Managing Lidar Data in ArcGIS 10

Description

The massive size of lidar data poses a challenge to those who need to work with it. In this course, you will learn how to organize and prepare lidar data for use in ArcGIS. You will use a variety of techniques for examining lidar data, organizing and storing lidar data in a geodatabase, and evaluating data characteristics using ArcGIS 3D Analyst tools. With a solid understanding of lidar datasets, you can ensure reliable results from any project that uses the data.

Who Should Attend

GIS analysts, specialists, data managers, and others who need to prepare lidar data for use in ArcGIS. GIS professionals working in the forestry, hydrology, environmental management, urban planning, defense and intelligence, and mining industries may find the course of particular benefit.

Learn How To

• Explore a lidar dataset's metadata to determine appropriate settings for geoprocessing and analysis operations.
• Calculate statistics in order to assess lidar data characteristics.
• Classify lidar data as bare-earth and above-ground points.
• Subset lidar data for an area of interest to speed up processing and analysis operations.
• Organize lidar data points into a multipoint geodatabase feature class for efficient storage.
• Evaluate lidar point density to ensure it is sufficient for an area of interest.
• Prevent error propagation by visually inspecting lidar data to assess its accuracy.

To complete course exercises, you need the following software:

• ArcGIS 10.0 for Desktop (ArcView, ArcEditor, or ArcInfo)
• ArcGIS 10.0 3D Analyst

Exploring and organizing lidar data

• Delivering lidar data
• Loading lidar data
• Geodatabase considerations
• Examine the lidar metadata and create a new geodatabase
• Preparing your lidar data
• Assess the coverage of your lidar data
• Calculate point density and import lidar data to a geodatabase

Checking lidar data accuracy

• Factors that affect the accuracy of lidar data
• Causes of artifacts
• Causes of data voids
• Identify voids in the lidar data

• Completion of Getting Started with Lidar in ArcGIS and Learning ArcGIS Desktop or equivalent knowledge is required.
• Familiarity with the geodatabase, raster surface data, and 3D analysis is recommended.