LiDAR Change and Disturbance Analysis

What This Tool Does

LiDAR Change and Disturbance Analysis compares baseline and monitoring LiDAR tile sets to produce per-tile change rasters, QA diagnostics, and optional attribution products.

What You Need

Input	Required	Notes
`baseline_tiles`	Yes	Array of tile paths or a directory of `las/laz/zlidar` files.
`monitor_tiles`	Yes	Array of tile paths or a directory of `las/laz/zlidar` files.
`resolution`	No	Output raster resolution (default `2.0`, must be `> 0`).
`min_change_m`	No	Absolute change threshold (default `1.0`, must be `> 0`).
`reference_perimeters`	No	Optional vector layer for disturbance attribution hints.
`attribution_buffer_meters`	No	Buffer for attribution matching (default `0.0`, must be `>= 0`).
`min_overlap_fraction`	No	Overlap needed for attribution match (default `0.10`, in `[0, 1]`).
`output_prefix`	No	Output prefix (default `lidar_change`).

What You Get

Output Key	Description
`tile_directory`	Folder of per-tile delta rasters.
`tile_manifest`	JSON with per-tile metrics and paths.
`summary`	JSON with warnings, diagnostics, and aggregate metrics.
`attributed_change_zones`	Optional GeoPackage written when `reference_perimeters` is provided.
`attribution_summary`	Optional JSON attribution diagnostics.
`html_report`	Optional HTML report.

Example

import whitebox_workflows as wbw

env = wbw.WbEnvironment()
result = env.lidar_change_and_disturbance_analysis(
        baseline_tiles=["baseline/tile_001.laz", "baseline/tile_002.laz"],
        monitor_tiles=["monitor/tile_001.laz", "monitor/tile_002.laz"],
        reference_perimeters="reference/harvest_blocks.gpkg",
        attribution_buffer_meters=10.0,
        min_overlap_fraction=0.15,
        output_prefix="outputs/lidar_change"
)

Common Questions

Q: Why can a run fail even when tile counts match? A: Pairing is key-based, not count-based. Duplicate or unmatched normalized keys are rejected.

Q: When are attribution files written? A: Only when reference_perimeters is provided.

Q: What does review status mean in summary? A: One or more QA warnings were triggered and should be inspected before operational use.