Jitter is removed from point cloud data by processing different groups of data points in the point cloud data in succession to minimize the entropy of the point cloud data. Each group in the point cloud data is generated at either different points in time or from detecting different pulses of reflected laser light from a target. The data points in a selected group are repetitively shifted en masse in the coordinate system of the point cloud data and the entropy of the point cloud data is re-calculated until subsequent shifts of the data points in the selected group does not further reduce the entropy. The remaining groups are subsequently processed in a similar fashion until the entropy of the point cloud data reaches a minimum.