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Regarding LiDAR data intensity refers to the energy of the reflected laser pulse. This is a secondary measurement on most modern LiDAR sensors alongside the primary time measurement used to determine depth.
The exact units of these measurements vary from one manufacturer to another but essentially represent the infrared reflectance of the surface at that point, often normalised for depth.
In RVIZ when you select 'intensity' you're telling RVIZ to color the point cloud displayed with the intensity values of each point. Using this coloring it is usually possible to make out the patterns of different materials or paints on flat surfaces for example.