/avg/std elevation, intensity, or counter rasterslasgroundextracts the bare earth by classifying all ground pointslasground_newan improved version of lasground for complex terrainslasheightcomputes for each point its height above the groundlasintensitycorrects the intensity attenuation due to atmospheric absorptionlasnoiseflags r removes noise points in LAS/LAZ/BIN/ASCII fileslasoptimizeoptimizes ata for better compression and spatial coherencylasoveragefinds he "overage" of an airborne collect that get covered by multiple flightlinelasoverlapchecks overlap & vertical/horizontal alignment of flight lineslasplanesfinds planar patches in terrestrial, mobile, (airborne?) scanslasprecisionreads IDAR data in the LAS format and computes statistics about precision "advertised" in the headerlasprobeprobes he elevation of a LIDAR for a given x and y locationlaspublishdo D visualization of LiDAR data in a web browser using the WebGL Potreelasreturnreports eometric return statistics and repairs 'number of returns' field based on GPS timeslassortsorts points by gps_time, point_source, or into spatial proximitylassplitsplits points of LAS file(s) into flightlines or other criterialasthinthins lowest / highest / random LAS points via a gridlastiletiles huge amounts of LAS points into square tileslastoolis an old GUI for multiple LAStools (now each tool has its own GUI)lastrackclassifies LiDAR point based on distance from a trajectorylasvdatumtransforms iDAR from ellipsoidal to orthometric elevations using a gridlasvoxelcomputes voxelization of pointsshp2lasturns an ESRI's Shapefile into binary LAS
blast2demrasters like las2dem, but with streaming TINs for billions of points.blast2isocontours like las2iso, but with streaming TINs for billions of points.
Binary downloads for Windows and Linux are available at https://rapidlasso.de/downloads The LAStools download contains all binaries of the open source and licensed tools. It also contains the LASzip/LASlib libraries and all BLAST binaries. All licensed tools can be tested for free up to the point limit (~3-5 million points).
All binaries are included in the download file. There is a full installer download and a binary-only download. For the binary download:
- create directory "c:\lastools"
- unzip LAStools.zip to this directory
- run the LAStools executables
Detailed information at https://rapidlasso.de/lastools-linux/
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create an installation target and extract the package
cd ~ mkdir lastools cd lastools wget https://downloads.rapidlasso.de/LAStools.tar.gz tar xvzf LAStools.tar.gz rm LAStools.tar.gz
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expand your library path to include your installation directory
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
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install dependencies
sudo apt-get install libjpeg62 libpng-dev libtiff-dev libjpeg-dev libz-dev libproj-dev liblzma-dev libjbig-dev libzstd-dev libgeotiff-dev libwebp-dev liblzma-dev libsqlite3-dev
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run the LAStools executables
./laszip64
Numerous examples can be found in the included readme files in the bin directory.
Some sample DOS batch scripts can be found in the .\example_batch_scripts directory.
All open source tools can be compiled from source code.
A ready-to-use MSVS solution file (LAStools.sln) is available for Windows.
This solution builds all open source tools and dlls in 64 bit.
There is a cmake file for Linux and MacOS.
Just go to the root directory and run
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release CMakeLists.txt
cmake --build .
The QGIS toolbox can be installed within QGIS, see (https://rapidlasso.de/lastools-as-qgis-plugin/).
The binary download contains the plugin for ArcGIS in .\ArcGIS_toolbox.
Binary download at https://rapidlasso.de/downloads/
- official website: https://rapidlasso.de
- user group: http://groups.google.com/group/lastools
Please read the LICENSE.txt file for legal use and licensing information.
Your feedback is highly appreciated. Feel free to let us know what you use LAStools for and what features and improvements you might need.
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