[GRASS-dev] LiDAR LAS import

[Markus Metz]

Hi all,

GRASS 7 has a new module v.in.lidar for importing LiDAR LAS files
(*.las or *.laz). The LAS file format is commonly used for storing
LiDAR point clouds, but is unfortunately not supported by OGR.
v.in.lidar uses the libLAS library [0] and is only compiled if the
libLAS library is present.

I chose to use the library instead of writing a custom LAS reading
interface because the current LAS library version 1.6.1 is stable,
supports LAS file versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, each of
which can store LiDAR points in up to 5 different point formats. The
user and the interface do not need to know the file version and point
format of a given file, all that is conveniently handled by the libLAS
library in the background. The library has Large File Support (LFS)
and is well tested on different platforms, also with different
endian-ness. This functionality is not that easy to replicate.

You will need to get the libLAS library and configure GRASS 7 with
--with-liblas in order to have the module available. Please test!

Markus M

[0] http://www.liblas.org