Simple Octree Solution for Multi-resolution LiDAR Processing and Visualisation

LiDAR (light detection and ranging) 3D points (both terrestrial and airborne) have recently become a prevalent type of geospatial data. However, this large-scale data poses significant technical challenges for efficient access and visualization. One approach is to generate points with different density levels, i.e. Multi-resolution data sets that can be used for various purposes. This paper presents a simple static tree-based approach and discusses implementation alternatives in favour of speeding up tree building and point sampling processes. This approach is generic and can be applied to other geographic data types as well.