LASzip - free and lossless LiDAR compression¶
LASzip - a free open source product of rapidlasso GmbH - quickly turns bulky LAS files into compact LAZ files without information loss. Terabytes of LAZ data are now available for free download from various agencies making LASzip, winner of the 2012 Geospatial World Forum Technology Innovation Award in LiDAR Processing and runner-up for innovative product at INTERGEO 2012, the de-facto standard for LiDAR compression.
Source¶
- 2019-11-11
Past Release(s)¶
- 2019-04-12
- 2018-12-27
- 2018-11-19
- 2018-03-27
- 2017-10-10
- 2017-09-13
- 2013-08-05
Platinum Sponsors (USD 25,000 or more)¶
Gold Sponsors (USD 10,000 or more)¶
Silver Sponsors (USD 5,000 or more)¶
Bronze Sponsors (USD 2,000 or more)¶
Download¶
The LGPL-licensed LASzip library is easiest integrated via the DLL that is in the LASzip subdirectory of the LAStools distribtion. Other options are to link LASzip via the BSD-licensed libLAS library or to work with the LASlib library which fully integrates and enhances the LASzip codebase with spatial indexing, filters, transforms, geo-referencing, … of LAS and LAZ files.
Binaries¶
- See OSGeo4W for Windows .lib and include files to compile LASzip into your own application. libLAS binaries through OSGeo4W also link LASzip.
- For explicit compression (decompression) of LAS (LAZ) files a Windows binary laszip.exe is available (command-line only laszip-cli.exe), as well as source code, examples, and makefiles to build your own LASzip on Windows, Linux, or MacOS.
Documentation¶
- Current Trunk: https://github.com/LASzip/LASzip
LASzip is a compression library that was developed by Martin Isenburg for compressing ASPRS LAS format data in his LAStools. It has been provided as an LGPL-licensed stand-alone software library to allow other softwares that handle LAS data to read and write LASzip-compressed data. The BSD-licensed libLAS and the LGPL-licensed LASlib can take advantage of LASzip to read and write compressed data.
LASzip is completely lossless. It compresses bulky LAS files into compact LAZ files that are only 7-20 percent of the original size, accurately preserving every single bit. For example, compressing and decompressing the LAS file lidar.las with laszip.exe (command-line only laszip-cli.exe) as shown below results in lidar_copy.las that is bit-identical to lidar.las. However, the small size of lidar.laz makes it much easier to store, copy, transmit, or archive large amounts of LIDAR.
- laszip -i lidar.las -o lidar.laz
- laszip -i lidar.laz -o lidar_copy.las
LASzip compression can be many times smaller and many times faster than generic compressors like bz2, gzip, and rar because it knows what the different bytes in a LAS file represent. Another advantage of LASzip is that it allows you to treat compressed LAZ files just like standard LAS files. You can load them directly from compressed form into your application without needing to decompress them onto disk first. The availability of the LASzip DLL and two APIs, libLAS and LASlib, with LASzip capability makes it easy to add native LAZ support to your own software package.
- Fugroviewer (2.0 and up) by Fugro
- QT Modeler (7.1.6 and up) by Applied Imagery
- ERDAS IMAGINE (14.1 and up) by Hexagon Geospatial
- Global Mapper (13.1 and up) by Blue Marble Geo
- Trimble RealWorks (8.1 and up) by Trimble Navigation Limited
- ENVI LiDAR (5.1 and up) by Exelis VIS
- FME (2012 and up) by Safe Software
- TopoDOT by Certainty3D
- Pointools by Bentley Systems
- Pix4uav by Pix4D
- CloudCompare by Daniel Girardeau-Montaut
- SURE by nframes
- Pointfuse by Arithmetica
- LAStools by rapidlasso - fast tools to catch reality
- plas.io 3D Web Viewer by Hobu Inc.
- RiProcess by RIEGL LMS GmbH
- CloudPro by Leica Geosystems AG
- Optech LMS (3.0 and up) by Teledyne Optech
- Leica LIDAR Survey Studio LSS (2.2 and up) by Leica Geosystems AG
- FUSION (3.40 and up) by Bob McGaughey of the USDA
- ZEB1 by 3D Laser Mapping
- OCAD (11.4.0 and up) by OCAD Inc.
- Gexcel R3 by Gexcel
- Voyager (1.3 and up) by Voyager GIS
- LIDAR Analyst (5.2 or 6.0 and up) by TEXTRON Systems
- TerraScan, TerraMatch, TerraPhoto, and TerraSlave (015.xxx and up) by Terrasolid
- Carlson (2016 and up) by Carlson Software
- Remote Sensing Software by Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH
- LiMON Viewer by Dephos Software
- Scanopy by imagination
- WinGeoTransform by KLT Assoc
- BayesStripAlign by BayesMap Solutions, LLC
- Point Cloud Technology by Point Cloud Technology, GmbH
- Scalypso by Ingenieurbuero Dr.-Ing. R. Koenig
- Photogrammetry Software by Menci Software
- TcpMDT by Aplitop
- PhotoMesh by SmartEarth
- QINSy - Quality Integrated Navigation System by Quality Positioning Services (QPS) B.V.
- Potree Converter (1.0 and up) by Markus Schuetz
- FLAIM by Fugro GeoServices B.V.
- ScanLook by LiDAR USA
- GRASS GIS (7.0 and up) by Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)
- OPALS by TU Vienna
- Scop++ (5.5.3 and up) by Trimble and TU Vienna
- DTMaster (6.0 and up) by Trimble INPHO
- Pythagoras by Pythagoras BVBA
- EspaEngine by ESPA Systems
- Blaze Point Cloud and Blaze Terra by Eternix Ltd
- ReportGen (2.9.0 and up), by PDF3D
- OrbitGIS by Orbit
- PFMABE Software by PFMABE Software
- K2Vi by AAM Group
- Card/1 (8.4 and up) by IB&T GmbH
- SceneMark by XtSense GmbH
- MapWorks (6.0 and up) by DotSoft
- LiS by LASERDATA
- PointCloudViz by mirage
- Geoverse by euclideon
- PointCab by PointCab GmbH
- Z+F SynCaT Mobile Mapping Software by Z+F Zoller+Frohlich
- LidarViewer by routescene
- 3Dsurvey by Modri Planet d. o. o.
- Vision Lidar by geo-plus
- PPIMMS by viametris
- SuperGIS by Supergeo Technologies Inc.
- Smart Processing Lidar by 3D TARGET srl
- Geomapping+ by GEOMAPPING
- GEOgraph 3D by HHK Datentechnik GmbH
- Dot3DEdit (version 2.0 and up) by DotProduct LLC
- HydroVish and KomVish by AirborneHydroMapping GmbH
- USGS LiDAR bulk download such as
- Sonoma County LiDAR from SonomaVegMap Project
- WMS served LiDAR by Government of La Rioja in Spain
- Puget Sound LiDAR Consortium
- 2007: sumpter
- 2009: douglasco, snohoriver, umpqua, wenas, wenatchee
- 2011: kittitas, quinault, rattlesnake
- 2012: chehalis, hoh, jefferson_clallam, quinault, upper_naches
- open LiDAR data strategy of the National Land Survey of Finland
- nationwide open LiDAR data of the Netherlands
- Digital Coast LiDAR by NOAA (+ how to download) and folders for batch download
- LiDAR of Kanton Zurich, Switzerland
- LiDAR of Kanton Solothurn, Switzerland
- GRAFCAN LiDAR of the Canary Islands
- Alaska LiDAR in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough
- NSF-funded LiDAR hosting facility OpenTopography
- Clark County Kentucky LiDAR data Clark County GIS
- Bay of Plenty, New Zealand BOPLASS LiDAR
- Nevada Barringer Meteorite Crater of the Lunar and Planetary Institute
- Alaska LiDAR hosted by Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS)
- Statewide LiDAR of Elevation Mapping Project by Minnesota DNR
- Counties: aitkin, anoka, becker, beltrami, benton, bigstone, blueearth, brown, carlton, carver, cass, chippewa, chisago, clay, clearwater, cook, cottonwood, crowwing, dakota, dodge, douglas, faribault, fillmore, freeborn, goodhue, grant, hennepin, houston, hubbard, isanti, itasca, jackson, kanabec, kandiyohi, kittson, koochiching, lacquiparle, lake, lakeofthewoods, lesueur, lincoln, lyon, mahnomen, marshall, martin, meeker, millelacs, morrison, mower, murray, nicollet, nobles, norman, olmsted, ottertail, pennington, pine, pipestone, polk, pope, ramsey, redlake, redwood, renville, rice, rock, roseau, scott, sherburne, sibley, stearns, steele, stevens, swift, todd, traverse, wabasha, wadena, waseca, washington, watonwan, wilkin, winona, wright, yellowmedicine
- Arrowhead: block 1, block 2, block 3, block 4, block 5
- Twin Cities Metro: block a c, block b, block d, block e, block f, block g, block h, block dakota, block maple grove, block metro
- Central Lakes: block 1, block 2, block 3, block 4, block 5
- TERN AusCover Airborne LiDAR: tumbarumba, tsliig, robsons creek, credo, chowilla
- http://liblas.org/samples/
- Virginia LiDAR of College of William and Mary: Eleven Coastal Counties, Eastern Shore, Shenandoah Valley
- MassGIS LiDAR Terrain Data
- https://www.lidar-online.com/product-list.php
- Nationwide LiDAR Data of Denmark
- Fugro
- Blom
- COWI
- Watershed Sciences, Inc.
- Riegl
- NOAA
- USGS
- Euclideon
- Dielmo 3D
- Oregon Lidar Consortium
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
- US Army Corps of Engineers
- and many many more …
- Spring 2011 Rhode Island Statewide LiDAR Data
- PAMAP - LiDAR data of Pennsylvania
- Iowa LiDAR Mapping Project
- Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta LiDAR
- Illinois Height Modernization Project LiDAR
- Northwest Florida Water Management District LiDAR
- Washington University in St. Louis: Franklin, Jasper, Washington Iron, St. Francois, Jefferson City (1), Jefferson City (2), Jefferson City (3), Jefferson Ste Genevieve, USGS Drive, Stone County MO
- Alaska LiDAR: Caswell Lakes, Core Area, Matanuska, North Susitna, Point MacKenzie, Willow, Talkeetna
- Spain: Pais Vasco LiDAR