Claim register
Every scientific product OpenLiDARViewer ships is entered in a machine-readable claim register: what the product may be called, the evidence level that backs it today, the level it must reach before it may be exported as a validated result, and — just as binding — the claims the current evidence does not support. The evidence model defines the E0–E6 ladder these levels come from.
The canonical register is docs/validation/claim-register.yaml; the runtime export gate and the table below are both generated from it, so neither can drift from what the register actually says.
Register last reviewed at software version 0.6.0-alpha.1, dated 2026-07-18. 25 claims.
| Claim | Product | Method@version | Current evidence | Required | External status | Approved claim | Prohibited claims |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MEAS-DISTANCE | Distance measurement | Euclidean distance between picked points (unit-aware) @ v0.5.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | none | Geometric distance in the stated units; visual-inspection grade. | survey-grade distance; certified accuracy |
MEAS-AREA | Area measurement | Polygon shoelace area (planimetric, unit-aware) @ v0.5.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | none | Planimetric area in the stated units; visual-inspection grade. | survey-grade area; geodetic area |
MEAS-HEIGHT | Height / vertical measurement | Vertical delta (unit-aware, up-axis-aware) @ v0.5.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | none | Vertical delta in the stated units; visual-inspection grade. | orthometric height; datum-referenced elevation |
MEAS-ANGLE | Angle measurement | Angle between two vectors @ v0.5.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | none | Geometric angle between picked segments. | true bearing / azimuth without CRS north |
MEAS-PROFILE | Cross-section profile | Sampled elevation along a section line @ v0.5.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E4_CROSS_IMPLEMENTATION_VALIDATED | none | Sampled elevation profile along the section. | survey-grade longitudinal section |
VOL-POINT-SAMPLE | Point-sample volume (preview) | Uniform-density point-sample estimator @ v0.5.x | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Order-of-magnitude preview volume; not a survey quantity. | survey-grade volume; area-weighted integration; quantified uncertainty |
VOL-STOCKPILE | Stockpile volume | Point-sample estimator over a fitted/explicit base (area-weighted integration pending — Phase 8) @ v0.5.x | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Exploratory volume preview; spatial correlation and base uncertainty unquantified. | survey-grade stockpile volume; validated uncertainty interval |
GROUND-FILTER | Ground classification | SMRF-core progressive morphological ground filter (subset of Pingel et al. 2013; not the full SMRF pipeline) @ v0.4.4 | E3_SYNTHETICALLY_VALIDATED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Ground separation validated on synthetic known-truth fixtures. | SMRF (unqualified); field-validated ground accuracy; precision/recall on external benchmarks |
DTM | DTM (bare-earth grid) | Gridded interpolation of ground-classified returns @ v0.4.4 | E3_SYNTHETICALLY_VALIDATED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | DTM validated against analytic surfaces (covered cells). | field-validated DTM accuracy; independent checkpoint accuracy |
DSM | DSM (top surface) | Top-return gridded surface @ v0.4.4 | E3_SYNTHETICALLY_VALIDATED | E4_CROSS_IMPLEMENTATION_VALIDATED | pending | DSM equals the top surface on synthetic scenes. | field-validated DSM accuracy |
CHM | CHM (canopy height, DSM − DTM) | DSM − DTM with NoData preservation @ v0.4.4 | E3_SYNTHETICALLY_VALIDATED | E4_CROSS_IMPLEMENTATION_VALIDATED | pending | Canopy-height reconstruction validated on synthetic scenes. | field-validated canopy height |
CONTOURS | Contours | Marching squares + stitching + evidence grading @ v0.4.x | E3_SYNTHETICALLY_VALIDATED | E4_CROSS_IMPLEMENTATION_VALIDATED | pending | Contours validated against synthetic surfaces; grade tracks confidence. | survey-grade contours |
SLOPE-RASTER | Slope raster | Horn 3x3 gradient @ v0.4.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E4_CROSS_IMPLEMENTATION_VALIDATED | pending | Slope = atan(gradient) verified on analytic planes. | cross-validated against GDAL/SAGA (pending) |
HILLSHADE | Hillshade | ESRI illumination model (Lambert) @ v0.4.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E4_CROSS_IMPLEMENTATION_VALIDATED | pending | Exact flat-plane Lambert value + correct N/E/S/W ordering, verified analytically. | cross-implementation agreement with GDAL/ESRI (pending) |
VRM-TPI | VRM / TPI terrain descriptors | Vector ruggedness measure / topographic position index @ v0.4.x | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | E4_CROSS_IMPLEMENTATION_VALIDATED | pending | Index per the documented convention + neighbourhood. | standardised / cross-validated ruggedness |
HOLDOUT-RMSE | Hold-out RMSE (interpolation) | Conditional point-wise interpolation holdout @ v0.4.x | E3_SYNTHETICALLY_VALIDATED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Internal holdout RMSE against known synthetic surfaces. | independent checkpoint accuracy; field accuracy; spatially-blocked error (pending) |
NVA-VVA | NVA/VVA-style vertical accuracy | NVA/VVA formula (1.96 x RMSEz) on INTERNAL holdout @ v0.4.x | E3_SYNTHETICALLY_VALIDATED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | NVA/VVA-style statistic from internal holdout. | ASPRS NVA/VVA compliance; independent checkpoint accuracy |
QUALITY-LEVEL | USGS Quality-Level comparison | Two-metric threshold comparison (density + internal RMSE) @ v0.4.x | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Density + internal RMSE compared to stated thresholds. | USGS QL compliance; meets ASPRS quality level |
CONFIDENCE-OVERLAY | Confidence overlay | Measured-cell empirical reliability (measured) + model-based support (interpolated) @ v0.4.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Empirical reliability for measured cells at |error| <= tau; model-based support for interpolated cells. | calibrated probability for interpolated cells; single undifferentiated confidence |
EPOCH-ALIGN | Epoch alignment | ICP (yaw + horizontal translation model; full model optional) @ v0.5.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Rigid alignment with reported residuals on synthetic pairs. | validated registration accuracy; safe cross-datum comparison |
CHANGE-RASTER | Change raster / DTM difference | Per-cell epoch difference with LoD @ v0.5.x | E2_ANALYTICALLY_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Per-cell change vs a global LoD on synthetic pairs. | validated change accuracy; per-cell LoD95 (pending) |
CHANGE-VOLUME | Change volume (gain/loss/net) | Integrated change over the difference grid @ v0.5.x | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Integrated change volume with exploratory uncertainty. | validated change volume; quantified spatially-correlated uncertainty |
UNCERTAINTY-BAND | Uncertainty band (on deltas / volumes) | Model-based propagation (Monte Carlo GUM budget pending — Phases 8/10) @ v0.5.x | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | E5_EXTERNALLY_VALIDATED | pending | Model-based band over the included sources. | complete uncertainty budget; validated coverage interval |
REPORT-DIGEST | Report digest | SHA-256 of canonicalised report content @ v0.5.x | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | none | SHA-256 detects post-stamp content edits. | proof of authorship; signed by a trusted identity |
PROVENANCE-INFERENCE | Capture-type provenance inference | Heuristic classifier (software/sensor strings, format, density) + shape guard (v0.5.7) @ v0.5.7 | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | E1_UNIT_VERIFIED | none | Heuristic capture-type guess with cited literature context. | measured accuracy of this dataset; aerial classification for an object/interior scan; input to readiness/uncertainty calculations |