2010 Lidar Point Cloud for Kure Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Summer 2010 lidar-derived elevation data collected over Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The U.S. Geological Survey and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contracted Aerial Surveying, Inc. to gather the data using Riegl 140 and 240 systems on a Beechcraft Queen Air. The dataset contains point clouds in LAS 1.2 format, classified as ground, water, and unclassified.

Use Cases

• Modeling sea level rise impacts based on high-resolution digital elevation models.
• Conducting habitat assessments for low-lying atoll ecosystems.
• Simulating tsunami inundation scenarios using ground-classified elevation points.

Strengths

• Data collected with survey-grade GPS validation in April 2011.
• Point clouds classified to ASPRS standards (Class 1: Unclassified, Class 2: Ground, Class 9: Water).
• Project conducted under official permit PMNM-2010-033 from NOAA, USFWS, and the State of Hawaii.

Limitations

• Accuracy statements are based on open terrain; derived products may be less accurate in areas of extreme terrain and dense vegetation.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Aerial lidar survey contracted to Aerial Surveying, Inc., with subsequent GPS validation.

Time Range

Summer 2010 (collection), April 2011 (validation).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 22:18:50.537599; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Kure Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, North America.