Creating a DEM from a LIDAR point cloud

This page contains instructions for creating a DEM from the ASCII point clouds acquired from the Leica ALS50 II in 2009 onwards. Instructions are given for using your ARSF data in four GIS systems:

• ArcGIS
• ENVI
• ERDAS Imagine
• GRASS

There is also a section giving instructions on how to make your DEM suitable for use in the azgcorr software.

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ArcGIS

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ENVI

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ERDAS Imagine

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GRASS

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Making the DEM suitable for azgcorr

To make a suitable ASCII DEM for use in the azgcorr software, the header information of the ASCII DEM file must be in a certain format. The required format is to have a header of one line (the first line of the file) with the DEM data following. The format is (as given by the azgcorr help):

or c r xm ym xx yx gi

where:

or = row order of the data [0 if South to North, 1 if North to South]

c = number of columns

r = number of rows

xm = minimum easting

ym = minimum northing

xx = maximum easting

yx = maximum northing

gi = grid size (spacing)

An example header, for a DEM of 2000 rows x 2000 columns at 5m resolution, might be: 1 2000 2000 400000 850000 410000 860000 5