Dense Handheld Laser Scanning point clouds from southeastern Finland

13 forest stands scanned in Autumn 2020 with a handheld laser scanner (HHLS) ZEB Horizon (GeoSLAM, Nottingham, United Kingdom). The survey involved walking through the test stands in a four-leaf clover -shaped pattern. The trajectory was started and ended at the same point to enhance data accuracy. This approach facilitated loop closure detection and minimized drift and offset errors in the point clouds. The walking speed was approximately 2 km/h, and the scanner was held upright at a fixed height of 1.2 m above the ground. Each stand took approximately 20 minutes to record. Following data collection, the raw data underwent pre-processing in the GeoSLAM Hub software (version 6.0.0.). Default processing parameters were utilized, including “Convergence threshold”: 0, “Window size”: 0, “Voxel density”: 1, “Rigidity”: 0, “Maximum range”: 100 m, and “Closed Loop”. Point clouds have been localized to a local coordinate system (true geographical location obfuscated), and are provided in LAZ format. Additionally, DataTable.txt containing stand information is provided. Research data used in Pyörälä et al. (2026) "From between-stand to within-tree variation: wood and timber quality of Norway spruce (Picea abies H. Karst) analyzed at scale using laser scanning and industrial data". Published in Annals of Forest Science. Airborne laser scanner data from 11 stands (10 of which are the same; on one stand the HHLS failed) is included in another dataset: https://doi.org/10.23729/fd-b7151c1a-6959-3fb3-af27-586f9ca415e6 The data are roughly aligned on top of each other, but not precisely coregistered.