PROProduction

Generate terrain-focused raster products from LiDAR with consistent QA and surface controls.

workflow pro

Workflow Narrative

LiDAR Terrain Product Suite

Problem It Solves

How can we convert raw LiDAR into a consistent, production-ready terrain package quickly and reproducibly?

Who It Is For

Terrain product operations teams and applied engineering GIS units.

Primary User

Mapping programs, engineering/environmental consultancies, and topographic data providers.

What It Does

Produces a full terrain derivative package from raw LiDAR in one run.
Includes core terrain products and propagated QA metrics.
Emits metadata contract for reproducibility and downstream automation.

How It Works

Performs LiDAR preprocessing/classification and interpolates terrain surfaces.
Derives DTM/DSM/slope/hillshade products from the processed ground and surface model.
Propagates QA diagnostics into confidence/uncertainty and records run metadata contract.
Indicative formula: slope = atan(sqrt((dz/dx)^2 + (dz/dy)^2)); hillshade from slope/aspect and illumination azimuth/zenith.

Why It Wins

Unifies classification, terrain derivatives, and QA metadata into one operational pipeline.

Typical Buying Trigger

Production teams must deliver standardized terrain products at scale with minimal manual orchestration.

Typical Presets

balanced for default production.
strict for high-stakes engineering QA contexts.

Inputs

Parameter	Optional	Description
input (LAS/LAZ)	no	Input LiDAR point cloud used to derive QA, terrain, structure, or encroachment products.
profile, block size, slope/elevation thresholds	no	Terrain-suite processing profile and block/threshold controls for derivative generation.
hillshade and QA controls	no	Hillshade illumination and QA export controls for terrain package outputs.

Outputs

Parameter	Type	Description
dtm	GeoTIFF	Digital terrain model raster generated from workflow processing.
dsm	GeoTIFF	Digital surface model raster generated from workflow processing.
slope	GeoTIFF	Slope derivative raster generated from terrain processing.
hillshade	GeoTIFF	Hillshade visualization raster generated from terrain derivatives.
confidence	GeoTIFF	Confidence layer quantifying reliability of modeled outputs.
uncertainty	GeoTIFF	Uncertainty diagnostics layer highlighting low-certainty areas.
metadata	JSON	Metadata contract describing generated products and provenance.
html_report	HTML	Human-readable customer-facing report generated from the metadata/summary contract for stakeholder review and QA traceability.
classified_lidar	optional LAS/LAZ	Optional classified LiDAR point cloud output from QA/terrain workflows.

Python Example

import whitebox_workflows as wbw

wbe = wbw.WbEnvironment(include_pro=True, tier="pro")

result = wbe.lidar_terrain_product_suite(
    input="data/points.laz",
    profile="balanced",
    output_prefix="output/terrain_suite",
)

print(result)

License Notice

Use of this function requires a license for Whitebox Workflows Professional (WbW-Pro). Please visit www.whiteboxgeo.com to purchase a license.

Project Links

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