LiDAR is a radar system that emits a laser beam to detect the position, velocity, and other characteristic parameters of a target, which is widely used in many fields. The following summarizes the top ten commonly used lidar data processing software.
1、lastools
lastools is well-known internationally, and some of them have licence requirements (only 6 million points can be processed without licence, and some noise and unnecessary contents can be added to some modules). Its underlying IO Library laslib is open-source, the compression library laszip is also open-source, and the PulseWave is also open-source, all of which are written in C ++.
2、BCAL LiDAR tools
It is an open-source ENVI plug-in, written by IDL, and supports the LAS format point cloud. There are some visualization, processing, and other functions.
3. MCC-lidar
An open-source filtering software (written by C++, which only extracts ground / DEM, does not even generates DEM, and only separates ground points) adopts Multiscale Curvature Classification algorithm to perform curvature filtering based on spatial scale classification to identify ground points.
4、FUSION
An open-source software with many functions, which is famous in forestry and ecology. It can be used to calculate many kinds of LiDAR metrics.
5、LizarTech
Liza tech has many solutions related to lidar, including LiDAR Compressor. This tool can compress the size of a data file by 75%, but does not cause data loss or affect the precision and accuracy of the data.
6、Global Mapper LiDAR Module
The Global Mapper Lidar Module is known as the “Swiss Army knife” of the lidar. After an important upgrade, this Module can quickly identify and classify the non-classified laser radar point cloud data to distinguish which are buildings and which are vegetation. At the same time, in order to establish a 3D vector building and tree model and improve the automatic classification of ground point cloud data, the module also provides a new tool for automatic feature extraction. In addition, the module provides a series of post-processing tools for users, including querying, filtering, editing, reclassification, and output of lidar data.
7、RiALITY
RiALITY is an innovative lidar data visualization application running on iPad, launched by Riegl. providing users with a new scenario. This application has also changed the demonstration method of lidar data. Users only need to have an iPad and can perform it anytime and anywhere. In addition, supporting real color point cloud data and 3D navigation are also characteristic features of RiALITY. A breakthrough technological development is that this application introduces the concept of enhanced reality, which can directly map point cloud data to the real world.
8、LiDAR in ArcGIS
ArcGIS provides many tools to manage radar point cloud data. Some of them are very useful for scientific research and decision making.
9. LP360
With the help of LP360, ArcMap Basic edition can become the world’s most powerful GIS environment to process lidar point cloud data. According to different functions, LP360 provides three different solutions, from quick visualization to some extended product lines, including automatic ground point cloud classification and building space extraction.
10、FME
FME has many built-in functions that allow users to process and analyze raster data. FME supports for ArcGIS10.1 ‘s LAS dataset, and FME support for converting point cloud data into more than 300 data formats. These support solves the data challenges of the LiDAR.
