The OpenTopography Tool Registry provides a community populated clearinghouse of software, utilities, and tools oriented towards high-resolution topography data (e.g. collected with lidar technology) handling, processing, and analysis. Tools registered below range from source code to full-featured software applications. We welcome contributions to the registry via the Contribute a Tool page.

	Tool Name	Date	Tool Type	Rating
1	LAStools	6 May 2012	Software Suite
Keywords: filtering, clipping, reprojecting, compression, classification, DSM, DTM, TIN, contours, bare-earth License: Other Description: LAStools are a collection of highly-efficient, batch scriptable, multi-core command line tools for processing LiDAR that is built upon LASlib (with LASzip). lasground.exe extracts the bare-earth by classifying all ground points lasoverlap.exe checks overlap & vertical/horizontal alignment of flight lines lascontrol.exe quality checks elevations for a list of control points lasclassify.exe find buildings and the trees above the ground lasgrid.exe rasters very large LAS files into elevation or intensity grids lasboundary.exe extracts a boundary polygon that encloses the points lasheight.exe computes for each point its height above the ground lasclip.exe clips points against building footprints / swath boundaries lastile.exe tiles huge amounts of LAS points into square tiles laszip.exe compresses the LAS files in a completely lossless manner lasinfo.exe prints out a quick overview of the contents of a LAS FILE lasindex.exe creates a spatial index LAX file for fast spatial queries txt2las.exe converts LIDAR data from ASCII text to binary LAS format las2txt.exe turns LAS into human-readable and easy-to-parse ASCII lasmerge.exe merges several LAS files into one lassplit.exe splits points of one (or many) LAS files into flight lines lassort.exe sorts points by gps_time, point_source, or into spatial proximity las2las.exe extracts last returns, clips, subsamples, translate
2	Geographic Calculator	5 Mar 2015	DEM Analysis, Data Management / Handling
Keywords: vertical datum transformation, horizontal datum, image resampling, geoid support, HTDP License: Commercial License Description: The Geographic Calculator is THE Global Coordinate Transformation tool for any coordinate or geomatic challenge. A powerful windows solution with particular strength in survey, seismic and energy exploration, it is available in 32 or 64 bit versions. This highly accurate transformation software includes tools such as Canadian DLS (Dominion Land Survey) Land Grid tools, Seismic Survey Conversion tools, Area of Use tools for guiding users, and much more. The Geographic Calculator supports a wide range of file formats with support from the largest geodetic parameter database available anywhere. Display and reproject your DEMs into the right coordinate systems.
3	terrainShadingMask	6 Jul 2016	Visualization, DEM Analysis
Keywords: terrain, shading, mask, profile, horizon, angle, Meteonorm, PVSOL, PVsyst, IES VE, Trnsys 3D License: GNU General Public License Description: terrainShadingMask is a free collection of terrain masks for various locations. They are given in geometrical (.obj files) and textual (.hor files) forms. A terrain shading mask is a diagram which maps the silhouette of the surrounding terrain (hills, valleys, mountains, tree tops...) around the chosen location. Building simulation softwares (IES VE, Trnsys 3D, Design Builder...) can use the .obj geometry files, while solar-photovoltaic-thermal software (PV*SOL, PVsyst...) can use .hor files.