readLAScatalog: Create an object of class LAScatalog

Description

Create an object of class LAScatalog from a folder or a collection of filenames. A LAScatalog is a representation of a collection of las/laz files. A computer cannot load all the data at once. A LAScatalog is a simple way to manage all the files sequentially. Most functions from lidR can be used seamlessly with a LAScatalog using the internal LAScatalog processing engine. To take advantage of the LAScatalog processing engine the user must first adjust some processing options using the appropriated functions. Careful reading of the LAScatalog class documentation is required to use the LAScatalog class correctly. catalog() is softly deprecated for readLAScatalog().

Usage

readLAScatalog(
  folder,
  progress = TRUE,
  select = "*",
  filter = "",
  chunk_size = 0,
  chunk_buffer = 30,
  ...
)
catalog(folder, ...)

Arguments

folder

string. The path of a folder containing a set of las/laz files. Can also be a vector of file paths.

progress, select, filter, chunk_size, chunk_buffer

Easily accessible processing options tuning. See LAScatalog-class and catalog_options_tools.

…

Extra parameters to list.files. Typically `recursive = TRUE`.

Value

A LAScatalog object

Examples

Run this code

# NOT RUN {
# A single file LAScatalog using data provided with the package
LASfile <- system.file("extdata", "Megaplot.laz", package="lidR")
ctg = readLAScatalog(LASfile)
plot(ctg)

# }
# NOT RUN {
ctg <- readLAScatalog("/path/to/a/folder/of/las/files")

# Internal engine will sequentially process chunks of size 500 x 500 m (clusters)
opt_chunk_size(ctg) <- 500

# Internal engine will align the 500 x 500 m chunks on x = 250 and y = 300
opt_alignment(ctg) <- c(250, 300)

# Internal engine will not display a progress estimation
opt_progress(ctg) <- FALSE

# Internal engine will not return results into R. Instead it will write results in files.
opt_output_files(ctg) <- "/path/to/folder/templated_filename_{XBOTTOM}_{ID}"

# More details in the documentation
help("LAScatalog-class", "lidR")
help("catalog_options_tools", "lidR")
# }

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