[unav_all] GeoEarthScope LiDAR data release: Northern California

[David A.Phillips]

We are pleased to announce the public release of the first processed  
products from the GeoEarthScope Northern California Airborne LiDAR  
project!  More data will be coming in the next few months, along with  
more advanced access and analysis tools.

The data are currently available as 1 km^2 tiles of 0.5 m digital  
elevation models - both unfiltered (all data) and filtered (bare  
earth) -  in ESRI (ArcGIS) binary grid format.  We have built a KML  
file for use in Google Earth to browse the dataset extent, make  
selections, and then download tiles of interest. To get the KML file,  
please go to the GEON web site and get a portal account (just takes a  
few minutes--http://www.geongrid.org--click on “Enter the GEON  
Portal” link at right and then select “Request an Account”).  Once  
you have obtained a portal account, log in and navigate to “Tools”  
and then “GEON LiDAR”. Click on the “GeoEarthScope Northern  
California LiDAR Project (NoCAL)” to download the KML. In addition,  
soon we expect to have the point cloud available for download and  
interactive DEM creation.

We have worked to make these data available as quickly as possible,  
so if you encounter problems please let Ramon Arrowsmith  
(ramon.arrowsmith at asu.edu) and Chris Crosby (chris.crosby at asu.edu)  
know ASAP. Please also note that there is a forum in the GEON Portal  
dedicated to the GEON LiDAR data distribution and we encourage  
everyone to use it to post questions, ideas, solutions so that we can  
all share our discoveries.

The GeoEarthScope Northern California LiDAR project acquired high  
resolution airborne laser swath mapping (a.k.a. LiDAR) topography in  
Spring 2007 along major active faults as part of the EarthScope  
Facility project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  
Between this project and the previously conducted B4 project, also  
funded by NSF, the entire San Andreas fault system has now been  
imaged with high resolution airborne LiDAR, along with many other  
important geologic features. EarthScope is funded by NSF and  
conducted in partnership with the USGS and NASA. GeoEarthScope is a  
component of EarthScope that includes the acquisition of aerial and  
satellite imagery and geochronology. GeoEarthScope is managed at UNAVCO.

Best regards,
David Phillips and the GeoEarthScope LiDAR team

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Primary funding agency
	--National Science Foundation
Project management
	--UNAVCO
Other funding sources (for supplementary targets)
	--USGS Earthquake and National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Programs
	--San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
	--Pacific Gas & Electric Company
	--City of Berkeley
Data acquisition, processing and distribution
	--National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM): LiDAR data  
collection and processing
	--Ohio State University (OSU): GPS data collection and processing
	--USGS Menlo Park: extensive logistical and administrative support,  
GPS data collection
	--Volunteers and students from local institutions: GPS collection
	--Arizona State University (ASU): data distribution and analysis tools
	--San Diego Super Computer Facility (SDSC): data distribution and  
analysis tools


--
   David A. Phillips, Ph.D.
   GeoEarthScope Project Manager
   UNAVCO
   6350 Nautilus Drive, Boulder, CO 80301
   Tel: 303-381-7471, Fax: 303-381-7451
   phillips at unavco.org
   www.unavco.org/geoearthscope