v.in.pdal

Converts LAS LiDAR point clouds to a GRASS vector map with PDAL.

Command linePython (grass.tools)Python (grass.script)

v.in.pdal [-wocr] input=name output=name [id_layer=string] [return_layer=string] [class_layer=string] [rgb_layer=string] [spatial=xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax] [zrange=min,max] [return_filter=string] [class_filter=integer [,integer,...]] [input_srs=string] [--overwrite] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--qq] [--ui]

Example:

v.in.pdal input=name output=name

grass.tools.Tools.v_in_pdal(input, output, id_layer=None, return_layer=None, class_layer=None, rgb_layer=None, spatial=None, zrange=None, return_filter=None, class_filter=None, input_srs=None, flags=None, overwrite=None, verbose=None, quiet=None, superquiet=None)

Example:

tools = Tools()
tools.v_in_pdal(input="name", output="name")

This grass.tools API is experimental in version 8.5 and expected to be stable in version 8.6.

grass.script.run_command("v.in.pdal", input, output, id_layer=None, return_layer=None, class_layer=None, rgb_layer=None, spatial=None, zrange=None, return_filter=None, class_filter=None, input_srs=None, flags=None, overwrite=None, verbose=None, quiet=None, superquiet=None)

Example:

gs.run_command("v.in.pdal", input="name", output="name")

Parameters

Command linePython (grass.tools)Python (grass.script)

input=name [required]
    LAS input file
    LiDAR input files in LAS format (*.las or *.laz)
output=name [required]
    Name for output vector map
id_layer=string
    Layer number to store generated point ID as category
    Set to 1 by default, use -c to not store it
return_layer=string
    Layer number to store return information as category
    Leave empty to not store it
class_layer=string
    Layer number to store class number as category
    Leave empty to not store it
rgb_layer=string
    Layer number where RBG colors are stored as category
    Leave empty to not store it
spatial=xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax
    Import subregion only
    Format: xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax - usually W,S,E,N
zrange=min,max
    Filter range for z data (min,max)
return_filter=string
    Only import points of selected return type
    If not specified, all points are imported
    Allowed values: first, last, mid
class_filter=integer [,integer,...]
    Only import points of selected class(es)
    Input is comma separated integers. If not specified, all points are imported.
input_srs=string
    Input dataset projection (WKT or EPSG, e.g. EPSG:4326)
    Override input dataset coordinate system using EPSG code or WKT definition
-w
    Reproject to project's coordinate system if needed [deprecated]
    This flag is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Input dataset will always be reprojected if needed.
-o
    Override projection check (use current project's CRS)
    Assume that the dataset has the same coordinate reference system as the current project
-c
    Do not automatically add unique ID as category to each point
    Create only requested layers and categories
-r
    Limit import to the current region
--overwrite
    Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help
    Print usage summary
--verbose
    Verbose module output
--quiet
    Quiet module output
--qq
    Very quiet module output
--ui
    Force launching GUI dialog

input : str | io.StringIO, required
    LAS input file
    LiDAR input files in LAS format (*.las or *.laz)
    Used as: input, file, name
output : str, required
    Name for output vector map
    Used as: output, vector, name
id_layer : str, optional
    Layer number to store generated point ID as category
    Set to 1 by default, use -c to not store it
    Used as: input, layer
return_layer : str, optional
    Layer number to store return information as category
    Leave empty to not store it
    Used as: input, layer
class_layer : str, optional
    Layer number to store class number as category
    Leave empty to not store it
    Used as: input, layer
rgb_layer : str, optional
    Layer number where RBG colors are stored as category
    Leave empty to not store it
    Used as: input, layer
spatial : tuple[float, float, float, float] | list[float] | str, optional
    Import subregion only
    Format: xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax - usually W,S,E,N
    Used as: xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax
zrange : tuple[float, float] | list[float] | str, optional
    Filter range for z data (min,max)
    Used as: min,max
return_filter : str, optional
    Only import points of selected return type
    If not specified, all points are imported
    Allowed values: first, last, mid
class_filter : int | list[int] | str, optional
    Only import points of selected class(es)
    Input is comma separated integers. If not specified, all points are imported.
input_srs : str, optional
    Input dataset projection (WKT or EPSG, e.g. EPSG:4326)
    Override input dataset coordinate system using EPSG code or WKT definition
flags : str, optional
    Allowed values: w, o, c, r
    w
        Reproject to project's coordinate system if needed [deprecated]
        This flag is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Input dataset will always be reprojected if needed.
    o
        Override projection check (use current project's CRS)
        Assume that the dataset has the same coordinate reference system as the current project
    c
        Do not automatically add unique ID as category to each point
        Create only requested layers and categories
    r
        Limit import to the current region
overwrite : bool, optional
    Allow output files to overwrite existing files
    Default: None
verbose : bool, optional
    Verbose module output
    Default: None
quiet : bool, optional
    Quiet module output
    Default: None
superquiet : bool, optional
    Very quiet module output
    Default: None

Returns:

result : grass.tools.support.ToolResult | None
If the tool produces text as standard output, a ToolResult object will be returned. Otherwise, None will be returned.

Raises:

grass.tools.ToolError: When the tool ended with an error.

input : str, required
    LAS input file
    LiDAR input files in LAS format (*.las or *.laz)
    Used as: input, file, name
output : str, required
    Name for output vector map
    Used as: output, vector, name
id_layer : str, optional
    Layer number to store generated point ID as category
    Set to 1 by default, use -c to not store it
    Used as: input, layer
return_layer : str, optional
    Layer number to store return information as category
    Leave empty to not store it
    Used as: input, layer
class_layer : str, optional
    Layer number to store class number as category
    Leave empty to not store it
    Used as: input, layer
rgb_layer : str, optional
    Layer number where RBG colors are stored as category
    Leave empty to not store it
    Used as: input, layer
spatial : tuple[float, float, float, float] | list[float] | str, optional
    Import subregion only
    Format: xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax - usually W,S,E,N
    Used as: xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax
zrange : tuple[float, float] | list[float] | str, optional
    Filter range for z data (min,max)
    Used as: min,max
return_filter : str, optional
    Only import points of selected return type
    If not specified, all points are imported
    Allowed values: first, last, mid
class_filter : int | list[int] | str, optional
    Only import points of selected class(es)
    Input is comma separated integers. If not specified, all points are imported.
input_srs : str, optional
    Input dataset projection (WKT or EPSG, e.g. EPSG:4326)
    Override input dataset coordinate system using EPSG code or WKT definition
flags : str, optional
    Allowed values: w, o, c, r
    w
        Reproject to project's coordinate system if needed [deprecated]
        This flag is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Input dataset will always be reprojected if needed.
    o
        Override projection check (use current project's CRS)
        Assume that the dataset has the same coordinate reference system as the current project
    c
        Do not automatically add unique ID as category to each point
        Create only requested layers and categories
    r
        Limit import to the current region
overwrite : bool, optional
    Allow output files to overwrite existing files
    Default: None
verbose : bool, optional
    Verbose module output
    Default: None
quiet : bool, optional
    Quiet module output
    Default: None
superquiet : bool, optional
    Very quiet module output
    Default: None

DESCRIPTION

Imports a point cloud (e.g. from a LAS file) as vector points with the PDAL library. v.in.pdal supports the following filters:

2D region filter
Z coordinates filter
return filter
class filter

NOTES

The coordinate reference system (CRS) of the input is read from the file metadata and compared with the CRS of the current project (previously called location). When the two differ, the points are reprojected to the project's CRS during the import. The -w flag, which used to be required to allow the reprojection, is deprecated and has no effect.

The -o flag skips the CRS check and assumes that the input is already in the project's CRS. Use it when the file has no CRS metadata or when the metadata is known to be wrong; without it, the import of a file without CRS metadata fails.

EXAMPLES

Import only XYZ coordinates of points, limit the import to the current computational region. The points are reprojected to the project's CRS if the CRS of the input differs:

v.in.pdal input=points.las output=points -c -r

REFERENCES

V. Petras, A. Petrasova, J. Jeziorska, H. Mitasova (2016): Processing UAV and lidar point clouds in GRASS GIS. XXIII ISPRS Congress 2016 [ISPRS Archives, ResearchGate]

AUTHOR

Vaclav Petras, NCSU GeoForAll Lab

SOURCE CODE

Available at: v.in.pdal source code (history)
Latest change: Tuesday Sep 29 05:53:52 2026 in commit 475f8ee

v.in.pdal

Parameters

DESCRIPTION

NOTES

EXAMPLES

REFERENCES

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

SOURCE CODE