Lidar Point Density

Estimate lidar point density after a caller-supplied swath-overlap adjustment.

Description

Point density divides a supplied point count by a simple overlap-adjusted area.

Point density divides a supplied point count by a simple overlap-adjusted area. This model reduces unique area using the supplied overlap percentage.^[1]

Estimate lidar point density after a caller-supplied swath-overlap adjustment.

When to use Lidar Point Density

Use this tool to estimate lidar point density after a caller-supplied swath-overlap adjustment.

Prepare the optical measurements, geometry, fitted coefficients or caller-selected thresholds requested. Confirm wavelength, radius/diameter, pulse-width, angle and unit conventions before running the calculation.

How to use Lidar Point Density and understand its results

Prepare the optical measurements, geometry, fitted coefficients or caller-selected thresholds requested. Confirm wavelength, radius/diameter, pulse-width, angle and unit conventions before running the calculation.
Enter pointCount, swathAreaSquareMeters, overlapPercent using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
Read uniqueAreaSquareMeters, pointsPerSquareMeter. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.

Input field	Meaning	Value type; see rules below	Requirement
pointCount	Recorded point count	integer; minimum: 0	Required
swathAreaSquareMeters	Nominal swath area (m²)	number; minimum: 0	Required
overlapPercent	Swath overlap (%)	number; minimum: 0; maximum: 100	Required

Enter nonnegative integer point count, positive area and overlap from zero inclusive to 100 exclusive. Return m² and points/m².

uniqueArea=swathArea(1−overlap/100); density=points/uniqueArea

Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
uniqueAreaSquareMeters	Estimated unique area (m²)	number; minimum: 0
pointsPerSquareMeter	Point density (points/m²)	number; minimum: 0

json

{
  "input": {
    "pointCount": 10000,
    "swathAreaSquareMeters": 2,
    "overlapPercent": 20
  },
  "output": {
    "uniqueAreaSquareMeters": 1.6,
    "pointsPerSquareMeter": 6250
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Point duplicates are not removed. No swath intersection geometry or spatial-density map is computed.

Numeric inputs must be finite. Follow the calculation-specific rules for overflow, underflow and exceptional cases. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use Flash-Lidar Frame Coverage: Calculate flash-lidar points per frame and angular pixel pitch. For a complementary task, use Repeat-Orbit Swath Coverage: Estimate nominal repeat-orbit swath coverage against a supplied reference surface area.

References

Lidar Point Density — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Flash-Lidar Frame Coverage
Calculate flash-lidar points per frame and angular pixel pitch.
Repeat-Orbit Swath Coverage
Estimate nominal repeat-orbit swath coverage against a supplied reference surface area.