Laser maps of terrain and vegetation height (Idaho, 2014)
What it measures. A detailed 3D scan of the ground and plants across two areas in southern Idaho, captured in August 2014. It includes the raw cloud of laser-measured points plus finished maps showing ground elevation and the height of the tallest vegetation.
How it's made. Built from laser pulses fired downward from an airplane, then cleaned of noise, aligned between flight lines, and packaged into 1-kilometer map tiles.
How & where you'd use it. Useful for studying terrain, mapping how tall trees and shrubs grow in a watershed, and tracking landscape and vegetation change over time.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2014-08-23 → 2014-08-31
- Measured byAirplane (LIDAR)
- Processing levelLevel 2
- Spatial extent-116.889, 42.2848, -114.678, 43.3257
- Formatsmultiple
- StatusCOMPLETE
What you can do with it
- Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
- Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
- Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description
This dataset provides the point cloud data derived from small footprint waveform LiDAR data collected in August 2014 over Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed and Hollister in southern Idaho. The LiDAR data have been georeferenced, noise-filtered, and corrected for misalignment for overlapping flight lines and are provided in 1 km tiles. High resolution digital elevation models and maps of maximum vegetation height derived from the LiDAR data are provided for each site.
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="LiDAR_Veg_Ht_Idaho_1532",
version="1",
bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9), # your area (W,S,E,N)
temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"), # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results) # stream straight from ORNL_CLOUD Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package. Official links
- Earthdata Search allows users to search, discover, visualize, refine, and access NASA Earth Observation data. GET DATA
- LiDAR and Derived Elevation Data Products for Two Sites in Southern Idaho, 2014: RCEW_boundary.kmz VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- LiDAR and Derived Elevation Data Products for Two Sites in Southern Idaho, 2014: Hol_boundary.kmz VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- LiDAR and Derived Elevation Data Products for Two Sites in Southern Idaho, 2014: Hol_footprints.kmz VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- ORNL DAAC Data Set Documentation VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- LiDAR and Derived Elevation Data Products for Two Sites in Southern Idaho, 2014: LiDAR_Veg_Ht_Idaho.pdf VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- LiDAR and Derived Elevation Data Products for Two Sites in Southern Idaho, 2014: RCEW_footprints.kmz VIEW RELATED INFORMATION