Support for Waveform Data

1. ASPRS has just announced LAS 1.3. This comes less than one year after 1.2.
2. The major new feature of the format is support for full waveform data.
3. This has the potential to significantly improve the automation of surface/feature extraction.

The ASPRS Board of Directors approved the next version of LAS on July 14, 2009. The major feature of the new LAS 1.3 format is support for waveform data. The press release specifically noted that this should lead to advances in urban modeling and forestry applications.  Over 50 vendors were involved. The aerial LiDAR segment seems to be in the lead on this, although I know at least some of the terrestrial scanners will be capable of recording the full return pulse waveform.

A quick review of some of the available literature indicates that the potential benefits of being able to analyze the return pulse waveform include greater flexibility in determining range, plus the ability to better characterize the reflecting surface type. The hope is that this could lead to breakthroughs in the automation of the feature extraction process.

Kudos to the ASPRS committee. I know first hand how difficult it is to produce a standard.