3

I have imported LiDAR data into ArcMap in the shape of a Las DataSet with twelve .las files (contains over 100 million data points).

I believe the file itself is working properly. However, no points are drawn in ArcMap (“Data percentage: 0”) unless I zoom to a very small area. I believe this is a result of the las files containing too much data with over five million points each.

I have tried:

  • Setting the point limit to five million.
  • Changing the point density to course.
  • Filtering out certain points.

But to no avail.

Is there some other way to make the LiDAR data display (at least to some extent) in full view?

Maybe by lowering the number of data points.

Andre Silva
  • 10,259
  • 12
  • 54
  • 106
Linebeck
  • 153
  • 1
  • 11
  • 1
    That behavior is what I would expect. Have you seen ESRI's scalability help on the subject? http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/manage-data/las-dataset/las-dataset-scalability.htm – John Mar 26 '18 at 12:33
  • Yes, I have read it. As I said, I don't see any points at all in ArcMap, maybe because of outrageous loading times. What I want to do is either lowering the resolution or reduce the actual number of points in the point cloud (the las files contains over 100 million data points). I want the lidar data to be visible in it's full geographical extent and not just small areas. – Linebeck Mar 26 '18 at 13:25
  • Have you looked at the LAS to Multipoint or LAS to Raster tools in ArcGIS? – John Mar 26 '18 at 16:57
  • Yes. I have now converted the point cloud to a DEM which is a bit easier to worked with. – Linebeck Mar 27 '18 at 18:52
  • I highly recommend http://plas.io/ for simple visualization. – Aaron Apr 06 '18 at 15:57
  • The last sentence says: "Maybe lowering the number of data points"? Isn't that what you did in the third bullet ("Filtering out certain points")? Anyway, take a look at https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/173540/thinning-large-lidar-point-cloud. And also at https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/1184/ways-to-visualize-multiple-large-lidar-tiles. – Andre Silva Apr 06 '18 at 15:59
  • I will echo previous comments, ArcGIS is a poor environment for 3D cloud visualization. I am not doing much lidar work these days but, there has always been numerous free software for visualizing LAS format point clouds. Just do a google search. – Jeffrey Evans Apr 06 '18 at 16:02

1 Answers1

1

Depending on the size of the LiDAR point data, I would use an alternative software specifically for that. I usually use ArcSCene to view in 3D, but for larger size LiDAR data, I use CloudCompare. It is an open source software and very powerful.

Andre Silva
  • 10,259
  • 12
  • 54
  • 106
Stringz
  • 65
  • 1
  • 6