LiDAR Short Courses at the 2009 Geological Society of America Meeting

The 2009 GSA Annual Meeting in Portland, OR will include two workshops devoted to LiDAR derived topography and applications to geoscience. Ramon Arrowsmith and I taught a LiDAR-oriented GSA short course in 2007 (Denver) and found it to be an excellent way to introduce geologists to LiDAR topography. You can find information and materials from our 2007 course here: Processing and Analysis of GeoEarthScope and Other Community LiDAR Topography Datasets

Additional information about the 2009 LiDAR short courses as well as the many other workshops offered by GSA is available on their Short Course Program page.

2009 GSA LiDAR Short Courses:

501. INTERFACE WORKSHOP: Recent developments in the methods and applications of terrestrial laser scanning (ground-based LiDAR) in geologic research and education
Fri., 16 Oct., 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Instructors: John Oldow and Carlos Aiken, Univ. of Texas at Dallas; David Phillips, UNAVCO

This workshop will provide faculty, students, and professionals with the basic principles of Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), aka ground-based LiDAR, workflows and best practices for the acquisition and processing of TLS data, an overview of various TLS platforms, and examples of science and education applications. This one-day workshop will consist of lectures and hands-on application of TLS equipment and data processing. TLS provides very high-resolution images over relatively small areas, is relatively inexpensive to acquire, and has been used successfully to support a wide range of geoscience investigations from outcrop mapping to deformation monitoring.

GEON / OpenTopography are collaborators on the INTERFACE project and this should be an excellent workshop for geologists interested in learning about the exciting potential of Terrestrial Laser Scanning.

The second workshop is devoted to airborne LiDAR topography data of the type hosted by OpenTopography. This 1.5 day course features a long list of very qualified instructors (including me!) and should be an excellent overview and introduction to LiDAR topography for geologic applications.

515. Introduction to the acquisition, visualization, and interpretation of airborne LiDAR-derived digital elevation models
Sat., 17 Oct., 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sun., 18 Oct., 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Instructors: Ian Madin, Oregon Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries; Ralph Haugerud, USGS; Michael Oskin, Univ. of California at Davis; Chris Crosby, Univ. of California at San Diego; Ramon Arrowsmith, Arizona State Univ.

LiDAR-derived elevation datasets are becoming widely available and offer digital elevation models (DEMs) of unprecedented resolution and accuracy. This course will teach geoscientists to acquire, visualize, and analyze LiDAR-based DEMs. Guided tutorials on individual workstations will use ESRI ArcGIS software, GEON software products, and LiDAR viewing freeware. The field portion of the class will compare recent high-resolution LiDAR images with the real environment of the surrounding area. The instructors are geologists who have worked with LiDAR data for many years at UC-Davis, Arizona State Univ., the GEON program, and the Puget Sound and Oregon LiDAR Consortia.
This course will be held in the Portland State University Geology Department GIS training laboratory.