Blue Marble Offers Lidar Module Upgrade

Blue Marble’s Global Mapper V17‘s Lidar Module is an optional enhancement to its software that provides advanced lidar processing tools, including automatic point-cloud classification, feature extraction, cross-sectional viewing and editing, faster surface generation, and more. It is designed for anyone using or managing terrestrial or airborne lidar as well as other point cloud datasets.

The Lidar Module was first released with Global Mapper V15, and a host of new lidar tools have since been added. Building on the existing functionality for identifying ground, building and vegetation points in an unclassified point cloud, the latest release of the module includes a powerful new tool for detecting and automatically reclassifying above-ground utility lines.

After customizing the reclassification parameters, such as minimum height above ground and linear offset threshold, the points representing power lines are automatically attributed with the Wire – Conductor ASPRS lidar class. Analysis of linear patterns in these reclassified points can subsequently be used to create 3D vector lines.

Addressing a major concern among lidar users, the latest release of the Global Mapper Lidar Module provides an efficient and effective way to remove noise from point cloud data. This powerful filtering tool can reclassify or automatically delete any points that are beyond a prescribed elevation or height above ground threshold within a local area.

Other enhancements to the module include dramatically faster data rendering and processing as well as updated filtering tools for selecting and, if necessary, removing points based on class, return intensity, color range, and many other parameters.

Additional functionality offered in the Lidar Module includes:

• A convenient Lidar Toolbar for easy access to key editing and analysis functions
• Multiple gridding options for faster DSM or DTM generation
• Access to point cloud files containing a billion points or more
• Automatic point classification tools that automatically distinguish building, ground, vegetation and power lines and above-ground utility cables in unclassified layers
• Feature extraction functionality to automatically create 3D building footprints, trees and power lines
• Cross-sectional rendering using Global Mapper’s Path Profile tool for viewing and editing the point cloud in a vertical perspective
• Advanced filtering options to efficiently remove erroneous or unneeded points
• Detect and reclassify or delete noise points
• Lidar scripting commands for streamlining workflow
• Point colorization from underlying imagery offering photo-realistic point cloud rendering in Global Mapper’s 3D Viewer
• Support for reporting lidar statistics
• Support for importing and exporting most common lidar formats
• Support for NIR (near-infrared) data