Video Tutorials

Video Playlists

Data Access via OpenTopography

Accessing USGS 3DEP data on OpenTopography: Currently, this is limited to US academics and OT+ subscribers.
Accessing global topography data: Download global and regional topographic data, including SRTM and ALOS DEMs.
Using API Keys to Access OpenTopography’s Global Datasets API: Request and use an API Key for s global datasets API.
Extract and Download Ground Classified Points on OpenTopography: Download ground classified points using OpenTopography's interface.

Dataset Preparation

Raster resolution: Set the raster resolution from Point Cloud Density
Extract and Download Ground Classified Points on OpenTopography: Download ground classified points using OpenTopography's interface.
Reproject DEMs in QGIS: Reproject DEMS and avoid adding a grid artifact.

Visualize Raster Datasets (e.g., topographic hillshades)

Topographic Hillshades or Shaded Relic maps: What are they? How to visually & and download?
Create Topographic Hillshades in QGIS: See 3 methods in QGIS.
Generate Hillshades from Global Topographic Data: Set the Z-factor when generating hillshades from global topography data in QGIS.
Visualize DEMs and Raster Topography in Matlab:The Matlab script is available from OpenTopography’s GitHub page.

Visualize Point Cloud Datasets

Potree point cloud viewer: Visualize datasets by attribute and make measurements with our treasure hunt activity.
Lastools and Lasview: Download, install, and use Lastools (specifically Lasview) to visualize point clouds
Visualize Point Cloud Topography in Matlab: Load and visualize point clouds in Matlab with this script from Github
Visualize Point Cloud Topography with Matlab’s Lidar Toolbox:Use Matlab’s Lidar Toolbox with this script from OpenTopography’s GitHub .

Topographic Differencing

Vertical Differencing on OpenTopography: Perform vertical change on over 20% of the mainland US and many international datasets.
3D Differencing on OpenTopography: Perform 3D differencing on OpenTopography with the ICP algorithm.
3D Topographic Differencing on Matlab: Perform 3D differencing in Matlab with this script from GitHub.
3D Differencing on CloudCompare: Perform 3D differencing using CloudCompare.

Hydrology Tools

TauDEM Hydrology Tools: Calculate flow direction and area contributing within hydrologic networks and visualize in QGIS.

Canopy Height Models and Ground Point Extraction

Make a Canopy Height Model on OpenTopography: Produce a canopy height model (CHM)/ a normalized digital surface model.
Use Lastools to Extract Ground Classified Points Use Lastools to extract and view ground classified points from a point cloud.

Geologic Mapping with Lidar Topography in ArcGIS Pro

Playlist: Geologic mapping with lidar topography in ArcGIS Pro: This suite of 24 tutorial videos demonstrates how to use ArcGIS Pro software to construct geologic maps with step-by-step instructions using lidar data here.

3D Printing

3D Printing: Make a 3D print (STL file) using free software including the DEMto3D plugin in QGIS and 3D Builder.

CloudCompare Tutorials

Measuring Fault Plane Strike and Dip: Measure geologic fault orientation from a point cloud using the Compass tool.