rapidlasso GmbH

LAStools


award-winning software for rapid LiDAR processing


Abstract

Tools to process LiDAR data files.
The data files has the ASPRS LAS format (version 1.0-1.4) or the losslessly compressed, but otherwise identical twin, the LAZ format.
See the product overview or the table below to see what tools and converters we provide.

LAStools consist of different parts:
  • LASlib, the low level processing API.
  • LASzip, the compressing/decompressing API.
  • Both parts are for free and open source.
  • LAStools toolset.
  • 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++.
    The basic modules are provided as source code (e.g. for Linux) and as Windows DLL.

    LAStools are a collection of highly-efficient, scriptable tools with multi-core batching that process LAS, compressed LAZ, Terrasolid BIN, ESRI Shapefiles, ASCII and others.

    Tool overview

    Open source tools

      laszipcompresses LAS files to LAZ in high speed without information loss
    las2lasfilters, transforms, subsamples, clips, thins, ...
    las2txtturns LAS/LAZ into human-readable and easy-to-parse text
    txt2lasconverts LiDAR from standard ASCII to LAS/LAZ
    lascopcindexcreates a COPC *.laz file for a given set of *.las or *.laz files
    lasdiffcompares LIDAR data of two LAS/LAZ/ASCII files and reports whether they are identical or whether they are different
    lasinfoprints out an overview of the contents of a LAS/LAZ file
    lasmergecan merge several LAS/LAZ files into one
    lasprecisionreads LIDAR data in the LAS format and computes statistics about precision "advertised" in the header

    Free tools

     
    lasviewvisualizes the contents of a LAS/LAZ file and can also compute a TIN
    lasvalidatedetermine if LAS files are conform to the ASPRS LAS specifications
    demzipcompresses and uncompresses raster data to RasterLAZ format
    e572lasextracts the points from the E57 format and stores them as LAS/LAZ files

    Closed source tools

      las2demrasters pointclouds (via a TIN) into elevation/slope/intensity/RGB DEMs
    las2isoextracts, optionally simplified, elevation contours
    las2shpturns LAS/LAZ into ESRI's Shapefile format
    shp2lasturns an ESRI's Shapefile into LAS/LAZ
    las2tintriangulates the points of a LAS/LAZ file into a TIN
    lasboundarycomputes a boundary polygon
    lascanopycomputes popular forestry metrics and grids them onto a raster
    lasclassifyclassifies buildings and high vegetation (i.e. trees)
    lasclipclips away points falling into polygonal shapes (e.g. building footprints)
    lascolorcolors LiDAR points based on imagery
    lascontrolcomputes the height at certain x and y control points and reports the difference
    lascopycopies attributes using the GPS-time stamp and the return number
    lasdatumtransforms from one horizontal datum to another
    lasdistanceclassifies, flags, or removes points based on distance from polygonal segments
    lasduplicateremoves all duplicate points from a LAS/LAZ/ASCII file
    lasgridgrids data onto a raster
    lasgroundtool for bare-earth extraction
    lasgroundredesigned version of lasground for even better bare-earth extraction
    lasheightcomputes the height of each LAS point above the ground
    lasindexcreates a *.lax file for a given *.las or *.laz file that contains spatial indexing information
    laslayersadd layer functionality to LAS/LAZ files
    lasnoiseflags or removes noise points in LAS/LAZ/BIN/ASCII files
    lasoptimizeoptimizes data for better compression and spatial coherency
    lasoveragefinds the "overage" of a airborne collect that get covered by multiple flightline
    lasoverlapchecks flight line overlap and/or vertical and horizontal alignment
    lasplanesfinds planar patches of LAS/LAZ points fulfilling a number of user-defineable criteria
    lasprobeprobes the elevation of the LIDAR for a given x and y location and reports it to a text file or to stdout
    laspublishdo 3D visualization of LiDAR data in a web browser using the WebGL Potree
    lasreturnreports geometric return statistics and repairs 'number of returns' field based on GPS times
    lassortz-orders LAS/LAZ files
    lassplitsplits the input file(s) into several output files based on various parameters
    lasthinimplements a simple point thinning algorithm
    lastilecreates a tiling of LAS/LAZ files
    lastracktakes files together with a trajectory file by matching GPS time stamps
    lasvdatumtransforms LiDAR from ellipsoidal to orthometric elevations using a grid
    lasvoxelcomputes a voxelization of points
    and even more...see the full product overview

    BLAST extension

      blast2demprocess billion of LIDAR points from the LAS/LAZ format, triangulates them a seamless TIN, and rasters the TIN onto a DEM that can optionally be tiled
    blast2isoprocess billion of LIDAR points from the LAS/LAZ format, triangulates them a seamless (!) TIN, and extracts contours at the specified elevations from the TIN

    All LAStools read, process, and write the compressed format directly without having to first decompress the file. Our easy-to-use, ultra-light-weight, very efficient C++ programming API called LASlib (with LASzip-DLL) makes it easy to add read/write support of compressed LAZ files to your software.

    Support:

    See rapidlasso support

    Download:

  • Binaries download with or without installer.
  • Open source part of LAStools at github

  • See our changelog for latest changes.