LAStools
Our flagship product is the LAStools software suite, which is an easy download (~80 MB) and is available for licensing (see pricing). It is a collection of highly efficient, batch-scriptable, multicore command line tools. We have tools to classify, tile, convert, filter, raster, triangulate, contour, clip, and polygonize LiDAR data (just a few functions). All the tools can also be run via a native GUI and are available as LiDAR processing toolboxes for ArcGIS versions 9.3, up for QGIS versions 1.8 and up, and ERDAS IMAGINE versions 14.0 and up.
LAStools are the fastest and most memory-efficient solution for batch-scripted multicore LiDAR processing and can turn billions of LiDAR points into valuable products at blazing speeds and with low memory requirements. For seamless processing of large amounts of LiDAR, we further offer the BLAST extension of LAStools.
Browse all LAStools
Data Convert (Import / Export)
las2txt
Converts binary LAS or LAZ files to human-readable ASCII text format.
txt2las
Converts from ASCII to binary LAS or compressed LAZ file.
las2las
Extracts last returns, clips, subsamples, translates, etc.
e572las
Extracts the points from the E57 format and stores them as LAS/LAZ files.
las2shp
Converts LIDAR from LAS/LAZ/ASCII to ESRI’s Shapefile format by grouping consecutive points into MultiPointZ records.
shp2las
Converts from points from ESRI’s Shapefile to LAS/LAZ/ASCII format, given the input, contains Points or MultiPoints.
CLASSIFICATION & FILTERING
lasground
tool for bare-earth extraction
lasground_new
This is a tool for bare-earth extraction—a redesigned version of lasground.
lasclassify
Classify buildings and high vegetation
lastrack
Computes the height above or the distance in x/y from each point and its trajectory.
lastin
A simple LIDAR thinning algorithm.
sonarnoiseblaster
Streaming cleaning of massive SONAR point clouds from multi-beam echo sounders
DATA COMPRESSION
laszip
Compresses LAS files.
demzip
Compresses and uncompresses raster data from ASC, BIL, TIF, and IMG to the compressed RasterLAZ format.
DSM/DTM GENERATION & PRODUCTS
las2dem
triangulates LIDAR points from LAS/LAZ to TIN and DEM
las2iso
extracts elevation contours to SHP/KML/WKT/TXT format
lasgrid
Grid LIDAR onto a raster.
lasheight
Computes the height of each point above the ground.
lascanopy
Computes common forestry metrics from height-normalized LiDAR point clouds.
lasvoxel
Computes a voxelization of points.
demdiff
Comparing rasters in ASC, BIL, TIF, IMG and RasterLAZ format and reporting differences.
las2thin
reads LIDAR data in LAS/LAZ/ASCII format and creates a TIN.
lasplanes
Finds sufficiently planar patches of LAS/LAZ points fulfilling several user-definable criteria output as simple polygons to SHP or RIEGL’s PEF format.
blast2dem
Rasters billions of LiDAR points via a streaming TIN to elevation, intensity, slope, or RGB grid
blast2iso
Contours billions of LiDAR points via a streaming TIN to isolines in KML or SHP format
OTHER UTILITIES
bytecopy
Utility to copy byte-level information between two LiDAR files
bytediff
Utility to detect byte-level differences between two LiDAR files
laslayers
Add layer functionality to LAS/LAZ files
PREPROCESSING
lasindex
Creates an index file (LAX) about a LAS/LAZ file.
lasmerge
Merges several LAS or LAZ files.
lasoverage
find “overage” points of multiple lightlines.
lasboundary
Computes a boundary polygon that encloses LIDAR points.
lasclip
clip LIDAR data by polygons.
lasoptimize
LIDAR data optimization.
lassort
Sorts the points of a LAS/LAZ/ASCII file.
lasduplicate
Find and remove duplicate points from a LAS/LAZ/ASCII file.
lastile
Tiles LIDAR points into tiles.
lassplit
A tool that splits LAS or LAZ files into multiple files.
lasnoise
Flags or removes noise points in LAS or LAZ files.
lascopy
This tool copies selected attributes from LiDAR points from a source to a target LAS/LAZ file using the GPS-time stamp and the return number as a reference.
lasdatum
Transforms LiDAR from one horizontal datum to another using an NTv2 grid or a seven-parameter Helmert transform.
lasdiff
Compares the LIDAR data of two LAS/LAZ/ASCII files and reports whether they are identical or different.
lasdistance
This tool classifies, flags, or removes LiDAR points based on their approximate xy distance from polygonal segments.
lasprecision
Reads LIDAR data in the LAS format and computes statistics that tell us whether the precision „advertised“ in the header is in the data.
lasvdatum
Transforms LiDAR from ellipsoidal to orthometric elevations using a grid
PUBLISHING
laspublish
Creates a LiDAR portal for 3D visualization (and optionally also for downloading) of LAS and LAZ files in any modern Web browser.
QUALITY CONTROL & INFORMATION
lasinfo
report content of a LAS/LAZ file header
lasoverlap
Computes the flight line overlap and alignment of LIDAR points.
lasreturn
Process multi-return data files.
lascontrol
Computes the elevation of LiDAR data at specific points.
lasprobe
Probes the elevation of the LIDAR for a given x and y location and reports it to a text file or to stdout
lasvalidate
Determine if LAS files conform to the ASPRS LAS specifications
VISUALIZATION & COLORIZATION
lasview
simple and fast LiDAR visualization tool
lascolor
Colorize LIDAR points using an external image