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lidR

R package for Airborne LiDAR Data Manipulation and Visualization for Forestry Applications

‼️ Since august 2026, the lidR package is no longer on CRAN. It is now hosted by r-universe. See below.

The lidR package provides functions to read and write .las and .laz files, plot point clouds, compute metrics using an area-based approach, compute digital canopy models, thin LiDAR data, manage a collection of LAS/LAZ files, automatically extract ground inventories, process a collection of tiles using multicore processing, segment individual trees, classify points from geographic data, and provides other tools to manipulate LiDAR data in a research and development context.

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Version

Install

install.packages('lidR')

Monthly Downloads

462

Version

4.3.3

License

GPL-3

Issues

16

Pull Requests

0

Stars

710

Forks

140

Maintainer

Jean-Romain Roussel

Last Published

September 16th, 2026

Functions in lidR (4.3.3)

as

Transform to a list
clip

Clip points in regions of interest
dsm_pitfree

Digital Surface Model Algorithm
catalog_intersect

Subset a LAScatalog
catalog_retile

Retile a LAScatalog
catalog_boundaries

Computes the polygon that encloses the points
decimate_points

Decimate a LAS object
catalog_split_clusters

Split a catalog into spatially clustered subsets
deprecated

Deprecated functions in lidR
connected_components

Connected-Component Labeling
classify

Classify points
dtm_tin

Spatial Interpolation Algorithm
filters

Filter points of interest
fit_circle

Fits 2D Circles on a Point Cloud
dsm_spikefree

Digital Surface Model Algorithm
engine

Functions for the LAScatalog processing engine not meant to be called directly by users
dtm_idw

Spatial Interpolation Algorithm
dtm_kriging

Spatial Interpolation Algorithm
dsm_tin

Digital Surface Model Algorithm
engine_options

Get or set LAScatalog processing engine options
dsm_point2raster

Digital Surface Model Algorithm
interpret_waveform

Convert full waveform data into a regular point cloud
retrieve_pulses

Retrieve individual pulses, flightlines or scanlines
is

A set of boolean tests on objects
itd_lmf

Individual Tree Detection Algorithm
gnd_pmf

Ground Segmentation Algorithm
its_dalponte2016

Individual Tree Segmentation Algorithm
itd_manual

Individual Tree Detection Algorithm
gnd_mcc

Ground Segmentation Algorithm
gnd_csf

Ground Segmentation Algorithm
its_li2012

Individual Tree Segmentation Algorithm
las_compression

Compression of the point cloud
its_silva2016

Individual Tree Segmentation Algorithm
las_check

Inspect a LAS object
lidR-package

lidR: airborne LiDAR for forestry applications
knn

Search Nearest Neighbors
las_utilities

LAS utilities
lidR-parallelism

Parallel computation in lidR
its_watershed

Individual Tree Segmentation Algorithm
knn_distance

Computes the Distance to k-Nearest Neighbors
lidR-LAScatalog-drivers

LAScatalog drivers
locate_trees

Individual tree detection
nstdmetrics

Predefined non standard metrics
pitfill_stonge2008

Pits and spikes filling
merge_spatial

Merge a point cloud with a source of spatial data
normalize

Normalize point cloud
noise_ivf

Noise Segmentation Algorithm
noise_sor

Noise Segmentation Algorithm
plot

Plot a LAS* object
old_spatial_packages

Older R Spatial Packages
lidR-spatial-index

Spatial index
plugins

Plugin system
readALS

Read .las or .laz files
plot.lasmetrics3d

Plot voxelized LiDAR data
range_correction

Intensity normalization algorithm
plot_3d

Add a spatial object to a point cloud scene
point_metrics

Point-based metrics
ptd

Progressive TIN Densification
readLASheader

Read a .las or .laz file header
rasterize

Rasterize a point cloud
readLAScatalog

Create an object of class LAScatalog
set_lidr_threads

Set or get number of threads that lidR should use
sample_maxima

Point Cloud Decimation Algorithm
smooth_height

Smooth a point cloud
snag_wing2015

Snags Segmentation Algorithm
sample_homogenize

Point Cloud Decimation Algorithm
sample_per_voxel

Point Cloud Decimation Algorithm
shape_detection

Algorithms for shape detection of the local point neighbourhood
sample_random

Point Cloud Decimation Algorithm
st_area

Surface covered by a LAS* object
segment

Segment a point cloud
st_hull

Concave and convex hulls for LAS objects
track_sensor

Reconstruct the trajectory of the LiDAR sensor using multiple returns
print.LAS

Tools inherited from base R for LAS* objects
st_coordinates

Coordinates of a LAS* object in a matrix form
st_crs

Get or set the projection of a LAS* object
track_sensor_gatziolis2019

Sensor tracking algorithm
st_bbox

Bounding box of a LAS* object
st_transform

Transform or convert coordinates of LAS objects
track_sensor_roussel2020

Sensor tracking algorithm
stdmetrics

Predefined standard metrics functions
writeLAS

Write a .las or .laz file
voxelize_points

Voxelize a point cloud
LASheader

Create a LASheader object
Extract

Extract or Replace Parts of a LAS* Object
add_attribute

Add attributes into a LAS object
LAScatalog-class

An S4 class to represent a collection of .las or .laz files
aggregate

Metric derivation at different levels of regularization
asprs

ASPRS LAS Classification
LASheader-class

An S4 class to represent the header of .las or .laz files
catalog_apply

LAScatalog processing engine
LAS-class

An S4 class to represent a .las or .laz file