Code-first, production-grade guides for processing LiDAR and point clouds in Python.
PDAL pipelines · ground filtering · DTM/DSM generation · batch & cloud automation.
🌐 Live site — www.pythonlidar.com
pythonlidar.com is a reference library for engineers who process airborne, terrestrial, and mobile LiDAR with Python. Every guide is built around runnable code — real PDAL pipeline JSON, typed Python functions with logging and error handling, realistic EPSG codes and parameter values — not editorial fluff. If you work with .las/.laz files, PDAL, GDAL, or laspy and need to ship reproducible workflows, this is written for you.
It is a fast, fully static site (no trackers, offline-capable) covering the whole practitioner workflow: ingest → validate → filter → classify → rasterize → automate.
- LiDAR analysts turning raw scans into deliverables
- Python GIS developers building reproducible geospatial pipelines
- Surveying & mapping tech teams standardizing point cloud processing
- Infrastructure & urban-planning engineers generating terrain models at scale
The material is organized into four focused tracks:
| Track | What you'll learn |
|---|---|
| PDAL Pipelines | Pipeline architecture and the streaming execution model, stage chaining, filtering logic, spatial reprojection, attribute mapping, parallel execution, memory management, and pipeline validation. |
| Point Cloud Standards | LAS/LAZ binary structure, ASPRS classification codes, coordinate reference systems, point density metrics, and metadata/header integrity. |
| Ground & Terrain Models | SMRF and PMF ground classification, DTM and DSM raster generation with writers.gdal, interpolation choices, NoData void filling, and hillshade/slope/aspect derivation. |
| Batch & Cloud Automation | Containerized PDAL with Docker, AWS Batch tile fan-out, streaming LAZ and Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF I/O against Amazon S3, and Apache Airflow DAG orchestration. |
Each guide includes a hand-authored diagram, a copy-paste-ready working example, parameter reference tables, verification steps, and a troubleshooting section for the errors you actually hit in production.
- ✅ Runnable PDAL & Python — every pipeline JSON is
pdal pipeline --validate-clean, every script is self-contained. - ✅ Real parameters — actual EPSG codes, typical SMRF slope/window values, real LAS dimension names.
- ✅ Accessible & fast — WCAG 2 AA, mobile-first, Lighthouse-budgeted, works offline.
- ✅ Structured data —
Article,HowTo,FAQPage, andBreadcrumbListon every page.
- Eleventy (11ty) static site generator
- Hand-authored inline SVG diagrams (theme-aware, no runtime)
- Deployed on Cloudflare Pages
npm install # install dependencies
npm run build # build to _site/
npm run serve # local dev server on :8080- 🌐 Website: https://www.pythonlidar.com
- 🧭 Start here: https://www.pythonlidar.com/#start-here
Built for LiDAR analysts, Python GIS developers, and surveying teams.