Published on 8 January 2024

swissSURFACE3D

swissSURFACE3D models all natural and man-made objects of the surface of Switzerland in the form of a classified point cloud. These high-accuracy and high spatial density data are collected by airborne LiDAR. 

The classified point cloud of Switzerland

Based on airborne LiDAR, swissSURFACE^3D contains several millions of points per km2. These points are irregularly spaced between them and model the landscape in 3D with a high spatial density. Each measurement has very accurate X, Y, Z coordinates and is classified according to a predefined classification that defines the type of measured objects.  

Applications

• Automatic 3D modelling of buildings and other landscape objects
• Volumes calculation
• Study of the forest: map of cuts, calculation of biomass, planning of cuts, digital canopy models
• 3D modelling of ground-based elements under vegetation cover such as forest roads or watercourses
• Creation of digital terrain models
• Creation of digital surface models

swissSURFACE^3D is available on the entire Switzerland and Liechtenstein since 2024 (see planning).

Terms of use

Additional information

• Technical details

  Structure: The data are delivered by complete 1 km² tiles.

  Format and file sizes

  • Since 2024 / Eastern parto of Switzerland: Cloud optimized point cloud LAZ 1.4 (COPC)
    ~ 200 MB / tile
  • Until 2024 / Canton of Berne: LAS 1.2
    ~ 610 MB / tile
  • CSV (X;Y;Z;Class;Modified Julian Date): on request

  Classification of data from 2024 onwards / Eastern Switzerland

  Classification from 2024 onwards

  Class	Object type	ASPRS* class name
  1	Unclassified and temporary objects	« Unclassified »
  2	Ground	« Ground »
  3	Vegetation (low – medium – high)	« Low Vegetation »
  6	Building roofs	« Building »
  9	Water	« Water »
  14	High-voltage / power line	« Wire - Conductor (Phase) »
  15	Masts with a load-bearing function	« Transmission tower »
  17	Bridge-, overpass-, viaduct- and footbridge deck	« Bridge Deck »
  26	Building facades	« Reserved »
  27	Bridge piers and viaduct stay cables	Reserved »

  Classification of data until 2024, including Berne

  Classification of data until 2024

  Class	Object type	ASPRS* class name
  1	Unclassified and temporary objects	« Unclassified »
  2	Ground	« Ground »
  3	Vegetation (low – medium – high)	« Low Vegetation »
  6	Buildings	« Building »
  9	Water	« Water »
  17	Bridges, viaducts	« Bridge Deck »

  Points density from 2024 onwards / Eastern Switzerland: Minimum 15 pts/m², mean around 25-40 pts/m²

  Points density until 2024 / Canton of Berne: Minimum 5 pts/m², mean around 15-20 pts/m²

  Coordinates system: LV95 – LN02 

  Planimetric accuracy: +/- 20 cm (1 sigma)

  Altimetric accuracy: +/- 10 cm (1 sigma) 

  Update: An update in six stages is planned from 2024 to 2029. 

  *American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

• Documents

  Almost all publications concerning swissALTI^3D  are only available in German and French. Please select your preferred language in the navigation bar to view the desired document.

• Sample data

  • swissSURFACE3D LV95 / LN02

  The sample data show their type and format. They are free of charge and can be used for test purposes only. It is not allowed to include them in a product.

Attention: data with elevation offset

Some of the newly imported data has an incorrect elevation offset of 10–15 cm. A total of 129 tiles are affected. They are currently being corrected and will be replaced as soon as possible. A list of the affected tiles can be found in this file: Tiles elevation shift Zurich

The following illustration shows the area with the incorrect data:

Area with elevation offset shown in purple

Furthermore, we mistakenly published all LiDAR tiles for eastern Switzerland that appeared in 2025 in the LHN95 height system instead of the LN02 height system. The tiles have since been recalculated and republished on 4 November. If you want to project tiles downloaded before this date into the LN02 height system, you can use Geosuite with the REFRAME module.

swissSURFACE3D - Download