**************************************************************** this file is deprecated - see *.md version of this file **************************************************************** lasgrid: This tool reads LIDAR from LAS/LAZ/ASCII and grids them onto a raster. The most important parameter '-step n' specifies the n x n area that of LiDAR points that are gridded on one raster (or pixel). The output is either in BIL, ASC, IMG, TIF, PNG, JPG, XYZ, CSV, or DTM format. The tool can raster '-elevation' or '-intensity' of each point and can compute the '-lowest' or the '-highest', the '-average', or the standard deviation '-stddev', as well as the '-range'. Other gridding options are '-scan_angle_abs', '-scan_angle', '-point_density', '-point_density_16bit', '-point_density_32bit', '-counter', '-counter_16bit', '-counter_32bit', '-user_data', '-point_source', '-rgb', '-number_returns' and more. See the end for a complete list. Additional attributes that some LAS or LAZ files sometimes store as "Extra Bytes" can be gridded with '-attribute 0' or '-attribute 1' or '-attribute 2' ... Sometimes vendors will cut off clouds or haze in the data in airborne surveys before delivering the data. Often the return below the clouds will usually be of lower quality. Areas with missing first returns can be found by gridding '-return_type' with option '-highest'. Areas with missing last returns can be found by gridding '-return_type' with option '-lowest'. Using a '-false' coloring makes it easy to spot afected areas. This tool can read BILLIONS of points very efficiently. By default it uses only 1000MB of main memory. You can increase this with the '-mem 2000' option to up to 2 GB. The tool pages larger rasters out to disk. If you have a second hard drive it is beneficial to use this instead. You can specify the temporary file location with '-temp_files E:\temp\temp'. For BIL, ASC, IMG, DTM, and XYZ output one typically stores the actual (elevation, intensity, ...) values whereas for TIF, PNG, and JPG one usually chooses to express the variation with '-gray' or with '-false' colors for simple visualizion. Here the variation can be limited with '-set_min_max 10 100' to a particular range or it can be set to '-compute_min_max'. The color scheme can also be inverted with '-invert_ramp' Optionally, a KML file is generated that allows the resulting raster to be immediately displayed inside a geospatial context provided by Google Earth (for TIF/PNG/JPG images). In case the LAS/LAZ file contains projection information (i.e. geo keys as variable length records) this metadata is used to correctly geo-reference the KML file. It is also possible to provide the proper geo-referencing information in the command-line. By default the generated raster spans the extend of all LiDAR points. It is possible to specify this to be identical to the bounding box with '-use_bb' or the bounding box of the tile with '-use_tile_bb' (the latter only if the LAS/LAZ file was generated using lastile). The extend can also be defined by setting '-ll min_x min_y' plus '-ncols 512' and '-nrows 512'. Use '-subsample n' with n > 1 to anti-alias "hard" gridding of LiDAR points by their x and y coordinate into disjunct rasters. The option '-subsample 3' adds each LiDAR point 9 times to the raster at locations (x/y), (x+0.33*step/y), (x+0.66*step/y), (x/y+0.33*step) (x+0.33*step/y+0.33*step) (x+0.66*step/y+0.33*step), (x/y+0.66*step) (x+0.33*step/y+0.66*step) (x+0.66*step/y+0.66*step) and thereby "washes out" hard boundaries. Obviously, this will lead to wrongful increase in the '-counter' counters, but the '-averages', '-highest', '-lowest', and '-stddev' will have less aliasing It is also possible to "thicken" your points as you thin them to simulate a diameter for the laser beam. The '-subcircle 0.1' option will replicate each point 8 times in a discrete circle with radius 0.1 around every original input point. This makes sense in combination with '-highest' in order to create a nice set of points for subsequent CHM or DSM construction. By adding a second value '-subcircle 0.2 -0.05' you can lower of raise the z value of the 8 points on the discrete circle by the specified amount, here they would be 0.05 units lower than the original, which might be useful for subsequent tree top detection. Please license from info@rapidlasso.de to use lasgrid commercially. For updates check the website or join the LAStools mailing list. https://rapidlasso.de/LAStools http://lastools.org/ http://groups.google.com/group/lastools/ http://twitter.com/LAStools http://facebook.com/LAStools http://linkedin.com/groups?gid=4408378 Martin @rapidlasso **************************************************************** example command lines with this LAZ file: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~isenburg/lastools/download/test/s1885565.laz lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -o elev_low.png lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -o elev_high.png -highest lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -o elev_std.png -stddev lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -keep_class 2 -o elev_grnd_low.png lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -keep_class 2 -o elev_grnd_low_fill.png -fill 5 lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -keep_class 2 -o elev_grnd_std_fill.png -stddev -fill 5 lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -o elev_f_low.png lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -o elev_f_high.png -highest lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -o elev_f_std.png -stddev lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -keep_class 2 -o elev_f_grnd_low.png lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -keep_class 2 -o elev_f_grnd_low_fill.png -fill 5 lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -keep_class 2 -o elev_f_grnd_std_fill.png -std -fill 5 lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -intensity -o int_low.png lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -intensity -o int_high.png -highest lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -intensity -o int_avg.png -average lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -gray -intensity -o int_std.png -stddev lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -intensity -o int_f_low.png lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -intensity -o int_f_high.png -highest lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -intensity -o int_f_avg.png -average lasgrid -v -sp83 OH_S -feet -i s1885565.laz -step 10 -false -intensity -o int_f_std.png -stddev example command lines with data from http://liblas.org/samples lasgrid -v -o result.png -false -i line_27007_dd.las -lonlat -step 0.00002 -stddev lasgrid -v -o result.png -false -i IowaDNR-CloudPeakSoft-1.0-UTM15N.las lasgrid -v -o result.png -false -i LAS12_Sample_withIntensity_Quick_Terrain_Modeler.las -step 2 -stddev lasgrid -v -o result.png -false -i LAS12_Sample_withRGB_Quick_Terrain_Modeler.las -high lasgrid -v -o result.png -false -i Lincoln.las -utm 14T -step 5 lasgrid -v -o result.png -false -i S1C1_strip021.las -set_min_max 1630 1690 -step 2 -high lasgrid -v -o result.png -false -i "Serpent Mound Model LAS Data.las" -intensity -set_min_max 0 400 lasgrid -v -o result.png -false -i USACE_Merrick_lots_of_VLRs.las -step 10 -intensity example usage: >> lasgrid -i *.las -opng -step 5 -false -sp83 OH_N rasters for each *.las files the lowest elevation of all points that fall into cells of size 5 by 5, stores the resulting grid in PNG format using false coloring, and creates a KML file that maps the PNG to state plane NAD83 of Northern Ohio. >> lasgrid -i *.txt -iparse xyz -oasc -step 2 -highest rasters for each *.txt files the highest elevation of all points that fall into cells of size 2 by 2 and stores the resulting grids in ASC format. >> lasgrid -i lidar1.las lidar2.las lidar3.las -merged -o dem.bil -step 4 -highest -intensity merges the points of lidar1.las lidar2.las lidar3.las and rasters the highest intensity of all points that fall into cells of size 4 by 4 and stores the resulting grid in BIL format. >> lasgrid -v -i lidar.las -o dem.png -step 5 -false -stddev -utm 14T rasters the standard deviations of the elevation of all points that fall into cells of size 5 by 5 and stores the resulting grid in PNG format using false coloring and creates a KML file that maps the file to UTM zone 14 >> lasgrid -v -i lidar.las -o dem.jpg -last_only -false -highest -step 2 rasters the highest elevation from all points that fall into cells of size 2 by 2 units and are classfied as last returns and stores the resulting grid in JPG format using false elevation coloring >> lasgrid -v -i lidar.las -o dem.tif -keep_class 2 -keep_class 3 -gray rasters the lowest elevation from all points that fall into cells of size 1 by 1 unit and are classfied as 2 or 3 and stores the resulting grid in TIF format using gray-scale elevation coloring >> lasgrid -v -i lidar.las -o dem.asc -step 2 -average rasters the average elevations from all points that fall into cells of size 2 by 2 units and stores the resulting grid in ASC format. >> lasgrid -v -lof lidar_files.txt -merged -o merged.bil -step 10 rasters the lowest elevation from all points of all files listed in lidar_files.txt that fall into cells of size 10 by 10 units and stores the resulting grid in BIL format with 32 bits floats. >> lasgrid -v -lof lidar_files.txt -obil -step 10 rasters the lowest elevation for each file listed in lidar_files.txt individually that fall into cells of size 10 by 10 units and stores each resulting grid in BIL format with 32 bits floats. the following commands generate some interesting georeferenced grids that you can look at in Google Earth by double clicking the generated KML file >> lasgrid -i ..\data\test.las -false -o test.png >> lasgrid -i ..\data\TO_core_last_zoom.las -gray -o toronto.png -utm 17T >> lasgrid -i ..\data\SerpentMound.las -false -o SerpentMound.png overview of all tool-specific switches: -v : more info reported in console -vv : even more info reported in console -quiet : nothing reported in console -wait : wait for in the console at end of process -version : reports this tool's version number -fail : fail if license expired or invalid -gui : start with files loaded into GUI -cores 4 : process multiple inputs on 4 cores in parallel -mem : amount of main memory to use in MB (500 - 2000) [default: 1500] -temp_files : base file name for temp files (example: E:\tmp) -step 2 : raster with stepsize 2 [default: 1] -fill 5 : fills voids in the grid with a square search radius of 5 -subcircle 0.2 : each point is "splatted" with a circle of extra 8 points at radius 0.2 -subcircle 0.2 -0.05 : each point is "splatted" with a circle of extra 8 points at radius 0.2 but 0.05 lower -use_bb : raster full extend of bounding box -use_tile_bb : only raster extend of tile bounding box (for tiles generated with lastile) -use_orig_bb : only raster extend of original bounding box (for tiles generated with '-buffered 30') -nbits 16 : use 16 bits to represent the elevation (mainly used with BIL format) -nrows 256 : raster at most 256 rows (starting from the lower left) -ncols 512 : raster at most 512 columns (starting from the lower left) -ll 300000 600000 : start rastering at these lower left x and y coordinates -nodata 9999 : use 9999 as the nodata value in the BIL / ASC format -elevation : use elevation values -intensity : use intensity values -highest -high -max : for each grid cell keep highest value -lowest -low -min : for each grid cell keep lowest value -average -avg -mean : for each grid cell compute average -stddev -std : for each grid cell compute standard deviation -counter : counts points per cell with an 8 bit counter -counter_16bit : counts points per cell with a 16 bit counter -counter_32bit : counts points per cell with a 32 bit counter -point_density : computes area-normalized point densities with an 8 bit counter -point_density_16bit : computes area-normalized point densities with a 16 bit counter -point_density_32bit : computes area-normalized point densities with a 32 bit counter -scan_angle_lowest : for each grid cell keep lowest scan angle value -scan_angle_highest : for each grid cell keep highest scan angle value -scan_angle_abs_lowest : for each grid cell keep lowest absolute scan angle value -scan_angle_abs_highest: for each grid cell keep highest absolute scan angle value -user_data_lowest : for each grid cell keep lowest user data value -user_data_highest : for each grid cell keep highest user data value -point_source_lowest : for each grid cell keep lowest point source value -point_source_highest : for each grid cell keep highest point source value -gray : gray-scale based on min/max range (used with PNG/TIF/JPG) -false : false-color based on min/max range (used with PNG/TIF/JPG) -set_min_max : sets min & max range for -gray and -false -compute_min_max : computes the range for -gray and -false -nbits 16 : use 16 bits to represent the elevation (mainly used with BIL format) -utm 12T : use UTM zone 12T to spatially georeference the raster -sp83 CO_S : use the NAD83 Colorado South state plane for georeferencing -sp27 SC_N : use the NAD27 South Carolina North state plane -longlat : geometric coordinates in longitude/latitude order -latlong : geometric coordinates in latitude/longitude order -wgs84 : use the WGS-84 ellipsoid -wgs72 : use the WGS-72 ellipsoid -nad83 : use the NAD83 ellipsoid -nad27 : use the NAD27 ellipsoid -survey_feet : use survey feet -feet : use feet -meter : use meter -elevation_surveyfeet : use survey feet for elevation -elevation_feet : use feet for elevation -elevation_meter : use meter for elevation -tiling_ns crater 500 : create a tiling of DEMs named crater with tiles of size 500 -tm 609601.22 0.0 meter 33.75 -79 0.99996 -transverse_mercator 1804461.942257 0.0 feet 0.8203047 -2.1089395 0.99996 -lcc 609601.22 0.0 meter 33.75 -79 34.33333 36.16666 -lambert_conic_conformal 1640416.666667 0.0 surveyfeet 47.000000 -120.833333 47.50 48.733333 -ellipsoid 23 : use the WGS-84 ellipsoid (do -ellipsoid -1 for a list) -ilay : apply all LASlayers found in corresponding *.lay file on read -ilay 3 : apply first three LASlayers found in corresponding *.lay file on read -ilaydir E:\my_layers : look for corresponding *.lay file in directory E:\my_layers for more info: E:\LAStools\bin>lasgrid -h Filter points based on their coordinates. -keep_tile 631000 4834000 1000 (ll_x ll_y size) -keep_circle 630250.00 4834750.00 100 (x y radius) -keep_xy 630000 4834000 631000 4836000 (min_x min_y max_x max_y) -drop_xy 630000 4834000 631000 4836000 (min_x min_y max_x max_y) -keep_x 631500.50 631501.00 (min_x max_x) -drop_x 631500.50 631501.00 (min_x max_x) -drop_x_below 630000.50 (min_x) -drop_x_above 630500.50 (max_x) -keep_y 4834500.25 4834550.25 (min_y max_y) -drop_y 4834500.25 4834550.25 (min_y max_y) -drop_y_below 4834500.25 (min_y) -drop_y_above 4836000.75 (max_y) -keep_z 11.125 130.725 (min_z max_z) -drop_z 11.125 130.725 (min_z max_z) -drop_z_below 11.125 (min_z) -drop_z_above 130.725 (max_z) -keep_xyz 620000 4830000 100 621000 4831000 200 (min_x min_y min_z max_x max_y max_z) -drop_xyz 620000 4830000 100 621000 4831000 200 (min_x min_y min_z max_x max_y max_z) Filter points based on their return number. -keep_first -first_only -drop_first -keep_last -last_only -drop_last -keep_first_of_many -keep_last_of_many -drop_first_of_many -drop_last_of_many -keep_middle -drop_middle -keep_return 1 2 3 -drop_return 3 4 -keep_single -drop_single -keep_double -drop_double -keep_triple -drop_triple -keep_quadruple -drop_quadruple -keep_quintuple -drop_quintuple Filter points based on the scanline flags. -drop_scan_direction 0 -keep_scan_direction_change -keep_edge_of_flight_line Filter points based on their intensity. -keep_intensity 20 380 -drop_intensity_below 20 -drop_intensity_above 380 -drop_intensity_between 4000 5000 Filter points based on classifications or flags. -keep_class 1 3 7 -drop_class 4 2 -keep_extended_class 43 -drop_extended_class 129 135 -drop_synthetic -keep_synthetic -drop_keypoint -keep_keypoint -drop_withheld -keep_withheld -drop_overlap -keep_overlap Filter points based on their user data. -keep_user_data 1 -drop_user_data 255 -keep_user_data_below 50 -keep_user_data_above 150 -keep_user_data_between 10 20 -drop_user_data_below 1 -drop_user_data_above 100 -drop_user_data_between 10 40 Filter points based on their point source ID. -keep_point_source 3 -keep_point_source_between 2 6 -drop_point_source 27 -drop_point_source_below 6 -drop_point_source_above 15 -drop_point_source_between 17 21 Filter points based on their scan angle. -keep_scan_angle -15 15 -drop_abs_scan_angle_above 15 -drop_abs_scan_angle_below 1 -drop_scan_angle_below -15 -drop_scan_angle_above 15 -drop_scan_angle_between -25 -23 Filter points based on their gps time. -keep_gps_time 11.125 130.725 -drop_gps_time_below 11.125 -drop_gps_time_above 130.725 -drop_gps_time_between 22.0 48.0 Filter points based on their RGB/CIR/NIR channels. -keep_RGB_red 1 1 -keep_RGB_green 30 100 -keep_RGB_blue 0 0 -keep_RGB_nir 64 127 -keep_NDVI 0.2 0.7 -keep_NDVI_from_CIR -0.1 0.5 -keep_NDVI_intensity_is_NIR 0.4 0.8 -keep_NDVI_green_is_NIR -0.2 0.2 Filter points based on their wavepacket. -keep_wavepacket 0 -drop_wavepacket 3 Filter points based on extra attributes. -keep_attribute_above 0 5.0 -drop_attribute_below 1 1.5 Filter points with simple thinning. -keep_every_nth 2 -keep_random_fraction 0.1 -thin_with_grid 1.0 -thin_with_time 0.001 Boolean combination of filters. -filter_and Transform coordinates. -translate_x -2.5 -scale_z 0.3048 -rotate_xy 15.0 620000 4100000 (angle + origin) -translate_xyz 0.5 0.5 0 -translate_then_scale_y -0.5 1.001 -switch_x_y -switch_x_z -switch_y_z -clamp_z_below 70.5 -clamp_z 70.5 72.5 -copy_attribute_into_z 0 Transform raw xyz integers. -translate_raw_z 20 -translate_raw_xyz 1 1 0 -translate_raw_xy_at_random 2 2 -clamp_raw_z 500 800 Transform intensity. -set_intensity 0 -scale_intensity 2.5 -translate_intensity 50 -translate_then_scale_intensity 0.5 3.1 -clamp_intensity 0 255 -clamp_intensity_above 255 Transform scan_angle. -scale_scan_angle 1.944445 -translate_scan_angle -5 -translate_then_scale_scan_angle -0.5 2.1 Change the return number or return count of points. -repair_zero_returns -set_return_number 1 -set_extended_return_number 10 -change_return_number_from_to 2 1 -set_number_of_returns 2 -set_number_of_returns 15 -change_number_of_returns_from_to 0 2 Modify the classification. -set_classification 2 -set_extended_classification 0 -change_classification_from_to 2 4 -classify_z_below_as -5.0 7 -classify_z_above_as 70.0 7 -classify_z_between_as 2.0 5.0 4 -classify_intensity_above_as 200 9 -classify_intensity_below_as 30 11 -change_extended_classification_from_to 6 46 -move_ancient_to_extended_classification Change the flags. -set_withheld_flag 0 -set_synthetic_flag 1 -set_keypoint_flag 0 -set_extended_overlap_flag 1 Modify the extended scanner channel. -set_extended_scanner_channel 2 Modify the user data. -set_user_data 0 -change_user_data_from_to 23 26 Modify the point source ID. -set_point_source 500 -change_point_source_from_to 1023 1024 -copy_user_data_into_point_source -bin_Z_into_point_source 200 -bin_abs_scan_angle_into_point_source 2 Transform gps_time. -set_gps_time 113556962.005715 -translate_gps_time 40.50 -adjusted_to_week -week_to_adjusted 1671 Transform RGB/NIR colors. -set_RGB 255 0 127 -set_RGB_of_class 9 0 0 255 -scale_RGB 2 4 2 -scale_RGB_down (by 256) -scale_RGB_up (by 256) -switch_R_G -switch_R_B -switch_B_G -copy_R_into_NIR -copy_G_into_NIR -copy_B_into_NIR Supported LAS Inputs -i lidar.las -i lidar.laz -i lidar1.las lidar2.las lidar3.las -merged -i *.las - merged -i flight0??.laz flight1??.laz -i terrasolid.bin -i esri.shp -i nasa.qi -i lidar.txt -iparse xyzti -iskip 2 (on-the-fly from ASCII) -i lidar.txt -iparse xyzi -itranslate_intensity 1024 -lof file_list.txt -stdin (pipe from stdin) -rescale 0.01 0.01 0.001 -rescale_xy 0.01 0.01 -rescale_z 0.01 -reoffset 600000 4000000 0 Fast AOI Queries for LAS/LAZ with spatial indexing LAX files -inside min_x min_y max_x max_y -inside_tile ll_x ll_y size -inside_circle center_x center_y radius Supported Raster Outputs -o dtm.asc -o dsm.bil -o dem.laz -o canopy.flt -o dtm.dtm -o density.xyz -o spreadsheet.csv -o intensity.img -o hillshade.png -o slope.tif -o false_color.jpg -oasc -obil -oflt -oimg -opng -odtm -otif -ojpg -oxyz -nil -odir C:\data\hillshade (specify output directory) -odix _small (specify file name appendix) -ocut 2 (cut the last two characters from name) LAStools (by info@rapidlasso.de) version 161023 (commercial) Supported raster operations -elevation_lowest (default) -elevation_highest -elevation_range -elevation_average -elevation_stddev -intensity_lowest -intensity_highest -intensity_average -intensity_range -intensity_stddev -number_returns_lowest -number_returns_highest -number_returns_average -number_returns_stddev -return_type_lowest -return_type_highest -occupancy -counter -counter_16bit -counter_32bit -classification_variety -extended_classification_variety -scan_angle_lowest -scan_angle_highest -scan_angle_range -scan_angle_abs_lowest -scan_angle_abs_highest -scan_angle_abs_average -user_data_lowest -user_data_highest -user_data_range -point_source_lowest -point_source_highest -point_source_range -rgb usage: lasgrid -i *.las -opng -step 5 -false lasgrid -i in.las -o dtm.asc -mem 1000 lasgrid -i in.las -o chm.png -false -subcircle 0.5 -set_min_max 0 30 lasgrid -i in.laz -o dsm.img -elevation_highest -mem 1900 -temp_files E:\tmp lasgrid -i in.laz -o out.png -elevation_stddev -false -step 5 lasgrid -i in.las -o intensity.asc -intensity_lowest -step 2 -temp_files E:\tmp lasgrid -i in.laz -o out.png -scan_angle_abs_lowest -gray -step 2 lasgrid -i in.las -o map.asc -occupancy -step 0.5 lasgrid -i in.laz -o ortho.png -rgb -temp_files E:\tmp lasgrid -i in.las -o counter.tif -counter -false -step 2 lasgrid -i in.laz -o counter.bil -counter_16bit -step 5 lasgrid -i in.laz -o out.asc -classification_majority -step 1 lasgrid -h --------------- if you find bugs let me (info@rapidlasso.de) know