SnowEx23 BCEF: Terrestrial Lidar Digital Terrain Models

Digital Terrain Models derived from terrestrial lidar scans collected during the SnowEx 2023 campaign at the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest near Fairbanks, Alaska. Data were captured in October 2022 (snow-off) and March 2023 (snow-on) and are provided as GeoTIFF files, each corresponding to a unique survey site. The dataset is part of a larger collection, with unprocessed point cloud data available separately.

Use Cases

• Modeling snow depth distribution by comparing snow-on and snow-off terrain models
• Validating airborne or satellite-derived snow products with high-resolution ground truth
• Analyzing sub-canopy topography and ground surface characteristics in a boreal forest
• Assessing seasonal terrain changes and snowpack evolution in a northern experimental forest

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution terrain data for a critical snow science field campaign (SnowEx 2023)
• Captures ground conditions at two distinct seasonal states (snow-off and snow-on) for change analysis
• Data is hosted and maintained by NASA, indicating a level of institutional curation

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, license, and specific column/attribute details are unavailable across all sources
• A conflict exists in the 'last updated' date between platforms (2023-03 26 vs. 2026-04-10), creating uncertainty about data freshness
• The dataset's utility is dependent on the separate availability of the raw point cloud data for full processing flexibility

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from terrestrial lidar scans (TLS)

Time Range

October 2022 to March 2023

Freshness

2026 -04-10 19:24:22.946592

Geography

Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest near Fairbanks, Alaska