v1.6.0

lidR v1.6.0 (2018-07-20)

NEW FEATURE

• New function tree_hulls that computes a convex or concave hull for each segmented tree.
• New option stop_early that enables processing of an entire catolog or stops if an error occurs.
• New function catalog_retile supersedes the function catalog_reshape and performs the same task while adding much more functionality.

ENHANCEMENTS

• When processing a LAScatalog, error handling has been seriouly improved. A process can now run until the end even with errors. In this case clusters with errors are skipped.
• When processing a LAScatalog, the graphical progress now uses 3 colors. green: ok, red: error, gray: null.
• as.spatial() for LAS object preserves the CRS.
• All the functions now have strong assertions to check user inputs.
• plot.LAScatalog always displays the catalog with mapview by default even if the CRS is empty.
• In lastrees_dalponte the matching between the seeds and the canopy is more tolerant. Rasters can have different resolution and/or extent.
• lasground uses (as an option) only the last and single returns to perform the segmentation.

OTHER CHANGES

• catalog() displays a message when finding overlaps between files.
• The LAScatalog class is more thoroughly documented.
• Clusters now align on (0,0) by default when processing a LAScatalog by cluster.

BUG FIXES

• lasscanline() did not compute the scanline because the conditional statement that checked if the field was properly populated was incorrect.
• [#146] Fix matching between tree tops, raster and canopy raster.
• tree_detection when used with a point cloud was not properly coded and tended to miss some trees.
• In lasclip* if ofile was non empty, the function wrote properly the file but returned a non-expected error.
• [#155] user supplied function was being analysed by future and some function were missing. User supplied function is now manually analysed.
• [#156] Fix error when lasclip was used with a SpatialPolygonDataFrame.

v1.5.0

lidR v1.5.0 (2018-05-13)

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

• catalog_options() is formally deprecated. Use LAScatalog properties instead (see ?catalog).
• The package magrittr is no longer loaded with lidR. Thus, piping operators are no longer usable by default. To use piping operators use library(magrittr).

NEW FEATURES

• New lassmooth function. A point cloud-based smoothing function.
• New lasfiltersurfacepoints function to filter surface points.
• New grid_catalog function is a simplified and more powerful function like catalog_apply but specifically dedicated to grid_* outputs.
• New functions lasadddata, lasaddextrabyte and lasaddextrabyte_manual to add new data in a LAS object.
• lasclip can clip a SpatialPolygonsDataFrame
• lasclipRectangle and lasclipCircle can clip multiple selections (non-documented feature).
• The treeID computed with lastrees_* functions can now be written in a las/laz file by default.

OTHER CHANGES

• LAScatalog objects are processed with a single core by default.
• lasdecimate is formally deprecated. Use lasfilterdecimate
• grid_density now returns both the point and the pulse density, where possible.
• The option P is no longer set by default in readLAS.
• The documentation of lastrees has been split into several pages.
• When a catalog is processed using several cores, if an error is raised the process triggers an early signal to stop the loop. In previous releases the entire process was run and the error was raised at the end when the futures were evaluated.

BUG FIXES

• grid_metrics(lidar, stdmetrics_i(Intensity)) returned and empty data.table
• [#128] Fix raster data extraction using the slower and memory-greedy, but safer raster::extract function.
• [#126] propagate the CRS in filter functions.
• [#116] Fix clash between function area from lidR and from raster.
• [#110] Fix out-of-bounds rasterization.

v1.4.1

lidR v1.4.1 (2018-02-01)

OTHER CHANGES

• Removed examples and unit tests that imply the watershed segmentation to make CRAN check happy with the new rules relative to bioconductor packages.

NEW FEATURES

• Parameter start has been enabled in grid_metrics with catalogs.

v1.4.0

lidR v1.4.0 (2018-01-24)

NEW FEATURES

• lasclip and lasclip* can extract from a catalog.
• lasclip supports sp::Polygon objects.
• lastrees gains a new algorithm from Silva et al. (2016).
• lastrees with the Li et al. (2012) algorithm gains a new parameter to prevent over-segmentation.
• new function lassnags for classifying points as snag points or for segmenting snags.
• new function tree_detection to detect individual trees. This feature has been extracted from lastrees's algorithms and it is now up to the users to use lidR's algos or other input sources.
• plot supports natively the PointCloudViewer package avaible on github.

BUG FIXES

• Fix missing pixel in DTM that made normalization impossible.
• [#80] fix segfault.
• [#84] fix bug in lasscanline.

ENHANCEMENTS

• lastrees with the Li et al. (2012) algorithm is now 5-6 times faster and much more memory efficient.
• lastrees with the Li et al. (2012) algorithm no longer sorts the original point cloud.
• lastrees with the Dalponte et al (2016) algorithm is now computed in linear time and is therefore hundreds to millions times faster.
• catalog_reshape() streams the data and uses virtually zero memory to run.
• grid_canopy() has been rewritten entirely in C++ and is now 10 to 20 times faster both with the option subcircle or without it.
• grid_canopy() with the option subcircle uses only 16 bytes of extra memory to run, while this feature previously required the equivalent of several copies of the point cloud (several hundreds of MB).
• as.raster() is now three times faster.
• lasclassify now uses a QuadTree and is therefore faster. This enables several algorithms to run faster, such as lastrees with Silva's algo.

OTHER CHANGES

• lasground with the PMF algorithm now accepts user-defined sequences.
• lasground with the PMF algorithm has simplified parameter names to make them easier to type and understand, and to prepare the package for new algorithms.
• lasground documentation is more explicit about the actual algorithm used.
• lasground now computes the windows size more closely in line with the original Zhang paper.
• lastrees when used with raster-based methods now accepts a missing las object. In that case extra is turned to true.
• new parameter p (for power) added to functions that enable spatial interpolation with IDW.

v1.3.1

lidR v1.3.1 (Release date: 2017-09-21)

BUG FIXES

• Fix a bug of computer precision leading to non interpolated pixels at the boundaries of the QuadTree.

v1.3.0

lidR v1.3.0 (Release date: 2017-09-16)

This version is dedicated to extending functions and processes to entire catalogs in a continuous way.
Major changes are:

• How catalog_apply works. More powerful but no longer compatible with previous releases
• Former existing functions that now natively support a Catalog
• Management of buffered areas

NEW FEATURES

• catalog_apply has been entirely re-designed. It is more flexible, more user-friendly and enables loading of buffered data.
• catalog_queries has now an argument ... to pass any argument of readLAS.
• catalog_queries has now an argument buffer to load extra buffered points around the region of interest.
• grid_metrics accepts a catalog as input. It allows users to grid an entire catalog in a continuous way.
• grid_density also inherits this new feature
• grid_terrain also inherits this new feature
• grid_canopy also inherits this new feature
• grid_tincanopy also inherits this new feature
• grid_metrics has now has an argument filter for streaming filters when used with a catalog
• New function catalog_reshape

OTHER CHANGES

• lasnormalize updates the point cloud by reference and avoids making deep copies. An option copy = TRUE is available for compatibility with former versions.
• readLAS arguments changed. The new syntax is simpler. The previous syntax is still supported.
• catalog_index is no longer an exported function. It is now an internal function.
• plot.Catalog accepts the usual plot arguments
• catalog_queries and catalog_apply do not expect a parameter mc.cores. This is now driven by global options in catalog_options().
• grid_metrics and lasmetrics do not expect a parameter debug. This is now driven by global options in lidr_options.
• catalog can build a catalog from a set of paths to files instead of a path to a folder.
• removed $ access to LAS attribute (incredibly slow)
• catalog_select is more pleasant an more interactive to use.
• S3 Catalog class is now a S4 LAScatalog class
• LAS and LAScatalog class gain a slot crs automatically filled with a proj4 string
• plot.LAScatalog display a google map background if the catalog has a CRS.
• plot.LAScatalog gains an argument y to display a either a terrain, raod, satellite map.
• lasarea is deprecated. Use the more generic function area

BUG FIXES

• Computer precision errors lead to holes in raster computed from a Delaunay triangulation.
• Message in writeLAS for skipped fields when no field is skipped is now correct.

ENHANCEMENTS

• grid_terrain with delaunay allocates less memory, makes fewer deep copies and is 2 to 3 times faster
• grid_terrain with knnidw allocates less memory, makes fewer deep copies and is 2 to 3 times faster
• lasnormalize and lasclassify no longer rely on raster::extract but on internal fast_extract, which is memory efficient and more than 15 times faster.
• catalog enables a LAScatalog to be built 8 times faster than previously.
• removed dependencies to RANN package using internal k-nearest neighbor search (2 to 3 times faster)

v1.2.1

lidR v1.2.1 (Release data: 2017-06-12)

NEW FEATURES

• new function tree_metrics.
• new function stdtreemetrics.
• grid_tincanopy() gains a parameter subcircle like grid_canopy()
• new function rumple_index for measuring roughness of a digital model (terrain or canopy)
• global options to parameterize the package - avaible with lidr_options()

BUG FIXES

• Installation fails if package sp is missing.
• Memory leak in QuadTree algorithm. Memory is now free after QuadTree deletion.
• Dalponte's algorithm had a bug due to the use of std::abs which works with intergers. Replaced by std::fabs which works with doubles.
• In grid_tincanopy x > 0 was replaced by x >= 0 to avoid errors in the canopy height models
• Triangle boudaries are now taken into account in the rasterization of the Delaunay triangulation

OTHER CHANGES

• lastrees Li et al. algorithm for tree segmentation is now ten to a thousand of times faster than in v1.2.0
• grid_terrain, the interpolation is now done only within the convex hull of the point cloud
• grid_tincanopy makes the triangulation only for highest return per grid cell.
• grid_tincanopy and grid_terrain using Delaunay triangulation is now ten to a hundred times faster than in v1.2.0
• as.raster now relies on sp and is more flexible
• as.raster automatically returns a RasterStack if no layer is provided.
• plot.lasmetrics inherits as.raster changes and can display a RasterStack

v1.2.0

lidR v1.2.0 (Release date: 2017-03-26)

NEW FEATURES

• new function lasground for ground segmentation.
• new function grid_tincanopy. Canopy height model using Khosravipour et al. pit-free algorithm.
• new function grid_hexametrics. Area-based approach in hexagonal cells.
• lasnormalize allows for "non-discretized" normalization i.e interpolating each point instead of using a raster.
• internally lascheck performs more tests to check if the header is in accordance with the data.

BUG FIXES

• [#48] gap_fraction_profile() bug with negative values (thanks to Florian de Boissieu)
• [#49] typo error leading to the wrong metric in stdmetric_i
• [#50] typo error leading to the wrong metric in stdmetric
• Fix bug in stdmetric_z when max(Z) = 0
• [#54] better recomputation of the header of LAS objects.

OTHER CHANGES

• Slightly faster point classification from shapefiles.
• [#51] in grid_terrain, forcing the lowest point to be retained is now an option keep_lowest = FALSE

v1.1.0

lidR v1.1.0 (Release date: 2017-02-05)

NEW FEATURES

• lastree() for individual tree segmentation
• readLAS() gains a parameter filter from rlas (>= 1.1.0)
• catalog_queries() relies on rlas (>= 1.1.0). It saves a lot of memory, it is 2 to 6 times faster and supports .lax files.

OTHER CHANGES

• colorPalette parameter in plot.LAS() now expects a list of colors instead of a function. Use height.colors(50) instead of height.colors
• The header of a LAS object is now an S4 class called LASheader
• The spatial interpolation method called akima is now called delaunay because it corresponds to what is actually computed.
• The spatial interpolation method called akima lost its parameter linear.
• The spatial interpolation method called kriging now performs a KNN kriging.
• catalog_queries() lost the parameter ... all the fields are loaded by default.
• Removed lasterrain() which was not consistent with other functions and not useful.

BUG FIXES

• The header of LAS objects automatically updates Number of point records and Number of nth return.
• lasnormalize() updates the header and returns warnings for some behaviors
• #39 - interpolation with duplicated ground points

v1.0.2

Available on CRAN