skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Midnight Sun Golf Course Classified LiDAR Point Cloud, Digital Surface Model, Digital Terrain Model, Digital Photos, and Orthophoto Mosaic; Fairbanks, AK; 10 September 2023
The Midnight Sun Golf Course in Fairbanks, Alaska is a legacy farm field that is part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Funded Permafrost Grown project. This 65 hectare (ha) parcel was initially cleared for agriculture purposes but changed land-use practices to a golf course around 25 years ago. The land-use conversion was in part due to ice-rich permafrost thaw following clearing. We are studying the long-term effects of permafrost thaw following initial clearing for cultivation purposes. We are working with the current landowners to provide information regarding ongoing thermokarst development on the property and to conduct studies in reforested portions of the land area to understand land clearing and reforestation on permafrost-affected soils. In this regard, we have acquired very high resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and digital photography from a DJI M300 drone using a Zenmuse L1. The Zenmuse L1 integrates a Livox Lidar module, a high-accuracy inertial measurement units (IMU), and a camera with a 1-inch CMOS on a 3-axis stabilized gimbal. The drone was configured to fly in real-time kinematic (RTK) mode at an altitude of 60 meters above ground level using the DJI D-RTK 2 base station. Data was acquired using a 50% sidelap and a 70% frontlap. Additional ground control was established with a Leica GS18 global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and all data have been post-processed to World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) universal transverse mercator (UTM) Zone 6 North using ellipsoid heights. Data outputs include a two-class classified LiDAR point cloud, digital surface model, digital terrain model, and an orthophoto mosaic. Image acquisition occurred on 10 September 2023. The input images are available for download at http://arcticdata.io/data/10.18739/A2PC2TB1T.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2126965
PAR ID:
10484010
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Publisher / Repository:
NSF Arctic Data Center
Date Published:
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
Drone LiDAR Photogrammetry Digital Surface Model Digital Terrain Model
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. The University of Alaska Fairbanks T Field is a legacy farm field that is part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Funded Permafrost Grown project. We are studying the long-term effects of permafrost thaw following initial clearing for cultivation purposes. In this regard, we have acquired very high resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and digital photography from a DJI M300 drone using a Zenmuse L1 and a MicaSense RedEdge-P camera. The Zenmuse L1 integrates a Livox Lidar module, a high-accuracy inertial measurement units (IMU), and a camera with a 1-inch CMOS on a 3-axis stabilized gimbal. The MicaSense RedEdge-P camera has five multispectral bands and a high-resolution panchromatic band. The drone was configured to fly in real-time kinematic (RTK) mode at an altitude of 60 meters above ground level using the DJI D-RTK 2 base station. Data was acquired using a 50% sidelap and a 70% frontlap for the Zenmuse L1 and an 80% sidelap and a 75% frontlap for the MicaSense. Additional ground control was established with a Leica GS18 global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and all data have been post-processed to World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) universal transverse mercator (UTM) Zone 6 North using ellipsoid heights. Data outputs include a two-class-classified LiDAR point cloud, digital surface model, digital terrain model, an orthophoto mosaic, and a multispectral orthoimage consisting of five bands. Image acquisition occurred on 18 August 2023. 
    more » « less
  2. The Native Village of Point Lay (Kali) on the North Slope of Alaska has been identified as the second-most permafrost thaw-affected community in the state of Alaska (Denali Commission, 2019). The village has 82 residential units, housing a population of approximately 330. There are several North Slope Borough municipal structures and the Kali School that serve the community. Most of the residential buildings in the village are built on an elevated surface underlain by ice-rich permafrost that is susceptible to thaw and terrain subsidence. This dataset consists of an orthomosaic and digital surface model (DSM) derived from drone surveys on 26 June 2022 in Point Lay, Alaska. 990 digital images were acquired from a DJI Phantom 4 Real-Time Kinematic (DJI P4RTK) quadcopter with a DJI D-RTK 2 Mobile Base Station. The mapped area was around 130 hectares (ha). The drone system was flown at 120 meters (m) above ground level (agl) and flight speeds varied from 7–8 meters/second (m/s). The orientation of the camera was set to 90 degrees (i.e. looking straight down). The along-track overlap and across-track overlap of the mission were set at 80 percent (%) and 70%, respectively. All images were processed in the software Pix4D Mapper (v. 4.7.5) using the standard 3D Maps workflow and the accurate geolocation and orientation calibration method to produce the orthophoto mosaic and digital surface model at spatial resolutions of 5 and 10 centimeters (cm), respectively. A Leica Viva differential global positioning system (GPS) provided ground control for the mission and the data were post-processed to WGS84 UTM Zone 5 North in Ellipsoid Heights (meters). Elevation information derived over waterbodies is noisy and does not represent the surface elevation of the feature. 
    more » « less
  3. Taken together, lakes and drained lake basins may cover up to 80% of the lowland landscapes in permafrost regions of the Arctic. Lake formation, growth, and drainage in lowland permafrost regions create a terrestrial and aquatic landscape mosaic of importance to geomorphic and hydrologic processes, tundra vegetation communities, permafrost and ground-ice characteristics, biogeochemical cycling, wildlife habitat, and human land-use activities. Our project focuses on quantifying the role of thermokarst lake expansion, drainage, and drained lake basin evolution in the Arctic System. We did this through a combination of field studies, environmental sensor networks, remote sensing, and modeling. This dataset consists of an orthomosaic and digital surface model (DSM) derived from drone surveys on 20 July 2022 at Novo Basin on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska. 332 digital images were acquired from a DJI Phantom 4 Real-Time Kinematic (DJI P4RTK) quadcopter with a DJI D-RTK 2 Mobile Base Station. The mapped area was around 43 hectares (ha). The drone system was flown at 100 meters (m) above ground level (agl) and flight speeds varied from 7–8 meters/second (m/s). The orientation of the camera was set to 90 degrees (i.e. looking straight down). The along-track overlap and across-track overlap of the mission were set at 80% and 70%, respectively. All images were processed in the software Pix4D Mapper (v. 4.8.4) using the standard 3D Maps workflow and the accurate geolocation and orientation calibration method to produce the orthophoto mosaic and digital surface model at spatial resolutions of 5 and 10 centimeters (cm), respectively. Elevation information derived over waterbodies is noisy and does not represent the surface elevation of the feature. A Leica Viva differential global positioning system (GPS) provided ground control for the mission and the data were post-processed to WGS84 UTM Zone 5 North in Ellipsoid Heights (meters). 
    more » « less
  4. Taken together, lakes and drained lake basins may cover up to 80% of the lowland landscapes in permafrost regions of the Arctic. Lake formation, growth, and drainage in lowland permafrost regions create a terrestrial and aquatic landscape mosaic of importance to geomorphic and hydrologic processes, tundra vegetation communities, permafrost and ground-ice characteristics, biogeochemical cycling, wildlife habitat, and human land-use activities. Our project focuses on quantifying the role of thermokarst lake expansion, drainage, and drained lake basin evolution in the Arctic System. We did this through a combination of field studies, environmental sensor networks, remote sensing, and modeling. This dataset consists of an orthomosaic and digital surface model (DSM) derived from drone surveys on 23 July 2022 at Derksen and Schmutz Basins on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska. 6,158 digital images were acquired from a DJI Phantom 4 Real-Time Kinematic (DJI P4RTK) quadcopter with a DJI D-RTK 2 Mobile Base Station. The mapped area was around 580 hectares (ha). The drone system was flown at 100 meters (m) above ground level (agl) and flight speeds varied from 7–8 meters/second (m/s). The orientation of the camera was set to 90 degrees (i.e. looking straight down). The along-track overlap and across-track overlap of the mission were set at 80% and 70%, respectively. All images were processed in the software Pix4D Mapper (v. 4.8.4) using the standard 3D Maps workflow and the accurate geolocation and orientation calibration method to produce the orthophoto mosaic and digital surface model at spatial resolutions of 5 and 10 centimeters (cm), respectively. Elevation information derived over waterbodies is noisy and does not represent the surface elevation of the feature. A Leica Viva differential global positioning system (GPS) provided ground control for the mission and the data were post-processed to WGS84 UTM Zone 5 North in Ellipsoid Heights (meters). 
    more » « less
  5. Ice-rich permafrost is ground that is frozen all year round for two or more years and contains particularly large amounts of water that will be released upon thawing. This ice is the element of Arctic landscapes most susceptible to climate warming. Nearly 50% of the Arctic has ice-rich permafrost. For example, the upper 4-5 meters of the land along Alaska's northern coast contains an estimated 77% ice. Thawing of ice-rich permafrost affects entire arctic ecosystems and makes the ground unstable to build upon. This dataset consists of an orthomosaic and digital surface model (DSM) derived from drone surveys on 29 August 2021 at the Navigating the New Arctic, Ice-rich Permafrost Systems project field sites, in collaboration with the PermaSense project, in the Prudhoe Bay Oilfields. 2,463 digital images were acquired from a DJI Phantom 4 Real-Time Kinematic (DJI P4RTK) quadcopter with a DJI D-RTK 2 Mobile Base Station. The mapped area was around 232 hectares (ha). The drone system was flown at 100 meters (m) above ground level (agl) and flight speeds varied from 7–8 meters/second (m/s). The orientation of the camera was set to 90 degrees (i.e. looking straight down). The along-track overlap and across-track overlap of the mission were set at 80% and 70%, respectively. All images were processed in the software Pix4D Mapper (v. 4.6.4) using the standard 3D Maps workflow and the accurate geolocation and orientation calibration method to produce the orthophoto mosaic and digital surface model at spatial resolutions of 5 and 10 centimeters (cm), respectively. A Leica Viva differential global positioning system (GPS) provided ground control for the mission and the data were post-processed to WGS84 UTM Zone 6 North in Ellipsoid Heights (meters). Elevation information derived over waterbodies is noisy and does not represent the surface elevation of the feature. 
    more » « less