ASO OLYMPEX: Snow Depth and Terrain from Airborne LiDAR

NASA's GPM Ground Validation Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) OLYMPEX dataset provides 3-meter resolution geospatial data on snow depth, bare earth surface, and land cover classification for the Olympic Mountains. It was collected during the OLYMPEX field campaign using a Riegl Q1560 LiDAR and an ITRES CASI-1500 imaging spectrometer on flights in February and March 2016, with a baseline no-snow measurement from September 2014. The data are delivered in GeoTIFF format and support research on snowpack, hydrology, and terrain modeling.

Use Cases

• Modeling snow water equivalent (SWE) for hydrological forecasting based on high-resolution snow depth measurements.
• Validating satellite-derived snow cover and depth products from missions like GPM using precise airborne LiDAR data.
• Generating digital elevation models (DEMs) and analyzing terrain changes using the bare earth surface and point cloud data.
• Classifying land cover types (e.g., forest, open terrain) for snow accumulation studies using the land surface classification layer.
• Monitoring seasonal snowpack dynamics and melt patterns in a mountainous watershed using multi-temporal flights.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution (3 m) spatial data, enabling detailed watershed-scale analysis.
• Data collection employs specialized instrumentation (Riegl Q1560 LiDAR, ITRES CASI-1500 spectrometer) designed for snow measurement.
• Includes multi-temporal coverage from specific flight periods (Feb 8-9, 2016; Mar 29-30, 2016) and a baseline no-snow flight (Sep 2014).

Limitations

• Spatial coverage is limited to the Olympic Mountains region during the OLYMPEX campaign, not a global dataset.
• Metadata completeness is low: column names, row counts, and exact license terms are unspecified across all sources.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata between platforms (2016-03-30 on NASA Earthdata vs. 2026-04-10 on Data.gov), suggesting potential metadata management issues.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO)

Collection Method

Collected via airborne platform using a Riegl Q1560 scanning LiDAR and an ITRES CASI-1500 imaging spectrometer.

Time Range

September 2014 to March 2016

Freshness

2026-04-10 02:41:46.131316

Geography

Olympic Mountains, Pacific Northwest, USA