You are here: LiDAR Data > Basic LiDAR Switches

Basic LiDAR 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:

The following command uses the file to create a mosaic:

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

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