Lidar data processing

Processing of Lidar-data

Currently there doesn't exist an open-source framework to deal flexibly with LIDAR-data.

As the Point Cloud Library seems to be most actively developed, the goal would be to provide a flexible interface to this library.

Existing Software-Packages for inspiration

OPALS -- Orientation and Processing of Airborne Laser Scanning data

• Written in C++; could be extended with python

Pros:

• Tries to support a tool-chain to do all the work

Cons:

• Not fully available
• Not open-source
• Currently only windows-installer

LAStools -- converting, filtering, viewing, gridding, and compressing LIDAR data

• Written in C++

Pros:

• Rich set of executables already available (contour-line, TINs, dhm, ...)

Cons :

• Not open-source
• Not easily extendible

Whitebox -- Whitebox Geospatial Analysis Tools

• Java-based GIS-program suited for hydrological analysis

Pros:

• Open-source
• extensible with jpython, JavaScript

Cons :

• More features needed

Existing open-source libraries

• libLAS
• Point Cloud Library

Feature Wish-List

• Generate flexibly triangulated surface-meshes (eg. for hydrological simulations)
• Triangulate a rich set of spatial-layers:
  • buildings as holes
  • include breaklines
  • contour lines
  • ...
• Extract breaklines (eg. for geomorphology)
• Create contour-lines