Information and discussion related to high-resolution lidar topography for the Earth sciences
The recently released ASTER Global Digital Elevation Map (GDEM) from NASA and Japan's METI has been widely publicized on geospatial data blogs, email lists and in the mainstream media. At 30 meter resolution, these data promise relatively high-resolution DEM coverage for most of the globe (coverage falls between 83N and 83S latitudes).
An announcement from Dr. Nancy Glenn at the Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory at Idaho State University:
Colleagues,
We are advertising for a LiDAR post-doc in Boise - please see the link
below for the great opportunity and pass along!
Officially released earlier today, the Intermountain Seismic Belt (ISB) GeoEarthScope LiDAR dataset, covering parts of the Wasatch fault in Utah, and Yellowstone and Tetons National Parks in Wyoming, is quite spectacular.
I received this message from Paul Kinder at the Canaan Valley Institute (CVI) regarding their ability to provide LiDAR and digital imagery data acquisition and processing at cost to academic researchers and institutions. More information about CVI's LiDAR program can be found at http://www.canaanvi.org/canaanvi_web...Lidar&id=576:
For the 6th year in a row, GEON will be hosting the Cyberinfrastructure Summer Institute for Geoscientists at San Diego Supercomputer Center, August 10-14. Of particular interest to the OpenTopography community, CSIG '09 will feature a day devoted specifically to OpenTopo. We will discuss the technology that makes OpenTopography work as well as brainstorm opportunities for integrating high-resolution LiDAR topography into the classroom.
The U.S. Department of Interior Recovery Investments site breaks down how the U.S. Geological Survey will be spending the approximately $140 million they are receiving as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Among the various USGS programs that will be receiving funding is $14.6 million devoted to "Imagery and Elevation Maps".
The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) has released the report from the workshop organized by their steering committee last summer (June 15-18, 2008) in Boulder, CO on Studying Earth Surface Processes with High-Resolution Topographic Data. The workshop, attended by 50 researchers, provided an opportunity for discussion of current research activities utilizing LiDAR as well as to identify emerging research opportunities, community challenges, and technological and education needs.
The SRTM KML Project has released a very nice network-linked KML which displays shaded relief images derived from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation models in Google Earth. Their website reports:
Abstract submission is now open for the 2009 GSA Annual Meeting in Portland, OR. Ian Madin of DOGAMI is convening a session on LiDAR applications to geologic, geomorphic and geohazard mapping.
