LAZ

LAZ is the abbreviated form of LAS (LiDAR Aerial Survey) point cloud format that is used to minimize the size of storage of LiDAR data without any loss of information from the original LAS file. The use of LASzip compression algorithm helps to create LAZ format files that are used to store, transmit and manage large volume of point cloud data created through LiDAR sensors, aerial survey, drones, mobile mapping, and terrestrial laser scanning.

In comparison with the LAS files that have no compression algorithm applied to them, LAZ can help to minimize the size of file and make it convenient to manage large geospatial data. Although the LAZ file is compressed, it still maintains important attributes of point clouds like the X, Y, and Z coordinates, intensity, classification, returns, and other information supported by the LAS format.

LAZ files are widely used in GIS, remote sensing, 3D mapping, surveying, forestry, topographic mapping, infrastructure monitoring and digital elevation models (DEMs). It is possible to read, manipulate and process LAZ files using popular GIS and LiDAR software.