FUSION/LDV LiDAR processing and visualization software (version 4.40)

FUSION is a suite of software developed by station scientists to visualize and analyze airborne lidar data. The visualization components display project data using a 2D display typical of geographic information systems (GIS). Users interact with the 2D display to select subsets of LIDAR data for display in an interactive 3D visualization environment allowing the examination of spatially-explicit data subsets including lidar returns, images, surface models, and 3D objects (e.g. tree models). To support complex analyses, FUSION includes a comprehensive set of command-line tools that help users assess the overall quality and completeness of lidar data, develop a basic set of derived products, and automate a variety of processing and analysis tasks. FUSION also provides workflow tools to automate the application of these tools over large lidar datasets. 

The latest release of FUSION includes 75+ executables (32- and 64-bit versions for most), a detailed manual, and example data. As a companion to the software, the Geospatial Technology and Applications Center (GTAC) of the USDA Forest Service has developed a set of tutorials that can be accessed by anyone interested in learning how to use the software. The tutorials cover basic data exploration, advanced data processing for large areas, and basic modeling for forest inventory applications. While FUSION provides basic data exploration capabilities, most users utilize the suite of command line utilities and workflow development tools to process (derive point-cloud and surface metrics) entire acquisitions. FUSION is used extensively within the Forest Service, in academia, and private industry to support the use of lidar data for resource management.