LiDAR Data

Digital Elevation Models (DEM, also: Digital Terrain Models DTM / Digital Surface Models DSM) are available from many data sources. Some are commercial but more and more authorities release their datasets under free licenses. The table contains all the sources that we are aware of at the moment (06/2024) with a resolution of 10 m or better. For each source we checked that the data can be imported into planlauf/TERRAIN. XYZ- and Esri ASCII Grid (ASC)-files can be imported directly, other proprietary formats can be imported with our GDAL-interface.

* There are tutorial videos for some of the data sources. Click on the link to open the YouTube video.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I have to download GDAL separately?

GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library) is an Open Source project by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. While the license permits its use in commercial software, we don't want to hide it in planlauf/TERRAIN. There are people putting a lot of their free time into GDAL and we believe they should get the credits

Tamas Szekeres maintains a website from which you can download the lastest GDAL builds. Go to 'Stable Releases' and click on one of the two last entries of the first table (win32 for 32-Bit- and x64 for 64-Bit-Windows). Look for the download with the description 'Generic installer for the GDAL core components'. As of 12/2022, the appropriate files are 'gdal-303-1928-core.msi' (32-Bit) and 'gdal-303-1928-x64-core.msi' (64-Bit). There's an option to download the current version of GDAL from within planlauf/TERRAIN. Go to 'Settings', choose the GDAL tab and click on the download button.

planlauf/TERRAIN will look for GDAL in the program folder every time you try to import a raster file via GDAL. You can also specify a folder in the Settings > GDAL.

In GDAL 3.0+ the projection database proj.db isn't found automatically. This will cause planlauf/TERRAIN's GDAL interface to fail when trying to import GeoTIFFs. You can fix this bug by adding the enviroment variable PROJ_LIB and setting its value to proj.db's folder. A detailed description of the necessary steps can be found here. Starting with planlauf/TERRAIN 2019 R2 (Download and Purchase), setting the environment variable won't be necessary anymore in most cases.

Why do I have to download FFmpeg separately?

FFmpeg is an open-source, cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video. As well as GDAL, we don't want to hide it in planlauf/TERRAIN. You can download Windows binaries from www.gyan.dev. Download the file ffmpeg-release-essentials.zip, unzip it and copy ffmpeg.exe from the 'bin' directory either to the planlauf/TERRAIN program folder or to another location on your harddrive. In the latter case you'll have to specify the path to ffmpeg.exe in the Settings > Video.

Why is the setup file only 11 MB?

The setup file is compressed and planlauf/TERRAIN will need 35 MB on your drive. Compared to other GIS software this is still very lightweight and it makes it possible to run planlauf/TERRAIN even on the most basic Windows tablet. We put a lot of effort into developing the core functions from scratch instead of using a heavy game engine. Yet, there are things incorporated in planlauf/TERRAIN that other libraries can do much better:

• Eyeshot by devDept Software S.a.s.: the best 3D graphics control available including great support
• AForge.Video by Andrew Kirillov: easy-to-use DirectShow control for webcams
• Bing Maps WPF control by Microsoft: with a Bing Maps key you can get access to worldwide maps
• las2las by RapidLasso GmbH: uncompress LAZ files
• cjpeg by the Independent JPEG Group: create JPG images with adjustable quality settings
• EzLAS by Esri: uncompress zLAS files
• 7-zip by Igor Pawlow: uncompress *.tar and *.gz files
• ArcShapeFileNetDLL by Ross Pickard: reading and writing of shapefiles
  
• B4X by Anywhere Software: a fantastic cross platform RAD tool used for planlauf/TERRAIN's iOS and Android app

Which other software is able to display DEMs?

You can get an extensive list of GIS software at Wikipedia. From our experience the following packages are most popular:

• QGIS (free and Open Source)
• CloudCompare (free and Open Source, not a real GIS software but good with 3D data)
• Applied Imagery: Quick Terrain Viewer (free, great performance)
• Esri: ArcGIS
• Blue Marble Geographics: GlobalMapper
• Golden Software: Voxler

What are the system requirements for planlauf/TERRAIN?

planlauf/TERRAIN will run on almost any Windows device with OpenGL 4.0 and .NET-Framework 4.8. The number of vertices that can be processed depends largely on the amount of RAM that can be used. We recommend using a Desktop PC with 64-Bit Windows to import and decimate DEMs. The visualization of the decimated models should in most cases be possible on a Tablet PC with 32-Bit Windows (as long as the 32-Bit 1.2 GB memory limit for one process is not exceeded). The table shows the minimum and the recommended system requirements.

What is an XYZ-file?

An XYZ-file is a simple text file which contains X, Y and Z values (in geographic coordinates: easting, northing, elevation). Each line represents one vertex and the values can be separated by one of the following characters: space, tab, comma, semicolon. Please note that planlauf/TERRAIN works with raster data, so the X and Y values have to be on an even grid.

What is an Esri ASCII Grid- or ASC-file?

An Esri ASCII Grid-file is a text file with a simple raster format. Instead of explicit X and Y values, only the number of columns and rows, the lower left corner, the grid spacing and the elevation values are stored.

How many vertices can planlauf/TERRAIN import?

There is a limit of 1 billion vertices for a single tile file *.plftil (but you can use as many tile files as you wish in a terrain file *.plfter). The number of vertices on 32-Bit Windows will be much lower (6'000'000) because a single process can only use approximately 1.2 GB of RAM. On 64-Bit Windows the amount of available RAM will determine how many vertices you can import. The table below might give you an idea about what is currently possible. If you try to import huge models, planlauf/TERRAIN will offer the option to split the task in manageable chunks. Please let us know if you're able to import less or even more vertices on your device.

How many Frames per Second (fps) can I expect?

Frames per Second depend largely on the GPU (graphics processing unit), the number of vertices and the display size. The table below shows some examples for the number of vertices for 60 fps (very smooth), 30 fps (smooth) and 15 fps (not so smooth) if our Level-Of-Detail (LOD) feature is turned off. With active LOD the fps will increase significantly (sometimes 5-10 times higher, depending on the ratio between vertices and screen pixels).

Why does Anti-Aliasing affect rendering performance?

Anti-Aliasing enhances the quality of the rendering because jagged and pixelated edges are removed. To get this positive effect, planlauf/TERRAIN needs to draw the scene at a higher resolution than the display itself and this will put a much higher load on the GPU. Usually, low resolutions (1280x720) benefit more from Anti-Aliasing than high resolutions (3000x2000).

Which GPS receivers does planlauf/TERRAIN support?

planlauf/TERRAIN supports all Bluetooth GPS receivers that use the NMEA 0183 standard and that can be paired with the Windows device. The table below shows the receivers that we were able to test or that were confirmed by our users. If you have any other GPS receiver that does or does not work with planlauf/TERRAIN, please send us an email. We'd be happy to expand the list.

How can I display the on-screen keyboard in tablet mode?

The on-screen keyboard will automatically be shown if you tap on a textbox. If it doesn't, please make sure that the option 'Automatically show the touch keyboard in windowed apps when there's no keyboard attached to your device' is turned on. You can find this option under Windows > Settings > Devices > Typing > Touch Keyboard.

How can I disable the screen rotation on my tablet?

• Windows 8/8.1: Right-click on the desktop and choose "Screen resolution", uncheck "Allow the screen to auto-rotate", hit "OK"
  
• Windows 10: Open Action Center by swiping from the right and choose "Rotation lock"
  

Why does GPS logging stop when my tablet goes to sleep mode?

GPS logging requires an active Bluetooth connection between tablet and external GPS receiver. When your tablet goes to sleep, Windows will end this connection and no further data can be recorded. You can change the time until the tablet goes to sleep mode:

• Windows 8/8.1: Click the taskbars' battery symbol in desktop mode, choose "More power options", click on "Change when the computer sleeps" on the left and choose an appropriate time under "Put the computer to sleep" (e.g., "30 minutes" or "Never")
  
• Windows 10: Click on the taskbars' battery symbol in desktop mode, choose "Power & Sleep settings", choose an appropriate time under "On battery power, PC goes to sleep after" (e.g., "30 minutes" or "Never")
  

Windows goes to sleep when I accidentally press the power button on my tablet and GPS logging stops. What can I do?

You can disable the power button (holding the power button will still shut down the PC):

• Windows 8/8.1: Click the taskbars' battery symbol in desktop mode, choose "More power options", click on "Choose what the power button does" on the left and choose "Do nothing" for "When I press the power button", hit "Save changes"
  
• Windows 10: Click on the taskbars' battery symbol in desktop mode, choose "Power & Sleep settings", go to "Additional power settings" on the bottom of the page, click on "Choose what the power button does" on the left and choose "Do nothing" for "When I press the power button", hit "Save changes"
  

Which projections does planlauf/TERRAIN support?

There are thousands of projections worldwide (see EPSG.io or Spatial Reference), many are outdated and only a few are actually used for DEM datasets. planlauf/TERRAIN supports projections for which we got our hands on test data and were able to implement and verify the forward and backward transformation. At the moment, the projections listed in the table are supported directly. GeoTIFFs or IMGs with other projections might be reprojected to UTM with our GDAL-interface. Please send us an email if you'd like to see an additional projection in the next release of planlauf/TERRAIN.

Which projections are available for reprojection during point cloud import?

The following projections are available for a reprojection during point cloud import. Please send us an email if you'd like to see an additional projection in the next release of planlauf/TERRAIN.