Create derived rasters

In the third stage, you will use one of three different methods, as detailed in the following workflows, to generate raster surfaces from the 3D point data.

Two raster datasets are typically required: the bare-earth DTM and the corresponding first-return surface DSM. The most efficient way to make lidar data accessible is to create corresponding rasters that are compact and can be shared as image services, with the ability to quickly render the data in different ways, as well as perform analysis. The rasters from multiple projects can be shared with many users as a comprehensive yet maintainable image service (Create mosaic datasets and serve the raster data). Where required, references to the lidar source data can be maintained for users with specialized applications (Share 3D point files for user download).

The alternative workflows detailed below are based on the availability of supporting data and your organization’s requirements for managing the bare-earth DTM.

These workflows presume you have received lidar data in LAS or zLAS format, but the data provider did not create the raster surfaces (DTM and DSM) prior to delivery. If the DTM and DSM already exist, skip to Create mosaic datasets and serve the raster data.