We want to highlight science, art, and other uses of OpenTopography data and services. We plan to publish short summaries contributed by our user-community that show a variety of use cases for topography datasets in academic, commercial, and hobby applications. Submissions can include—but are not limited to—published or unpublished science results, an image of a topography dataset, art work, a 3D print, an example of community outreach, or a commercial use case. The submissions must have used at least one dataset that is available on OpenTopography.
A new lidar dataset covering 84 km2 along the coast of Lake Michigan east of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is now available on OpenTopography. This lidar dataset was collected as part of a National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) seed grant for Collin Roland at the University of Wisconsin and includes bathymetry. This study used airborne lidar to assess Lake Michigan coastal erosion by measuring the geomorphic response to extremely high lake levels.
A couple weeks ago OpenTopography co-founder and co-PI Christopher Crosby was invited onto the MapScaping Podcast to talk about the history and future of OpenTopography, and building and maintaining infrastructure for open topographic data. A huge thanks to Daniel O'Donohue for the invitation and for guiding an interesting conversation.
A new lidar dataset covering approximately 62 km2 within Tahoe National Forest near Truckee, California is now available on OpenTopography. This lidar dataset was collected as part of a National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) Seed grant for Louis Graup at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This study used airborne lidar to study how to preserve mountains as "water towers" through forest management.
OpenTopography is pleased to release a new structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry dataset that covers ~40 km of the Coachella section of the Southern San Andreas Fault. The data extend from north of Painted Canyon south to Bombay Beach, California, USA and include a well-georeferenced point cloud (8.4 x 109 points), 10 cm DSM, and 4 cm orthomosaic.
Three new lidar datasets collected by the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) in California and Oregon are now available on OpenTopography. A repeat lidar dataset of Antelope Valley, CA covering approximately 24 km2 was collected by NCALM for Dr. William Dietrich at the University of California, Berkeley. The data were collected over Antelope Valley Ranch, ~60 km west of Yuba City, CA. Previous mapping of this area was completed in 2017, details of which can be found here.