Protodune Dynamics and Meteorological Data from Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, 2023

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado, USA, is the location for this dataset of early-stage sand dune formation. It includes raw point cloud data from repeat terrestrial laser scans (TLS) and measurements of wind speed and sediment transport. The data was collected in March and April 2023 and is provided by the British Geological Survey (BGS).

Use Cases

• Modeling early-stage dune migration based on repeat terrestrial laser scan (TLS) point clouds.
• Analyzing the relationship between wind speed and sediment transport based on anemometer and sensor data.
• Studying protodune erosion patterns on moist surfaces based on the TLS data.
• Validating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of sand transport based on the field measurements.

Strengths

• Includes multiple sensor types: terrestrial laser scans (TLS), a 3D sonic anemometer, and sediment transport sensors.
• Data collection is focused on a specific, dynamic geomorphic process (protodune development) in a defined location and time (March-April 2023).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS)

Collection Method

Field measurements using terrestrial laser scans (TLS), a CSAT 3D sonic anemometer, and Sensit and Wenglor fork sensors.

Time Range

March and April 2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 08:28:05.843468; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Medano Creek Area, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado, USA