2007 USGS/NPS/NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL): Naval Live Oaks Area, FL
Data Set (DS) | OCM Partners (OCMP)GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:50103 | Updated: August 9, 2022 | Published / External
Summary
Short Citation
OCM Partners, 2025: 2007 USGS/NPS/NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL): Naval Live Oaks Area, FL, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/50103.
Full Citation Examples
ASCII xyz point cloud data were produced from remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements cooperatively by the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Park Service (NPS), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Elevation measurements
were collected over the area using the NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), a pulsed laser ranging system mounted onboard an
aircraft to measure ground elevation, vegetation canopy, and coastal topography. The system uses high-frequency laser beams directed at the Earth's
surface through an opening in the bottom of the aircraft's fuselage. The laser system records the time difference between emission of the laser beam
and the reception of the reflected laser signal in the aircraft. The plane travels over the target area at approximately 50 meters per second at an
elevation of approximately 300 meters. The EAARL, developed by NASA at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, measures ground elevation with a
vertical resolution of 15 centimeters. A sampling rate of 3 kilohertz or higher results in an extremely dense spatial elevation dataset. Over
100 kilometers of coastline can be easily surveyed within a 3- to 4-hour mission. When subsequent elevation maps for an area are analyzed, they
provide a useful tool to make management decisions regarding land development.
Original contact information:
Contact Name: David Nagle
Contact Org: Jacobs Technology, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Science Center, St. Petersburg, FL
Title: Programmer/Analyst
Phone: 727-803-8747 (x3093)
Email: dnagle@usgs.gov
Distribution Information
-
Create custom data files by choosing data area, product type, map projection, file format, datum, etc.
-
Simple download of data files.
None
Users should be aware that temporal changes may have occurred since this data set was collected and some parts of this data may no longer represent
actual surface conditions. Users should not use this data for critical applications without a full awareness of its limitations. The U.S. Geological
Survey, National Park Service, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration request to be acknowledged as originators of this data in future
products or derivative research.
Controlled Theme Keywords
elevation
Child Items
No Child Items for this record.
Contact Information
Point of Contact
NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
coastal.info@noaa.gov
(843) 740-1202
https://coast.noaa.gov
Metadata Contact
NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM)
coastal.info@noaa.gov
(843) 740-1202
https://coast.noaa.gov
Extents
-87.166508° W,
-87.104073° E,
30.389941° N,
30.353783° S
2007-06-30
Item Identification
Title: | 2007 USGS/NPS/NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL): Naval Live Oaks Area, FL |
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Short Name: | usgs2007_liveoaks_m565_metadata |
Status: | Completed |
Publication Date: | 2009 |
Abstract: |
ASCII xyz point cloud data were produced from remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Park Service (NPS), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Elevation measurements were collected over the area using the NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), a pulsed laser ranging system mounted onboard an aircraft to measure ground elevation, vegetation canopy, and coastal topography. The system uses high-frequency laser beams directed at the Earth's surface through an opening in the bottom of the aircraft's fuselage. The laser system records the time difference between emission of the laser beam and the reception of the reflected laser signal in the aircraft. The plane travels over the target area at approximately 50 meters per second at an elevation of approximately 300 meters. The EAARL, developed by NASA at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, measures ground elevation with a vertical resolution of 15 centimeters. A sampling rate of 3 kilohertz or higher results in an extremely dense spatial elevation dataset. Over 100 kilometers of coastline can be easily surveyed within a 3- to 4-hour mission. When subsequent elevation maps for an area are analyzed, they provide a useful tool to make management decisions regarding land development. Original contact information: Contact Name: David Nagle Contact Org: Jacobs Technology, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Science Center, St. Petersburg, FL Title: Programmer/Analyst Phone: 727-803-8747 (x3093) Email: dnagle@usgs.gov |
Purpose: |
The purpose of this project was to produce highly detailed and accurate digital elevation maps and CIR imagery of the Naval Live Oaks Area in Florida's Gulf Islands National Seashore for use as a management tool and to make these data available to natural-resource managers and research scientists. |
Notes: |
10747 |
Supplemental Information: |
Raw lidar data are not in a format that is generally usable by resource managers and scientists for scientific analysis. Converting dense lidar elevation data into a readily usable format without loss of essential information requires specialized processing. The U.S. Geological Survey's Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP) has developed custom software to convert raw lidar data into a GIS-compatible map product to be provided to GIS specialists, managers, and scientists. The primary tool used in the conversion process is Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a multi-tiered processing system developed by a USGS-NASA collaborative project. Specialized processing algorithms are used to convert raw waveform lidar data acquired by the EAARL to georeferenced spot (x,y,z) returns for "first surface" and "bare earth" topography. The zero crossing of the second derivative (that is, detection of local maxima) is used to detect "first surface" topography, while the trailing edge algorithm (that is, the algorithm searches for the location prior to the last return where direction changes along the trailing edge) is used to detect the range to the last return or "bare earth". Statistical filtering, known as the Random Consensus Filter (RCF), is used to remove false bottom returns and other outliers from the EAARL topography data. The filter uses a grid of non-overlapping square cells (buffer) of user-defined size overlaid onto the original point cloud. The user also defines the vertical tolerance (vertical width) based on the topographic complexity and point sampling density of the data. The maximum allowable elevation range within a cell is established by this vertical tolerance. An iterative process searches for the maximum concentration of points within the vertical tolerance, and removes those points outside of the tolerance (Nayegandhi and others, 2009). These data are then converted to the North American Datum of 1983 and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (using the GEOID03 model). The "canopy height" can then be determined by subtracting the "bare earth" elevations from the "first surface" elevations. Each file contains data located in a 2-kilometer by 2-kilometer tile, where the upper-left bound can be assessed quickly through the filename. The first 3 numbers in the filename represent the left-most UTM easting coordinate (e###000) in meters, the next 4 numbers represent the top-most UTM northing coordinate (n####000) in meters, and the last 2 numbers (##) represent the UTM zone in which the tile is located (ex. be_e123_n4567_16). Once the EAARL topography data has been processed, the ALPS software can then use it with the raw geopositional and orientation data from the survey to georeference color-infrared (CIR) imagery co-acquired alongside the lidar data. Each image is first roughly projected into coordinates using a specialized processing algorithm (in ALPS) that incorporates information from the camera lens parameters, the raw data, and an estimated initial elevation. The georeferencing is then iteratively improved by using the lidar elevation data in the algorithm until the solution stabilizes. This georeferencing method creates a worldfile and projection file for each CIR image. Once the imagery has been assessed visually by an operator for quality issues, the imagery and associated data are then processed using commercial software to mosaic the images into seamless 25-centimeter-resolution images using the 2-kilometer by 2-kilometer tiling scheme described above. The development of custom software for creating these data products has been supported by the U.S. Geological Survey CMG Program's Decision Support for Coastal Parks, Sanctuaries, and Preserves project. Processed data products are used by the U.S. Geological Survey CMG Program's National Assessments of Coastal Change Hazards project to quantify the vulnerability of shorelines to coastal change hazards such as severe storms, sea-level rise, and shoreline erosion and retreat. The ASPRS LAS grid is encoded with a 1 meter resolution. The input parameters for the Random Consensus Filter (RCF) were: grid cell size (buffer) = 6 meters x 6 meters; vertical tolerance (vertical width) = 500 centimeters for first surface and 50 centimeters for bare earth. See http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1078/ A footprint of the data may be viewed in Google Earth at: https://noaa-nos-coastal-lidar-pds.s3.amazonaws.com/laz/geoid18/565/supplemental/2007_USGS_NPS_NASA_EAARL_Lidar_Naval_Live_Oaks.kmz |
Keywords
Theme Keywords
Thesaurus | Keyword |
---|---|
ISO 19115 Topic Category |
elevation
|
UNCONTROLLED | |
None | ALPS |
None | EAARL |
Physical Location
Organization: | Office for Coastal Management |
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City: | Charleston |
State/Province: | SC |
Data Set Information
Data Set Scope Code: | Data Set |
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Maintenance Frequency: | None Planned |
Data Presentation Form: | LAS |
Distribution Liability: |
Any conclusions drawn from the analysis of this information are not the responsibility of the Office for Coastal Management or its partners. |
Data Set Credit: | Acknowledgment of the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Science Center, as a data source would be appreciated in products developed from these data, and such acknowledgement as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected by users of this data. Sharing new data layers developed directly from these data would also be appreciated by the U.S. Geological Survey staff. Users should be aware that comparisons with other datasets for the same area from other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from changes in photo interpretation, mapping conventions, and digital processes over time. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such. |
Support Roles
Data Steward
Date Effective From: | 2009 |
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Date Effective To: | |
Contact (Organization): | NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM) |
Address: |
2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413 |
Email Address: | coastal.info@noaa.gov |
Phone: | (843) 740-1202 |
URL: | https://coast.noaa.gov |
Distributor
Date Effective From: | 2009 |
---|---|
Date Effective To: | |
Contact (Organization): | NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM) |
Address: |
2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413 |
Email Address: | coastal.info@noaa.gov |
Phone: | (843) 740-1202 |
URL: | https://coast.noaa.gov |
Metadata Contact
Date Effective From: | 2009 |
---|---|
Date Effective To: | |
Contact (Organization): | NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM) |
Address: |
2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413 |
Email Address: | coastal.info@noaa.gov |
Phone: | (843) 740-1202 |
URL: | https://coast.noaa.gov |
Point of Contact
Date Effective From: | 2009 |
---|---|
Date Effective To: | |
Contact (Organization): | NOAA Office for Coastal Management (NOAA/OCM) |
Address: |
2234 South Hobson Ave Charleston, SC 29405-2413 |
Email Address: | coastal.info@noaa.gov |
Phone: | (843) 740-1202 |
URL: | https://coast.noaa.gov |
Extents
Currentness Reference: | Ground Condition |
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Extent Group 1
Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1
W° Bound: | -87.166508 | |
---|---|---|
E° Bound: | -87.104073 | |
N° Bound: | 30.389941 | |
S° Bound: | 30.353783 |
Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1
Time Frame Type: | Discrete |
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Start: | 2007-06-30 |
Spatial Information
Spatial Representation
Representations Used
Vector: | Yes |
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Access Information
Security Class: | Unclassified |
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Data Access Procedure: |
This data can be obtained on-line at the following URL: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer; |
Data Access Constraints: |
None |
Data Use Constraints: |
Users should be aware that temporal changes may have occurred since this data set was collected and some parts of this data may no longer represent actual surface conditions. Users should not use this data for critical applications without a full awareness of its limitations. The U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration request to be acknowledged as originators of this data in future products or derivative research. |
Distribution Information
Distribution 1
Download URL: | https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#/lidar/search/where:ID=565 |
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Distributor: | |
File Name: | Customized Download |
Description: |
Create custom data files by choosing data area, product type, map projection, file format, datum, etc. |
Distribution 2
Download URL: | https://noaa-nos-coastal-lidar-pds.s3.amazonaws.com/laz/geoid18/565/index.html |
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Distributor: | |
File Name: | Bulk Download |
Description: |
Simple download of data files. |
URLs
URL 1
URL: | https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer |
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URL Type: |
Online Resource
|
URL 2
URL: | https://coast.noaa.gov |
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URL Type: |
Online Resource
|
Activity Log
Activity Log 1
Activity Date/Time: | 2016-05-23 |
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Description: |
Date that the source FGDC record was last modified. |
Activity Log 2
Activity Date/Time: | 2017-11-14 |
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Description: |
Converted from FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (version FGDC-STD-001-1998) using 'fgdc_to_inport_xml.pl' script. Contact Tyler Christensen (NOS) for details. |
Activity Log 3
Activity Date/Time: | 2018-02-08 |
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Description: |
Partial upload of Positional Accuracy fields only. |
Activity Log 4
Activity Date/Time: | 2018-03-13 |
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Description: |
Partial upload to move data access links to Distribution Info. |
Technical Environment
Description: |
Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2 |
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Data Quality
Accuracy: |
The expected accuracy of the measured variables is as follows: attitude within 0.07 degree, 3-centimeter nominal ranging accuracy, and vertical elevation accuracy of +/-15 centimeters for the topographic surface. Quality checks are built into the data-processing software. |
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Horizontal Positional Accuracy: |
Raw elevation measurements have been determined to be within 1 meter in horizontal accuracy. |
Vertical Positional Accuracy: |
Elevations are vertically consistent with the point elevation data, +/-15 centimeters. |
Completeness Report: |
Several regions of the dataset are labeled as "No Data". These "No Data" areas are a result of the survey not covering a particular region, optical water depth of greater than 1.5 Secchi disc depths, or the manual removal of lidar processing artifacts. |
Conceptual Consistency: |
Each file contains data located in a 2-kilometer by 2-kilometer tile, where the upper-left bound can be assessed quickly through the filename. The first 3 numbers in the filename represent the left-most UTM easting coordinate (e###000) in meters, the next 4 numbers represent the top-most UTM northing coordinate (n####000) in meters, and the last 2 numbers (##) represent the UTM zone in which the tile is located (ex. fs_e123_n4567_16). |
Lineage
Process Steps
Process Step 1
Description: |
The data are collected using a Cessna 310 aircraft. The NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) laser scanner collects the data using a green (532-nanometer) raster scanning laser, while a digital camera acquires a visual record of the flight. The data are stored on hard drives and archived at the U.S. Geological Survey office in St. Petersburg, Florida and the NASA office at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The navigational data are processed at Wallops Flight Facility. The navigational and raw data are then downloaded into the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS). Data are converted from units of time to x,y,z points for elevation. The derived surface data can then be converted into raster data. The processing took place from 20070630 through 20090720. |
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Process Date/Time: | 2009-07-20 00:00:00 |
Process Step 2
Description: |
The NOAA Office for Coastal Management received the data in LAS format. The files contained Lidar elevation and intensity measurements. The data were projected in UTM coordinates (NAD83; Zone 16N) and referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) using the Geoid03 model. The following processes were performed to make the data available within the Digital Coast: 1. The data were converted from UTM (NAD83; Zone 16N) to geographic coordinates (NAD83). 2. The data were converted from NAVD88 (orthometric) heights to GRS80 (ellipsoidal) heights using the Geoid03 model. 3. The data were reclassified to reflect a bare earth surface (class 0 to class 2). 4. The LAS data were sorted by latitude and the headers were updated. |
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Process Date/Time: | 2001-04-02 00:00:00 |
Catalog Details
Catalog Item ID: | 50103 |
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GUID: | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:50103 |
Metadata Record Created By: | Anne Ball |
Metadata Record Created: | 2017-11-15 15:24+0000 |
Metadata Record Last Modified By: | SysAdmin InPortAdmin |
Metadata Record Last Modified: | 2022-08-09 17:11+0000 |
Metadata Record Published: | 2022-03-16 |
Owner Org: | OCMP |
Metadata Publication Status: | Published Externally |
Do Not Publish?: | N |
Metadata Last Review Date: | 2022-03-16 |
Metadata Review Frequency: | 1 Year |
Metadata Next Review Date: | 2023-03-16 |