LiDARch - Automated LiDAR Processing Tool

LiDARch is an educational tool that automates LiDAR point cloud processing workflows for archaeological applications. This project was developed as part of academic coursework to demonstrate the integration of existing geospatial tools into a streamlined processing pipeline. To run the tool just dowload LIDARch folder, unzip it in your Desktop and click in LiDARch.exe.This will prompt the program. Ensure QGIS and LASTools are installed in your PC.

Note: This is an academic project that orchestrates third-party tools (QGIS, SAGA GIS, LAStools, RVT). It is provided for educational purposes only.

Process LiDAR Data Automatically for Archaeological Purposes
MA in Archaeology and Sciences of Antiquity (USC/CSIC/UDC/UVIGO). Geospatial Technologies in Archaeology course

🔗 GitHub Repository View on GitHub - Source code and releases

📖 Further Reading Carrero-Pazos et al. 2023 ZRC SAZU Publication

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Features

LiDARch automates a 6-step workflow using industry-standard tools:

1. LAZ Decompression - Converts compressed LAZ to LAS format
2. Ground Classification - Identifies ground points using LAStools
3. Ground Filtering - Extracts Class 2 (ground) points
4. DTM Interpolation - Creates Digital Terrain Model via SAGA GIS
5. Point Cloud Merging - Combines processed tiles
6. Archaeological Visualizations - Generates 4 specialized outputs using RVT

• Dependency Assistant - Automatic check and direct links to download QGIS/LAStools
• Visualization Selection - Choose which products to generate (Hillshade, SLRM, SVF, LD)
• Custom Parameters - Fine-tune RVT settings directly from the GUI

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Quick Start

Option 1: Use Pre-built Executable (Recommended)

1. Download LiDARch.exe from the repository root
2. Install required third-party software:
   • QGIS 3.28+ (includes SAGA GIS)
   • LAStools
3. Run LiDARch.exe with administrator privileges
4. Select your LiDAR data folder and LAStools path
5. Click "START PROCESSING"

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System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
• RAM: 8GB minimum, 16GB recommended
• Disk Space: 50GB free space for processing
• Required Third-Party Software:
  • QGIS 3.28+ (includes SAGA GIS)
  • LAStools (any version)

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Building from Source

To create the standalone executable:

# Install build dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install pyinstaller

# Run build script
build_executable.bat

The executable will be created in the dist/ folder.

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Output Files

After processing, LiDARch generates:

Proyecto_LiDARch_[timestamp]/
├── MDT_geotiff/
│   └── MDT_merged.tif          # Digital Terrain Model
├── RVT_visualizations/
│   ├── hillshade.tif           # Hillshade visualization
│   ├── local_relief_model.tif  # Local Relief Model (SLRM)
│   ├── sky_view_factor.tif     # Sky View Factor
│   └── local_dominance.tif     # Local Dominance
├── lidar_merged/
│   └── merged_cloud.las        # Merged point cloud
└── technical_report.txt        # Processing summary

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Academic Context

Project Type: Educational coursework project
Institution: MA in Archaeology and Sciences of Antiquity, USC/CSIC/UDC/UVIGO
Course: Geospatial Technologies in Archaeology
Author: M. Carrero-Pazos (miguel.carrero@usc.es)

Institutional Affiliations:

• GEPN-AAT (Grupo de Estudios para la Prehistoria del Noroeste - Arqueología, Antigüedad y Territorio)
• CISPAC (Centro de Investigación Interuniversitario das Paisaxes Atlánticas Culturais)

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Important Notes

Educational Use Only

This tool was created for educational purposes to demonstrate workflow automation. It is not official software from any institution.

LAStools Licensing

• LAStools demo mode has limitations (point count, slight distortion)
• For production use, purchase a LAStools license
• Some tools (las2las, lasmerge) are free for any use

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Third-Party Software: This tool uses QGIS, SAGA GIS, LAStools, and RVT. Each has its own license. See LICENSE file for details.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! This is an open educational project.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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Contact

Author: M. Carrero-Pazos
Email: miguel.carrero@usc.es
Institution: USC/CISPAC

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Acknowledgments

This project integrates the following excellent tools:

• QGIS Project - Open-source GIS platform
• SAGA GIS - Terrain analysis tools
• LAStools - LiDAR processing utilities by rapidlasso
• RVT (Relief Visualization Toolbox) - Archaeological visualization methods
• CustomTkinter - Modern GUI framework

Special thanks to the developers and maintainers of these tools for making archaeological LiDAR processing accessible.

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Citation

If you use this tool in your research or teaching, please cite:

Carrero Pazos, M. (2026). LiDARch: Automated LiDAR Processing Tool for Archaeological Applications. 
An educational scripting project. MA in Archaeology and Sciences of Antiquity, Geoespatial Technologies course.
GitHub: https://github.com/MCarreroPazos/LiDARch
Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18302088

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Limitations

• LAStools Demo Mode: Point count limits and slight distortions in demo mode
• Windows Only: Currently only supports Windows 10/11
• Manual Dependencies: Requires manual installation of QGIS and LAStools

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Disclaimer: This software is provided "as is" for educational purposes. LLMs have been used to create and curate this scripting tool.