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Full catalog/SNEX20_TLS_PC_BSU
SNEX20_TLS_PC_BSU·v1·dataset

3D laser scan point cloud of snow terrain (SnowEx)

SnowEx20 Boise State University Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) Point Cloud V001
land NASA NSIDC_CPRD Level 1 PDFLAZCSV
In plain English

What it measures. A dense 3D scan of snowy terrain in Grand Mesa, Colorado—millions of points each with an exact position and a brightness value—captured both with and without snow on the ground, in open and forested spots.

How it's made. Collected on the ground by a terrestrial laser scanner that sweeps the landscape with a laser; multiple scans at each site were stitched together using shared reference targets.

How & where you'd use it. By comparing the snow-on and snow-off scans, researchers can measure snow depth precisely and study how snow interacts with trees and vegetation.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › LIDAR

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2019-09-23 → 2020-02-02
  • Measured byGROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS (TLS)
  • Processing levelLevel 1
  • Spatial extent-108.146, 39, -108.025, 39.041
  • FormatsPDF, LAZ, CSV
  • 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 data set contains terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) point cloud data collected as part of the 2020 SnowEx campaign in Grand Mesa, Colorado. Data were collected under both snow-off (September 2019) and snow-on (February 2020) conditions, at both open and forested locations. Multiple scans were conducted at each site and registered together using common targets. Each point contains X, Y, and Z coordinates (Easting, Northing, and Elevation), as well as intensity (i). These TLS data can be used to determine snow depth and explore the interactions between snow and vegetation.

Get the data

snex20_tls_pc_bsu_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SNEX20_TLS_PC_BSU",
    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 NSIDC_CPRD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.