libLAS - LAS 1.0/1.1 ASPRS LiDAR data translation toolset

libLAS is a BSD library for reading and writing ASPRS LAS version 1.0 and 1.1 data. LAS-formatted data is heavily used in LiDAR processing operations, and the LAS format is a sequential binary format used to store data from sensors and as intermediate processing storage by some applications.

libLAS is available under the terms of the BSD License. It builds on work by Martin Isenburg and Jonathan Shewchuk of the University of North Carolina in their LAStools project. The base C++ library that reads and writes LAS 1.0/1.1 data was replaced with new development, and Martin's tools were ported to use this new code.

libLAS' initial development was supported by the IGSB of the Iowa DNR for use in its state-wide LIDAR project.

FAQ

The FAQ is available from http://liblas.org/wiki/FAQ

State of the Library

libLAS provides excellent coverage of the ASPRS LAS 1.0 and 1.1 specifications, and it provides support for copying variable length records from one file to another. As of 1.0.0-beta-2, support for creating your own variable length records is limited to the C and C++ APIs. libLAS concentrates on reading and writing point data for processing pipelines from C++, C, and Python. Contact the Authors if you have money burning a hole in your pocket to implement more sophisticated support for LAS format items.

libLAS also provides support for reading and writing spatial reference system descriptions from LAS 1.0 and 1.1 files as of version 1.0.0-beta-1. libgeotiff 1.2.5 (released in 7/28/2008) must be linked with libLAS to provide reading support for spatial reference systems. The 1.0.0-beta-2 Windows binaries require that OSGeo4W is installed, but those folks building libLAS on their own platforms must use the --with-geotiff configure-time switch to tell libLAS where the library is located.

Features of libLAS

Open Source

libLAS is open source software. You can embed it in your own applications (and even resell it) as long as you follow the crediting restriction of the BSD license.

Multiple APIs

libLAS supports has C, C++, and Python APIs. This allows you to easily embed libLAS in your own programs, or use the Python API for some one-off scripting.

Spatial Reference System Support

Linked against the latest version of libgeotiff, you can set and get the spatial reference systems of LAS files using simple proj.4 coordinate system definitions.

Simple Variable Length Record Abstraction

libLAS provides a sensible abstraction for working with variable length records (VLR) in LAS files, and it transparently manages the VLRs related to spatial referencing systems for you.

Command-line Utilities

libLAS provides ports of the LAStools utilities by Martin Isenburg for doing things like translating from one version of the LAS format to another, inspecting header information, and translating LAS data to and from text.

Cross-platform operation

libLAS is known to work on MSVC 7.1+ (Windows) and GCC4.1+ (OS X and Linux) platforms on both big- and little-endian architectures.

Download

The latest version of libLAS can be downloaded from http://liblas.org/wiki/Releases

Documentation

LAS Format Specifications

The LAS Format Standard is maintained by ASPRS Standards Committee. LAS format standard documents are available in PDF format:

Library Documents

  • LAS Format Elements - comparison of elements of LAS Format 1.0 and 1.1
  • Software - list of geospatial software with reading and writing capabilities of LAS Format
  • Resources - list of LiDAR/LAS resources
  • Tutorials - Tutorials on C++ and Python APIs

Utilities

Development

Authors

The libLAS development team are:

Special thanks to Martin Isenburg and Jonathan Shewchuk for their LAStools pioneering implementation of the ASPRS LAS standard that made development of the libLAS library possible.

Subversion Tree

The SVN repository URL is available at http://liblas.org/svn

svn checkout http://liblas.org/svn/trunk/

Development Documentation

Information about Trac

Community

IRC

Find the libLAS developers on IRC on #liblas at Freenode.

Mailing Lists

License

libLAS is available under the terms of the BSD License. See License for a copy.

Attachments