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Basic LiDAR Switches

The following table describes switches for creating single LiDAR files:

Input and Output Switches
Switch Notes

-input

-i

 Identifies the input source file. It can be a full path name, or a path that is relative to the current working directory. Example: -i foo.las

-inputformat

-if

Identifies the input file format. Accepted formats are:

"las" – LAS format

"laz" – LAZ format

"sid" – MrSID Generation 4 (MG4) LiDAR format

"txt" – LiDAR text file

-mosaic

-mos

 Identifies the input file as a mosaic list. The file must have a .list extension. See below for more information.

-output

-o

 Identifies the name of the file that GeoExpress creates. It can be a full path, or a path that is relative to the current working directory. Example: -o myfile.sid

-outputformat

-of

Identifies the desired output format of the file that is to be encoded. Accepted formats are:

"las" – LAS format

"laz" – LAZ format

"mg4" – MrSID Generation 4 (MG4) LiDAR format

The default output format is MrSID Generation 4.

The following command creates a MrSID file from a LAS file:

mrsidgeoencoder -i in.las -o out.sid

Mosaics

To create point cloud mosaics in GeoExpress, create a text file that lists the point clouds that you want to mosaic. The file must have a .list extension. The point clouds that you want to mosaic must be georeferenced, and the resulting mosaic can only be saved to the MrSID Generation 4 (MG4) format.

For example, to create a mosaic of four LAS files, you might create the following file:

cloud_nw.las
cloud_ne.las
cloud_sw.las
cloud_se.las

The following command uses the file to create a mosaic:

mrsidgeoencoder -i mosaic.list -mos -o mosaic.sid

NOTE: LiDAR mosaics are different from raster mosaics. You cannot create composite LiDAR mosaics, and LiDAR mosaic files must have a .list extension, not .mos.