NEON AOP LiDAR Survey of Colorado Watersheds: Point Clouds and 1m Rasters

334 square kilometers of Colorado watersheds were surveyed by the NEON Airborne Observation Platform using an Optech Gemini LiDAR instrument. The data includes classified point clouds in LAZ format and 1-meter resolution raster files for surface elevation, terrain elevation, and canopy height. These data were contracted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and are also accessible via Google Earth Engine.

Use Cases

• Modeling watershed hydrology based on the 1-meter digital terrain elevation model.
• Estimating forest biomass and structure based on the canopy height model with a >2m height threshold.
• Creating high-resolution topographic maps based on the digital surface and terrain elevation rasters.
• Analyzing land cover and terrain features for ecological studies based on the classified LiDAR point cloud.

Strengths

• Covers a total surveyed area of 334 square kilometers across 72 flight lines.
• Provides 1-meter resolution raster data for surface, terrain, and canopy height models.
• Point cloud data is classified, which suggests separation of ground and vegetation returns.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Airborne Observation Platform, contracted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Collection Method

Airborne LiDAR survey using an Optech Gemini instrument.

Geography

Watersheds surrounding Crested Butte, Colorado, USA.