Our new paper “py4dgeo: Open‑source scientific software for topographic change analysis in 3D/4D geographic point clouds” has been published in SoftwareX.

Link to open-access article: doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2026.102670

The open‑source Python library py4dgeo provides automated and reproducible workflows for multitemporal 3D and 4D geographic point cloud analysis, with a focus on topographic change detection and surface dynamics. It integrates state‑of‑the‑art methods (e.g. M3C2, M3C2‑EP, PB‑M3C2, and 4D objects‑by‑change) in a modular Python/C++ framework and is interoperable with common geospatial tools.

py4dgeo is developed through a multi‑institutional collaboration and is already used in several research and application projects (e.g. AImon, Extract4D, CharAct4D).

Link to code & documentation:

• https://github.com/3dgeo-heidelberg/py4dgeo
• https://py4dgeo.readthedocs.io

The py4dgeo scientific software is a collaboration with the 3DGeo Research Group (Prof. Bernhard Höfle) and the Scientific Software Center at Heidelberg University (Dr. Dominic Kempf).

Full citation:

Anders, K., Kempf, D., Albert, W., Andriushchenko, P., Huang, X., Hulskemper, D., Isensee, T., Kapitan, D., Tabernig, R., Weiser, H., Winiwarter, L., Zahs, V., & Höfle, B. (2026): py4dgeo: Open-source scientific software for topographic change analysis in 3D/4D geographic point clouds. SoftwareX, 34, 102670. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2026.102670.