- LASUtility is a software that offers a number of handy tools for working with LAS data.
- These include trimming and stitching, as well as graphical display for those who cannot even open an LAS file.
- The licensing needs to be investigated in more detail.
It appears that this software – LASUtility has been around for a number of years, but I just became aware of it based on a recent article in the GIM -International Newsletter. Some of the justification for its use seems to be a bit dated, but I think most of the arguments are still valid. The authors are B. Lohani and R. K. Mishra. Dr. Lohani is an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology.
The software appears to offer a number of handy functions that can make working with LAS files less painful. For instance, the ability to trim an LAS file, and stitch multiple files/tiles into one file. For those who do not have software that can read an LAS file of course the real value is in the graphical display of the data. Unfortunately most of the people who would appreciate this information are probably not readers of this blog, but perhaps we can spread the word.
There seems to be one catch – the licensing. From what I can see the software can be downloaded for free for 5 days at a time. I assume it times out after that, but it appears that you can download the software again, or purchase a perpetual license. The license fee is stated as a contribution of “around USD$200”. To clarify this I would suggest contacting Dr. Lohani directly.
