OpenTopography Blog

Information and discussion related to high-resolution LiDAR topography for the Earth sciences

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Category: Education

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Short Course: Imaging and Analyzing Southern California’s Active Faults with Lidar

Posted on Wed, September 14, 2011 by Chris Crosby in Education • OpenTopography Updates • Workshops

Mike Oskin (UC Davis), Ramon Arrowsmith (ASU), and I will be teaching a lidar short course October 24 and 25, 2011 at University of California, Davis.  The course, Imaging and Analyzing Southern California’s Active Faults with High-Resolution Lidar Topography, will focus on lidar technology, data processing and analysis techniques. We will emphasize fault trace and geomorphic mapping applications, integration with other geospatial data, and data visualization and analysis approaches.  The course will be held at KeckCAVES at UC Davis and will combine lectures and hands-on use of several different software packages.

The course is supported by the Southern California Earthquake Center, UC Davis KeckCAVES, and OpenTopography.

More information on the course and a link to the course application are available via the short course page.  The application deadline is September 21st, 2011.

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2011 NCALM Graduate Student Seed Proposal Call Open

Posted on Tue, September 06, 2011 by Chris Crosby in Data • Education • News

Ramesh Shrestha, Director of the NSF National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) has announced NCALM’s annual call for proposals to their graduate student seed project program.  This program collects LiDAR data for up to ten graduate student PIs who require data for their research. Data collection is typically limited to 40 km² per project and must be targeted at a basic research question in the geosciences.  The proposal deadline is November 1, 2011.  Email announcement:

The National Center for Airborne Laser mapping (NCALM) invites SEED proposals from Graduate Students PIs who need Airborne Laser Swath mapping (ALSM) data (generally covering no more than 40 square kilometers). Proposals must define a basic research question in the geosciences (broadly defined). No financial support is provided to the student, but it is hoped that the data from projects selected in this program will enable new research opportunities and lead to successful proposals for future research. Detail can be found by clicking the link below.

http://www.ncalm.cive.uh.edu/content/seedproposals.html

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Lidar at GSA 2011 Meeting

Posted on Sat, July 23, 2011 by Chris Crosby in Education • Meetings • News

The Geological Society of America annual meeting abstract deadline of July 26th, 2011 is fast approaching.  Below are sessions and short courses at the GSA 2011 meeting in Minneapolis that will focus on lidar data in the Earth sciences:

Topical Sessions:

T114. Measuring the True Shape of the Earth: Quantitative and Qualitative Applications of Terrestrial LiDAR
GSA Archaeological Geology Division; GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics Division; GSA Geoinformatics Division; GSA Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division; GSA Environmental and Engineering Geology Division
Ian P. Madin, Donald E. Luman

This session will focus on new efforts and approaches to extracting quantitative and qualitative geologic and environmental features from terrestrial LiDAR data.

Engineering Geology; Environmental Geoscience; Geomorphology

T149. Virtual Reality in Geoscience Education (Digital Posters)
GSA Geoscience Education Division; GSA Geoscience Education Division; GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics Division; GSA Geoinformatics Division; GSA Planetary Geology Division; National Association of Geoscience Teachers; Google Inc.; Oxford University Press; Minnesota Planetarium Society
Declan G. De Paor, Steven J. Whitmeyer, John E. Bailey

Showcase your geo-visualizations using the medium of the future - the digital poster session. Presenters will hook up their own PC/Mac laptops to one of 20 flat screens.
This session covers virtual reality in formal and informal geoscience education at all levels: Google Earth, OmniGlobe, LiDAR, GigaPan, full-dome digital planetaria, caves, and resources for handheld devices, such as iPads and smart phones.

Geoscience Education; Geoinformatics; Structural Geology

T197. Seeing the True Shape of Earth: Quantitative and Qualitative Applications of Airborne Lidar
GSA Archaeological Geology Division; GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics Division; GSA Geoinformatics Division; GSA Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division; GSA Environmental and Engineering Geology Division
Ian P. Madin, D.E. Luman

This session will focus on new efforts and approaches to extract quantitative and qualitative geologic and environmental features from terrestrial and airborne LiDAR data.

Geoinformatics; Remote Sensing/Geographic Info System; Quaternary Geology

Short Courses:

510. Terrestrial Laser Scanning (Ground-Based LiDAR) Methods and Applications in Geologic Research and Education.
Sat., 8 Oct., 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
$33; includes lunch. Limit: 20. CEU: 0.9.
Cosponsor: UNAVCO.
David Phillips, UNAVCO; John Oldow, Univ. of Texas at Dallas; Carlos Aiken, Univ. of Texas at Dallas.

This course will present terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), also known as ground-based LiDAR, workflows and best practices for the acquisition and processing of TLS data; an overview of various TLS platforms; and examples of science and education applications. This one-day workshop will consist of lectures and hands-on application of TLS equipment and data processing. TLS provides very high-resolution images over relatively small areas, is relatively inexpensive to acquire and has been used successfully to support a wide range of geoscience investigations, from outcrop mapping to deformation monitoring. Limited financial support is available for students.

514. Introduction to the Acquisition, Visualization, and Interpretation of Airborne LiDAR Data.
Sat., 8 Oct., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
$110. Limit: 30. CEU: 0.9.
Cosponsors: OpenTopography; GSA Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division; GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics Division; GSA Environmental and Engineering Geology Division; GSA Geoinformatics Divisions.
Ian Madin, Oregon Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries; Chris Crosby, Univ. of California at San Diego.

This course provides and introduction to the acquisition and use of airborne LiDAR data. It covers LiDAR collection fundamentals, how to contract for good data, where to find data and tools, how to visualize point and grid data, and how to do simple feature extraction from LiDAR-derived DEMs. The course will use ESRI ArcGIS and USFS Fusion software, and each student will have a dedicated workstation and real world data to use in hands-on exercises.

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Video Highlights Applications of Oregon Lidar Data

Posted on Mon, February 14, 2011 by Chris Crosby in Education • Video

This well done ~10 minute video from Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Field Guide does an excellent job of highlighting the various earth science applications for the lidar data being collected by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries’ (DOGAMI) Lidar Consortium.  The video features DOGAMI’s Ian Madin talking about applications for bare earth lidar data, including identifying and mapping Missoula Flood deposits, landslides, and volcanic cones.  The video also offers a nice overview of lidar data collection, with footage from inside Watershed Science’s aircraft.  More information about the video is available via this OPB Field Journal blog post.

Oregon is currently a leader with their large scale, high-resolution, lidar data collections.  These datasets exceed 8 shots/m² and make the subtle identification and mapping applications discussed in the video possible.  OpenTopography recently received a hard drive containing several Oregon Lidar Consortium datasets, and we are in the process of discussing a partnership to deliver these data to users.  Stay tuned for more.

via: lidarnews.com

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SciNews: A resource for incorporating earth science current events into the classroom

Posted on Thu, February 10, 2011 by Chris Crosby in Education

Erin Dimaggio, an ASU grad student working in part with OT Co-I Ramon Arrowsmith, has just announced an education and outreach project - SciNews - that she is working on as part of her ASU/NASA Space Grant.  SciNews provides “middle and high school teachers timely, pre-packaged lessons on a science current event (such as an oil spill, earthquake, or shuttle launch) that are short (~15 min), easy to implement, and align to state standards”. Although not directly related to lidar, SciNews is a resource that is likely of interest to the many geoscience educators who come to OT looking for data.  SciNews Issue 1 focuses on the January 2010 Haiti earthquake, and therefore is very complimentary to the OpenTopography hosted World Bank - ImageCat Inc. - RIT Haiti Earthquake LiDAR dataset (point cloud data, Google Earth image overlays).  Congrats to Erin for putting together such a great resource for earth science education.

The full SciNews announcement, emailed to the Gilbert Club email list, is pasted below:

Hi all,

I just wanted to send this as a followup to the pop-up I gave at this year’s Gilbert Club meeting.

I would like to introduce you to the education outreach project that I am working on as the focus of my ASU/NASA Space Grant. Although this outreach project (aimed at 7-12th graders) may not be directly useful to you, it is my hope that you might spread the word to educators that you know that might be interested.  The project is called SciNews and all of the materials created are available for download via a website I created, hosted through the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University:  http://sese.asu.edu/teacher-resources

The purpose of SciNews is to provide middle and high school teachers timely, pre-packaged lessons on a science current event (such as an oil spill, earthquake, or shuttle launch) that are short (~15 min), easy to implement, and align to state standards. Materials might include a slide show, videos, maps, photographs, or KML files for use in Google Earth. Each current event lesson has an associated PDF document that contains a brief overview of the event and lesson, as well as a map, photo(s), and AZ standards targeted (see attached). Although using current events in the classroom is not new, my goal here is to provide simple and short lessons that associate ‘textbook’ concepts with real events in the news while allowing for class discussion.

I have created a listserv to send out updates when new materials are posted and ready for download. I send out ~1 email every two-three weeks.

** To Sign Up for SciNews please send me an email at: emailSCINEWS@asu.edu **

Currently, over 100 educators are signed up to the listserv from 22 states and 6 countries...however, I would like to reach many more. Since SciNews is just underway (first listserv emails went out in Jan. 2011), I ask that you please spread the word to other science educators that might be interested!

Visit theSciNews website to download this Issue or check out the other 6 archived: http://sese.asu.edu/teacher-resources

Thank You!
Erin DiMaggio

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USGS Mount St. Helens LiDAR Poster

Posted on Tue, January 11, 2011 by Chris Crosby in Education • Publications

The USGS has released a beautiful poster of Mount St. Helens created from high-resolution LiDAR topography data.  The poster is USGS General Information Product 116 and is freely available for download in PDF format at either 17x22 inches or 32x42 inches.

Citation:
Queija, V.R., 2010, Mount St. Helens lidar: U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 116, 1 p.

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LiDAR - Illuminating Earthquake Hazards Video Premiered at SCEC Annual Meeting

Posted on Sun, September 12, 2010 by Chris Crosby in Education • Video

As part of a Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) and OpenTopography collaboration, Sarah Robinson (ASU M.S. student) and Andrew Whitesides (USC undergraduate) - supported by SCEC’s ACCESS program (Advancement of Cyberinfrastructure Careers through Earthquake System Science) and in collaboration with numerous SCEC scientists and the OpenTopography team - have produced a new educational video entitled LiDAR - Illuminating Earthquake Hazards.  The video provides an introduction to both LiDAR technology as well as the earthquake science that is being done with the data.

The video premiered at this week’s SCEC Annual Meeting in Palm Springs and has been posted to OpenTopography’s YouTube channel

Congratulations to Sarah and Andrew, a lot of hard work went into making this video a reality, and thanks to everyone who supported the effort.

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Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory LiDAR Outreach Videos

Posted on Mon, June 07, 2010 by Chris Crosby in Education • Google Earth • Video

Nancy Glenn from the Idaho State University Department of Geosciences Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory (BCAL) sent along a link to a collection of outreach videos they have been developing that provide 3D visualizations using LiDAR and other digital data.  For example, the following video provides a narrated tour of the Snake River in eastern Idaho:

The BCAL videos page also features a 3D tour of the Borah Peak Earthquake rupture and an introduction to LiDAR technology.  These resources, produced with National Science Foundation Idaho EPSCoR Program funding, are great resources for education and outreach.

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New Point Cloud Processing and Custom DEM Video Tutorial

Posted on Mon, May 03, 2010 by Chris Crosby in Education • OpenTopography Updates

Thanks to the ASU Capstone team - a group of senior undergraduate School of Computing and Informatics students at Arizona State supervised by OpenTopography Co-I Ramon Arrowsmith - we now have a very nice video tutorial on how to use OpenTopography to download and process LiDAR point cloud data to digital elevation models:

This is the first of what we hope will be a series of instructional videos that will appear on the OpenTopography Tutorials page and the OpenTopography YouTube channel.  Stay tuned for more soon.

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LiDAR 101 Video

Posted on Thu, April 01, 2010 by Chris Crosby in Education • Resources • Video

I just stumbled upon this LiDAR 101 video, produced by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at University of Georgia, while Googling for something else.  In ~13 minutes, it does a nice job of summarizing LiDAR technology, data products, the costs associated with acquiring data, and various applications.  It is worth a watch if you are looking for a quick crash-course in LiDAR or need a video to show in the classroom:

Are there other good introduction to LiDAR videos out there?  Leave a comment if you are aware of others.

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