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NV5 Geospatial Blog

Each month, NV5 Geospatial posts new blog content across a variety of categories. Browse our latest posts below to learn about important geospatial information or use the search bar to find a specific topic or author. Stay informed of the latest blog posts, events, and technologies by joining our email list!



New ENVI Agent, IDL Agent, and GeoAgent Quick Guides

New ENVI Agent, IDL Agent, and GeoAgent Quick Guides

6/9/2026

The recent release of ENVI® Agent, IDL® Agent, and GeoAgent™ revolutionize how users interact with geospatial software. These agentic AI applications act as partners to plan, simplify, and execute complex workflows. Knowing where to start can be challenging for new users. To this end, we developed three new quick guides to... Read More >

Introducing NISAR Data Support

Introducing NISAR Data Support

6/5/2026

The release of ENVI® SARscape 6.3 in April 2026 includes preliminary support for NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) data. The NISAR mission is a joint Earth-observing satellite project between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization designed to monitor changes in the planet’s land and ice surfaces using advanced radar imaging. It... Read More >

Monitoring Illegal Mining in the Amazon: Turning Persistent Data Into Actionable Insight

Monitoring Illegal Mining in the Amazon: Turning Persistent Data Into Actionable Insight

5/28/2026

Illegal mining over decades has constituted one of the most persistent and complex socio-environmental problems in the Brazilian Amazon. In recent years, with the increasingly intensive use of mechanized extraction, the associated environmental impacts—such as deforestation, intense soil disturbance, river siltation, and mercury... Read More >

From Answers to Action: Why ENVI and IDL Agents Go Beyond General AI

From Answers to Action: Why ENVI and IDL Agents Go Beyond General AI

4/20/2026

As generative AI tools like Claude and Gemini continue to gain traction, many organizations are asking the same question: Can general purpose AI actually support real geospatial workflows, or does it stop at surface-level answers? That question was front and center in our recent webinar, Meet Your New Partners in Science: ENVI... Read More >

Mapping Earthquake Deformation in Taiwan With ENVI

Mapping Earthquake Deformation in Taiwan With ENVI

12/15/2025

Unlocking Critical Insights With ENVI® Tools Taiwan sits at the junction of major tectonic plates and regularly experiences powerful earthquakes. Understanding how the ground moves during these events is essential for disaster preparedness, public safety, and building community resilience. But traditional approaches like field... Read More >

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Extracting Building Features from LiDAR and Optical Data

Anonym

As the availability of remotely acquired data continues to grow, high quality imagery is more accessible and less expensive than it was in previous decades. As a result, the need to incorporate remotely sensed imagery into GIS-based analyses continues to increase as well.  Further, LiDAR data can be combined with spectral imagery sources to efficiently provide map and information support for relief and recovery in the aftermath of a disaster, such as an earthquake.  One method of image analysis that can be used to take advantage of remotely sensed data and update GIS databases includes object-based image analysis.

When studying the operational landscape or needing updated information for situational awareness, one important factor that is needed is the quantity and location of building footprints. I n this study, the E3De LiDAR processing tool was used to extract building footprints from a dense LiDAR point cloud collection.  ENVI was used to fuse image data with the processed LiDAR data for enhanced building extraction efforts and attribution. The results from this image analysis process can be provided in raster or vector format, depending on the needs of the user. The results often provide critical, time-sensitive information that can be used, for example, to update a geodatabase, understand how many buildings are of a certain size, or create a map for dissemination to analysts on the ground.

Learn more about E3De, ENVI, and LiDAR feature extracting by attending my presentation at Esri's Federal GIS Conference on Friday, Feburary 24, 2023 in Room 209B at 10:15am.

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