Getting Lidar Into Qgis

Discussion in 'PC Editor Discussion' started by mr2mark, Jul 9, 2026.

  1. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    Afternoon all
    Im struggling to get my downloaded lidar data into qgis just wondering how people on here do it. Reading the online guide it says to drag them into qgis but when i try nothing happens, i have tried copying and pasting but that does not work either.
     
  2. Fahrgast

    Fahrgast Well-Known Member

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    Hello... again :)
    There are a few tutorials on YouTube, if you have not already watched them. It´s really just putting it in there and waiting. I don´t know, how much Lidar you have but it can take quite a while for QGIS to load it all, depends on your Hardware aswell. Many of the QGIS Stuff can take from 5 Minutes up to way over 30 Minutes.
     
  3. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    Hi again
    The youtube one i saw used a different method to the guide i was reading they used a program within qgis to download the lidar and it appeared in qgis. Where as the guide talks about dragging it into qgis thats the bit im stuck on , is it a copy and paste or some other method? I have 6 tiles that i need to get into qgis. Im used to the tsc editor so this is a bit more of a learning curve.
     
  4. Fahrgast

    Fahrgast Well-Known Member

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    There is no special method, it´s really just drag and drop. The "different method" is probably SRTM, not Lidar.
     
  5. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    Ok thanks maybe i just need to give it a bit of time to show in qgis then?
     
  6. moofers#8902

    moofers#8902 Well-Known Member

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    It can take a while depending on how big the files are, I would suggest SSD and fast CPU.
     
  7. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    Hi again all
    Been having another go at getting my lidar data into the editor and i have merged the tiles ok and got to reprojecting where i have run into a slight issue. Im following the unofficial guide by donnydave. It says to select espg 3857-wgs84 psuedo mercator in the target crs but when i look for it in the filter it is not there. I think the version im using 4.0.3 is slightly newer than what is used in the guide so i could be missing a addon for qgis of some sort? Any help would be greatly appreciated
     
  8. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    Does the target crs dropdown give you a number of other options or is it empty?
     
  9. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    It gives me 2 options
    Project crs epsg 27700-osgb36/ british national grid
    Default crs epsg4326-wgs84
    I also get this message
     

    Attached Files:

  10. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    I hope you have already managed to find a solution to this.
    I decided this morning it was time to try out QGIS 4.2 and also downloaded and imported a tile N45E008 which is EPSG:4326-WG84.

    With the Open Street Map layer loaded the Project CRS was EPSG:3857.

    Selecting Raster, Projections,Warp; the Target CRS at the top of the list (only two available) was "Project CRS: EPSG:3857-WGS 84/ Pseudo-Mercator".

    So it looks like your project CRS might have been the problem.
     
  11. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    I haven’t had chance yet but will have another go maybe next week, is it worth me starting from scratch? This is my 3rd attempt and seems to be the sticking point so must be something im doing at the beggining?
     
  12. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    There seem to be a few ways of setting the project CRS. I would definitely make sure it was set to EPSG:3857-WGS 84/Pseudo-Mercator before attempting the Warp conversion.
    My own little test project seemed to do this without needing any intervention right from the start when only the Open Streetmap layer was added.
     
  13. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    I think thats where ive been going wrong then as ive not touched anything to do with the psuedo mercator in the inital crs setup. When setting up i typed wgs84 epsg4326 and applied it, then when dragging the files into qgis i set it to inverse of the british grid osgb36 to wgs84.
    Next step was typing 27700 in the crs properties and selecting osgb36 british national grid epsg 27700 thats when i cant find the psuedo mercator
     
  14. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    When starting a new project my version of QGIS starts out with CRS set to EPSG:4326

    Simply adding the Open Street Map layer automatically changes the CRS to EPSG:3857 and hopefully that will work for you.

    Alternatively you can click on the button at the very bottom right corner of the screen which displays the current CRS.
    That will open Project Properties / CRS where you can select "EPSG:3857-WGS 84/Pseudo-Mercator" and click on Apply.
     
  15. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    I also had a warning at the top of the window when dragging tiles into QGIS that the preferred transformation method was not available. Clicking on the Details button gives a link to download uk_os_OSTN15_NTv2_OSGBtoETRS.tif and then you can click on install from the file location.
    After restarting QGIS and dragging in the first Lidar file you will be able to select the number 1 option in the Transformation dialog list.

    Incidentally I never had to do this with QGIS 3.23
     
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  16. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    Thanks i will give this another go it will probably be next week now but i will let you know how it goes. Ive never used the open street maps before so thats worth a go.
     
  17. aaronthomas1a

    aaronthomas1a Well-Known Member

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    I noted that gpis don't download hgt files any more is there way to get them
     
  18. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    Basically you have to get a NASA login which I did using my Google Account then go to

    https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search?q=srtm&gdf=HGT

    This Youtube video may help

     
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  19. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    It's worth mentioning that with QGIS 3.22 I didn't have to change anything to make Open Street Map Work (A missing URL in 4.2) and the importing of lidar tiles worked properly with the option 1 transfer simply being available, ie without the conversion .tif download/installation.
     
  20. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    I wonder if its possible to download 3.22 and uninstall 4.2 similar to how you can download older versions of blender? I shall take a look.
     
  21. jackthom

    jackthom Active Member

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    You can still download it and keep 4.2 alongside if you want. I now have both versions working fine.
     
  22. mr2mark

    mr2mark Active Member

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    Thats brill thank you i really appreciate your help.
     
  23. KrisKol

    KrisKol Active Member

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    The SRTM Plug-in should offer a choice of which format the user wants/needs. I think its on their list of "to-do's.
    I filed a request with the plug in creator anyway. Because lots of Applications still use HGT format.
     

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