LiDAR point cloud data for the Port-au-Prince waterfront.  Listing cargo crane visible on left.

Soon after the earthquake, OpenTopography developed a Google Earth file (KMZ) which allows simple viewing of LiDAR-derived imagery in the Google Earth environment.  We’re pleased to continue our Haiti related LiDAR hosting by now offering access to the full point cloud.

Data:

• World Bank - ImageCat Inc. - RIT Haiti Earthquake LiDAR point cloud dataset and custom DEM generation
• Haiti LiDAR Imagery in Google Earth

For more discussion about LiDAR data collection in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake, please see the OpenTopography blog tag: 2010 Haiti EQ.

Data Acknowledgment:
LiDAR data were acquired by Rochester Institute of Technology and Kucera International, under sub-contract to ImageCat Inc. and funded by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) hosted at The World Bank.

Napa Watershed Data Release:

OpenTopography is happy to announce that point cloud LiDAR data for the Napa Watershed in northern California is now available.  The Napa data were collected in 2003 by the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM).  This was one of the original NCALM data sets and digital elevation models derived from these data have been available via the NCALM Data Distribution Center for quite some time.  However, this release of the data by OpenTopography marks the first time that the full Napa point cloud data set has been available for download.  The Napa data set is approximately 2.1 billion LiDAR returns, bring OpenTopography’s total LiDAR point cloud holdings to 37 billion points.

>> Go to the Napa Watershed LiDAR dataset

OpenTopography v 2.1 Release:

This week OpenTopography has also released another update to our system.  This release is largely focused on back-end data management systems that are invisible to the user.  However, OT 2.1 marks an important milestone for OpenTopography as the updates should significantly improve our ability to quickly ingest and make available new data sets.  The Napa data set released this week was used to design and test this new data management system.

OpenTopography 2.1 Updates:

User Interface:
- Updated metadata description information on each dataset page
- Ability to download job metadata to file.
- Updated tooltips for easier access.
- Ability to edit LiDAR job’s title after submission
- Minor bug fixes and interface tweaks.

System:
- New point cloud data ingestion and management system to enhance speed with which new data can be added to OpenTopography.
- Numerous updates to web services and related databases.

Paper Abstract:

The advent of high-resolution mapping technologies such as airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) has revolutionized the study of processes acting on the earth’s surface.  However, the massive volumes of data produced by LIDAR technology pose significant technical challenges in terms of the management and web-based distribution of these datasets. This paper provides a case study in the use of relational database technology for serving large airborne LIDAR “point cloud” datasets, as part of the National Science Foundation funded OpenTopography facility. We have experimented with the use of spatial extensions in the database as well as implementation solutions from a single partition database on a supercomputer resource to a multi-partition implementation on a shared-nothing commodity cluster for management of these terabyte scale datasets. We also describe future directions being pursued to support binary data formats and for scaling to larger system configurations.

The OpenTopography 2.0 release represents significant modifications to the OpenTopography point cloud system in an effort to enhance functionality, stability, scalability, and performance.  Although modifications to the system from the user’s perspective are not dramatic (moderate design changes, a handful of new features - see release notes below for details), this release marks a complete re-architecting of OpenTopography at the service level and is thus quite significant.  OT 2.0 provides the foundation upon which future OpenTopography developments (new processing capabilities and additional data) will be built. 

Note that the OpenTopography 2.0 release is focused primarily on the LiDAR point cloud access and processing portion of OpenTopography.  Planned future updates will address other aspects of the portal, including the data discovery page and standard DEM access.  We also intend to add many new data sets to OpenTopography is the coming months.

As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.  Thank you,

- The OpenTopography Team
_____________________________

New Features and Updates in OpenTopography 2.0 Release:

System:
Complete re-architecting of OpenTopography at the service level to provide a full service oriented architecture which should permit us to more easily add new features and resources.
Significantly more powerful compute resources for digital elevation model generation
Various improvements to system backups and fail-over

User Interface:
Redesigned point cloud download and processing interface which incorporates new features (see below)
Redesigned myLiDAR Jobs interface
Moderate redesigns to job submission, results, and metadata pages and emails.

New Features:
Download of point cloud data in LAS 1.2 binary format
Updated DEM generation algorithm with null filling via user defined window size (3x3, 5x5 and 7x7 window sizes)
Output of DEM files in GeoTIFF and Erdas Imagine (img) formats
Generation of hillshade and slope grids
New ‘Share these jobs results” option that allows users to share the results of their jobs with others (available only when logged into OT)

OpenTopography is pleased to announce the beta release of OpenTopography 2.0 (OT 2.0).  Over the past few months the OpenTopography team has made significant modifications to the OpenTopography point cloud system in an effort to enhance functionality, stability, scalability, and performance.  Although modifications to the system from the user’s perspective are not dramatic (moderate design changes, a handful of new features - see release notes below for details), this release marks a complete re-architecting of OpenTopography at the service level and is thus quite significant.  OT 2.0 provides the foundation upon which future OpenTopography developments (new processing capabilities and additional data) are built. 

We intend to move OT 2.0 to production next week (tentatively Monday, June 7th) and invite your input on the new system before this move.  Please visit: http://www.opentopography.org/beta to access the beta version of OT 2.0.  If you are already a registered OpenTopography user, your username and password should work as normal.  The changes made in OT 2.0 apply primarily to the point cloud processing system and the myLiDAR Jobs interface so you should focus your testing there. 

Note:  If while using the OT-beta site you click off of the “Data” tab, you’ll be taken into the production OT environment and will not be able to get back to the beta site without entering the beta-url above.

Please send comments, suggestions, bugs, and other issues to info@opentopography.org.

Thank you in advance for your comments and suggestions.
_____________________________

New Features and Updates in OpenTopography 2.0 Release:

System:
Complete re-architecting of OpenTopography at the service level to provide a full service oriented architecture which should permit us to more easily add new features and resources.
Significantly more powerful compute resources for DEM generation
Various improvements to system backups and failover

User Interface:
Redesigned point cloud download and processing interface which incorporates new features (see below)
Redesigned myLiDAR Jobs interface
Moderate redesigns to job submission, results, and metadata pages and emails.

New Features:
Download of point cloud data in LAS 1.2 binary format
Updated DEM generation algorithm with null filling via user defined window size (3x3, 5x5 and 7x7 window sizes)
Output of DEM files in GeoTIFF and Erdas Imagine (img) formats
Generation of hillshade and slope grids
New “Share these jobs results” option that allows users to share the results of their jobs with others (available only when logged into OT)

General and program information, as well as online registration is available at http://www.geongrid.org/csig10.

The broad theme for CSIG’10 will be emergent Geoinformatics approaches to 3D and 4D integration of geoscience data.  Given the diverse interests of past CSIG participants, and based on feedback that they have provided, CSIG’10 will feature two “tracks” of instruction:

1.  Build Track:  Overview of the technologies utilized to develop earth science cyberinfrastructure; and
2.  Education Track:  Utilization of cyberinfrastructure-based data systems and tools in geoscience education and research.

Interested applicants at all levels are encouraged to apply, including graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and professionals in earth science and related disciplines. You will have the option to choose the track of primary interest at the time of application.

Course registration and accommodations are paid for with support received from the National Science Foundation. However, please note that participants will be responsible for funding their own travel to San Diego for the Institute.

The Registration Deadline for the CSIG ‘10 is June 6th.  Registration can be found at http://www.geongrid.org/csig10.

Please forward this information to anyone that may be interested in this year’s CSIG.  Questions should be directed to summerinstitute@geongrid.org

OpenTopography team member Chris Crosby shows LaserFest reception attendee a demonstration of LiDAR data. (image credit: Linda Rowan, AGI)

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TLS scan of U.S. Representatives Ralph Hall (TX) and David Wu (OR) (image credit: David Phillips, UNAVCO)

The SET CVD is an annual event organized by the Science-Engineering-Technology Working Group that brings scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, and technology executives to Washington to raise visibility and support for science, engineering, and technology.  Uniquely multi-sector and multi-disciplinary, the CVD is coordinated by coalitions of companies, professional societies and educational institutions and it is open to all people who believe that science and technology comprise the cornerstone of our Nation’s future.

Chris Crosby (OpenTopography) and David Phillips (UNAVCO) (image credit: David Phillips, UNAVCO)

UPDATE 05/19 The American Geological Institute has a recap of 2010 SET CVD activities.  See this gallery for more photos: http://setcvd2010.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

Point cloud data downloads and custom DEM processing will be unavailable Friday evening, April 2nd due to a system backup.

We apologize for any inconvenience these outages may cause.

The Zielke, et al. study used 0.25 and 0.5 m DEMs generated using the point cloud and custom DEM component of OpenTopography on the B4 dataset and reconstructed their offsets from prior major earthquakes (in particular the last great one of 1857) along the San Andreas Fault to refine our understanding of what happens when the fault slips there. They concluded (in part) that 1) there was no indicator for (strong) fault segmentation, 2) individual sections of 1857 rupture may be activated independently, 3) earthquake occurrence may be bimodal with major full rupture events dominating the strain release and moderate partial rupture events decreasing the recurrence interval of surface rupturing earthquakes, and 4) the open interval since 1857 is similar to or greater than the recurrence rate of earthquakes on that portion of the San Andreas Fault.

The B4 “Southern San Andreas Laser Scan” dataset is comprised of several billion individual laser returns. OpenTopography made it easy to select and process the portion of the data set that covered the offset landforms of interest.

Direct links to the Science Cover, Reports, and the Perspective:

Cover: High-resolution hillshade map showing the topography of the San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain of California.

Climate-Modulated Channel Incision and Rupture History of the San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain by Grant Ludwig, et al.

Slip in the 1857 and Earlier Large Earthquakes Along the Carrizo Plain, San Andreas Fault by Zielke, et al.

PERSPECTIVE on GEOPHYSICS: Changing Views of the San Andreas Fault by Katherine Scharer