LiDAR not available - pulling elevation data from Google Earth - anyone tried it??

[sirish19]

Hi All,

I have been creating a few Japanese courses from DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data sets that are readily available in Japan as LiDAR data here is not readily available. The resolution of these data sets are 5 mesh meaning that measurements are taken at 5-meter intervals. While the courses are not perfect, some actually turn out pretty well and are "better than nothing", and certainly a good starting point for additional sculpting and fine-tuning.

I am looking at trying to build some other courses in countries where there is no data readily available (at least I can't find it) such as China or Singapore. One thought that I had was to try to extract elevation data from Google Earth and see how that might work. Depending on the area, Google Earth seems to have mapped out somewhere between 15 meters and 15 cm so it might not be too bad. Before I spend too much time trying to figure this out, I wanted to check here to see if anyone has tried that already.

So far, I have found that I can draw data points all around the golf course in Google Earth (the denser the points the higher the resolution) and save that as a KMZ file. Then if I import that KMZ file into a free online conversion tool called GPS visualizer, you can save the data as a text file giving X, Y, and Z values (longitude, latitude, and altitude).

Using some software such as GlobalMapper, ArcGIS, or potentially some free software such as QGIS, you should be able to turn that data into DEM and potentially be able to convert that into a LAS file that can then be used by Chad's tool to create the course.

Has anyone tried this? Any ideas?

[apjgilbert]

Sounds interesting, not tried it - but be careful; Google Earth seems to give you the elevations of trees and buildings rather than the land topography

[sirish19]

Yeah, I would tag a lot of points around the green fairways and water and would try to avoid trees and forest area. The GPS coordinates go out to the 9th decimal point which is at the level of microns so that should give good accuracy and will depend on how accurate the reading were taken. Out of curiosity, I covered one green with points and I saw about 4 meters in difference in elevation and a good variety of elevation points so it looks like there is fairly good data. I now need to figure out how to classify the data and convert to LAS.

[apjgilbert]

Have you tried lastools? http://lastools.org/

[sirish19]

Have you tried lastools? http://lastools.org/

I have heard that lastools can convert LAS files to something more usable but I have been trying to figure out if it will work the other way around, i.e., converting from something else to LAS. Do you know if it will work that way?

[cweikert]

Is there a way to build a course without Lidar just using OpenStreetMap?

[apjgilbert]

I have heard that lastools can convert LAS files to something more usable but I have been trying to figure out if it will work the other way around, i.e., converting from something else to LAS. Do you know if it will work that way?

Yes, you can create las/laz files from xyz

[apjgilbert]

Is there a way to build a course without Lidar just using OpenStreetMap?

Yes, you can export an see from OSM and import it to a “flat” layout using Chad’s tool

[apjgilbert]

I meant “an area”

[sirish19]

Yes, you can create las/laz files from xyz

interesting. Can you point me to a tutorial that may show how to do that? I am definitely interested in finding a free way to do all of this.

[Brettster]

interesting. Can you point me to a tutorial that may show how to do that? I am definitely interested in finding a free way to do all of this.

Me too - every time I look at Lidar tools they run about $300, and that's way too much for me to spend, just to play around with what I can do!

Let me know if you find out anything sirish19 . Thanks.

[sirish19]

Me too - every time I look at Lidar tools they run about $300, and that's way too much for me to spend, just to play around with what I can do!

Let me know if you find out anything sirish19 . Thanks.

Will do. There are actually a lot of free tools out there that I think can potentially do what we want them to do, and there are a lot of tutorials out on Youtube but I find it challenging to watch through hours of tutorials only to find out that they don't really address exactly what I am looking for....

[Brettster]

sirish19 - I see you released The Tribute course (LIDAR), did you use free tools for that, or how did you go about creating that? It looks great by the way!

[sirish19]

Will do. There are actually a lot of free tools out there that I think can potentially do what we want them to do, and there are a lot of tutorials out on Youtube but I find it challenging to watch through hours of tutorials only to find out that they don't really address exactly what I am looking for....

Brettster - regarding the Tribute, I actually found LiDAR data available for that one on TNRIS website https://tnris.org/stratmap/elevation-lidar/. Texas Natural Resources Information System. I also noticed that someone had mapped out Old American on OSM and that was included in the LiDAR data so I am not sure if anyone is working on that one already. I am also really interested to build Cowboys, but I can't quite seem to find the right data. The LiDAR mapping seems to have split the course into north and south and they are not using the same scale so when I import through Chad's tool, only 1/2 of the course shows up.

Regarding tools, it was a bit frivolous of me but getting bored during the lockdown, I have recently broken down and purchased the license for Global Mapper and the LiDAR module (over $1,000 ) so should be able to do whatever I want with this. I haven't quite figured out how to get the data in the right coordinates or projection to get it to be recognized in Chad's Tool yet, but with my license, I do get 1 year of support so I am bombarding them with questions until I can get this figured out. Hopefully, I will have a solution soon enough.

[968Cab]

!!!!!!!

You should be able to recoup some (all) of that money by emailing basic course files to guys once you get it sorted out. I’ve posted before, IMO, there’s a demand for a “LIDAR guy” who has this stuff figured out to do just that.

I go in, do the OSM work, send you a message with the location and some $$, you send me a course file...and then I’m on my way.

Let me know when you’re ready to take my order! 😬😝

[sirish19]

Haha, well, I am not sure if this Google Map thing is going to work but if you have any courses in mind that you can't easily find LiDAR data for, let me know and I will have a look.

[Brettster]

sirish19 - regarding this quote by 968Cab

You should be able to recoup some (all) of that money by emailing basic course files to guys once you get it sorted out. I’ve posted before, IMO, there’s a demand for a “LIDAR guy” who has this stuff figured out to do just that.

I go in, do the OSM work, send you a message with the location and some $$, you send me a course file...and then I’m on my way.

Let me know when you’re ready to take my order!

How far have you gotten? Is it possible you can do this, where you generate LiDAR data for anyone, for a one-off fee for any course? Seems that would be valuable, even if course data is available online, for example, maybe your LiDAR data is better, or easier to get to, and you can grab it real fast with Longitude/Latitude coordinates, and send us a file?

Please keep us all in the loop...

Thanks,
-Brett