Geoscience Applications of High-Resolution Digital Topography in Arizona

The latest edition of the Arizona Geological Survey's online Arizona Geology magazine has a nice article on recent applications of airborne and terrestrial LiDAR to geoscience research in Arizona written by David Haddad, a graduate student in ASU's Active Tectonics, Quantitative Structural Geology and Geomorphology research group. For his MS research, David used LiDAR data from both airborne and terrestrial platforms to characterize the geomorphic settings of precariously balanced rocks in the Granite Dells near Prescott, AZ. Precariously balanced rocks (PBRs) can be used as negative indicators of strong ground motion caused by earthquakes, and their spatial distribution provides an indication of the intensity of ground shaking in a given location. For more on PBRs, see David's other Arizona Geology article: Nature's Balanced Seismometers.

David's article provides a nice overview of LiDAR technology, a few nice graphics like the one above, and a good intro to how these data have been applied to his PBR research in Arizona.

Arizona Geology article: High-Resolution Digital Topography in Arizona

Via: Lee Allison's Arizona Geology blog