Receiving Error 000210 when running LAS Dataset To Raster

[DavidHorrocks]

I have downloaded an LAS dataset developed by NOAA for an area of Massachusetts. I am trying to convert this into a DEM I can use to make elevation contours. I have filtered the data so that only ground points are showing. Then, when I try to run the LAS Dataset to Raster tool in ArcGIS Pro 2.3, I receive Error 000210: Cannot create output "filepath".

I have looked at the online help for this error and it looks like a data locking or file path issue. I have closed all other software I had open to make sure something else wasn't locking the data. I have restarted ArcGIS Pro to see if this will help. I have tried saving to a test GDB on my desktop, and the issue still persists.

I have included a screenshot of the parameters I'm using for the tool and LAS properties below. Please let me know if there is a solution to this problem.

Kind regards,

David

[DanPatterson_Retired]

Did you try saving as a *.tif in a folder? seems to be an esri preferred raster format now

[DavidHorrocks]

Thanks for the reply. I tried saving as a TIF to a folder and still receive the same error message.

[DanPatterson_Retired]

What is the path then?

is it to a local folder?

try c:\Temp\raster.tif to rule out file and path issue for the destination file... it may be the input that is at issue, although the error suggests otherwise

[DavidHorrocks]

I tried saving the input LAS file to C:\Temp and renamed it as input.las, and I chose C:\Temp\raster.tif as the output file, as you suggested. I also restarted my computer before doing this - but I am still receiving the error. I'm surprised none of this has worked.

[JayJohnsonWashoeCounty]

Have you tried a shorter output file name or outputting to a tif rather than an ESRI GRID format?  The input las filename is also really long - maybe try renaming it to something shorter.  Some tools seem to have issues with long paths and/or long names.

[DavidHorrocks]

Thanks for the reply. I relocated all of my work to the desktop to shorten the file path, and renamed the LAS files to something shorter (~10 characters). I changed the output name and file type to test.tif. Despite all of this, I am still receiving the same error.

[GuenterDoerffel]

Hi David,
the first thing to look at would be: Why do you want to export the raster and then make contours? Have you tried creating a MosaicDataset from your data (regardless of las files direct or LAS dataset, and then ...

• Use the contour function to create raster contours
• OR export contours as vectors

 Just to make sure there is no general issue, I just ran the tool on a LAS Dataset with a few GIG of LAS in it .... i set the Sampling Value high, though, to be quick. The tool ran smooth. These were my settings (the exclamation makr is because I took the screenshot after the tool finished:

I did not need to set any other environments ... and for output-data naming: Specify the extension and ArcGIS will honor this, if you need more settings, check environment

Regards
Guenter

[DavidHorrocks]

Hi Guenter,

I will attempt to make a MosaicDataset and see if that helps. I have tried creating contours directly from the LAS dataset using Surface Contour, but it does not produce results I am happy with (see below screenshots of tool settings and output). I thought creating a raster first, then converting to contours may produce better results. 

You will notice that my cell size was set to 2 in my tool settings. To emulate what you ran, I tried running the tool with a cell size of 100 instead, but this did not fix my issue. 

Thanks,

David

[GuenterDoerffel]

And: it would help, if you could take a screenshot of the properties of your LAS-Dataset and the settings you have when running the tool