Lidar availability - Europe

As of 2021 a total of 18 from 32 countries (EU27, Norway, Switzerland, UK, Serbia) are fully covered by LiDAR data.

Most European countries provide ALS data free of charge, an overview can be seen as a table in a recent publication by https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13644. Another more detailed but also slightly older overview about lidar data availability in Europe was produced by the JRC [https://doi.org/10.2760/212427].

Belgium

Lidar 1 collected 2001-2004 (0.25 Points per m²)
Lidar 2 collected 2013-2015 (8 Points per m² per strip, effectively 16 pts/m²) together with RGB images (10cm)
during the winter flying season (November 15 to April 15)
classification into ground level, non-ground level and water
LAZ, DTM025, DSM1, flow accumulation, hillshade, skyview factor, solar irradiance

Czech Republic

Open Data since 2023 (Open Data Announcment)

Denmark

Open Data since 2013 (source)
average density of 4-5 points/m2 for data collected in 2014/15 and 8 points/m2 for data from 2018 onwards
updated, approx. 1/5 per year
13 classifications, which include terrain, building, vegetation and bridge points
DTM04/ DSM04/Pointcloud/... (login required)

England

Open Data since 2015 (source)
DSM/DTM/Pointcloud
First data from 2006
5km² tiles
LAZ
latest data from 2016-2021
during winter months (approximately November to April each year)
classified into ground, low, medium and high vegetation

Estonia

countrywide coverage
DSM/DTM/CHM (1m GeoTIFF)
Pointcloud (LAZ 1.4)
1km² tiles
2008-2011, 2012-2015, 2017-2020, 2021-

Finland

Open Data (since at least 2017)
Pointcloud (0.5 points per m², LAZ 1.2)
updated annually (map)
2008-2019, 2020-
Pointcloud produced with5 >5 points per m², reduced version (0.5) is open data

France

(raw and classified point clouds, derived products) is disseminated in open data
assessment ongoing (2021 - 2026)
minimum density of 10pts/m²
A distribution of derivative products with a resolution of 50 cm is under consideration.

Minimum density of 10pts/m² (density not guaranteed above 2500m altitude) Details: Height: 10 cm Planimetric: 50 cm o Classification (11 classes) Floor Low vegetation (from 0 to 50 cm in height) Average vegetation (from 50 cm to 1.50 m in height) Tall vegetation (> 1.50 m high) Buildings Water Bridge Perennial sursol (which includes all artificial installations outside buildings, such as wind turbines, antennas, catenaries, etc.) Artifact (obviously false point of the cloud, not corresponding to a reality on the ground) Virtual point (artificial point created under the bridges in order to remove them in the digital models) Unclassified (moving object like a vehicle, and other item that is not part of other classes)

Raster derived products (digital models) in .asc format:

Resolution : 5m 1m A resolution of 50 cm is tested to know if it is relevant to keep it in time. Digital terrain model (or DEM) Digital surface model (or DSM) Digital Height Model (or DHM). The MNH by definition removes the altitude of the MNS and keeps only the above ground elements (buildings, vegetation...).