This extension was created for users to import LIDAR data sets directly into ArcView. LIDAR data are composed of elevation measurements of the beach surface and were acquired during aerial topographic surveys. The file format used to capture the LIDAR data is referred to as "x, y, z," where x is longitude, y is latitude, and z is elevation. This extension automatically loads the x,y,z points into a table and displays them as a shapefile.

Before you begin this tutorial, you will need to have acquired a LIDAR data set. These data sets can be extracted from the web-based LIDAR DAta Retrieval Tool (LDART). To use LDART, click here.

To use the LIDAR Loader extension (load_lid.avx) you must move this extension from the \software\exten folder on this CD-ROM into the ESRI extension folder on your computer's hard drive. The path for the Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc. (ESRI) extension folder is shown below.

To load this extension manually, open ArcView, go to the Project Window and select Extensions from the File menu. This gives you a dialog box that allows you to choose which extensions you would like to load. Choose Lidar Loader extension by checking the box next to it. Click OK.

Open a new View, and you will see  added to the standard set of icons along the top row. Click this button and you will be prompted to search for the LIDAR data file you created. Shortly, you will be prompted for an output name and location. This will be the ArcView shapefile version of the text file you created with LDART.

A note of caution: Depending on the computer system specifications (processor, disk space, amount of RAM, etc.), it may take quite a long time to process large LIDAR beach mapping data sets in ArcView. To ensure you will not overload the processing capability of your computer, check the file size of the LIDAR beach mapping data text file you download. A data set no larger than 2Mb is recommended for this test of your system.

This is all you have to do. The extension will load your text file as a table, add it as a new Theme to your View, classify the x,y,z points by the elevation in a simple green colormap, and save the point data as a shapefile. You can edit the colormap by clicking on the legend for the point theme.