Hi all,

I'm working mostly with Linux and F/OSS tools, and a recent project I have been assigned is involves working with LiDAR or any type of terrain data to create virtual reality heightmaps.

Perhaps I just need a terminology pointer for the right google results - what would be a format and data processing tool (Linux/F-OSS preferred, any tips wanted though) that could handle both a 3D point cloud/elevation model along with context overhead data, in one file?

I know this is a bit esoteric, although there's a surprising amount of science folk on this forum. Any help would be appreciated!

OpenTerrain is useful, as is GMT:
http://www.open-terrain.org/index.ph...rials/Showcase
http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/

...depending on how your data sets are formatted, and what you're after as your real end-product.

gmt is good

though i mostly work with GDAL
lidar is normally a NON!!! gridded dataset

for making a DEM it needs to be gridded
i use "gdal_grid" for this

i mostly run ISIS3 and "stereo pipeline" but sometimes i need a genaric GIS program

or if the point cloud is in a tiff image format
stereo-pipeline has a "point2dem" program ,but it is for one type of pointcloud data
Example image : - from the MOC mars data in PDS
the colored image is the pointcloud
the one on the right is the DEM
http://imgbox.com/iFSK7Swu


qgis is good and uses GDAL and GRASS

and gdal will handle ARCgis data formats

or
from a point cloud use "meshlab" to connect the points ( ball role or marching cubes)
but a 3d mesh is HUGE compared to a 32 bit floating point or 16 bit SIGNED tiff DEM

a 100 meg image might be a 1.5 GIG mesh

then you need to convert the mesh to a dem
blender can ? maybe
or use MATLAB ( very expencive) or the gpl version Octave )
a matlab function like " mesh2gray " can
or a python script

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