Compilation of topographic data, aerial imagery, and land cover classification, collected between 1984 to 2021 for an aeolian dune field near Lees Ferry, AZ

These data were compiled for assessing how geomorphic changes measured as topographic differences from repeat surveys represent measured and modelled estimates of aeolian sediment transport and dune mobility. Objective(s) of our study were to investigate whether topographic changes can serve as a proxy for aeolian transport and sediment mobility in dunefield environments. This was accomplished by relating topographic changes to modeled and observed estimates of sediment transport and dune mobility over months to decades within a partially vegetated dunefield starved of upwind sediment supplies. We specifically tested if topographic changes measured as net and total volume changes and topographic surface roughness differences provide evidence for intra-annual differences and decadal changes in sediment mobility for dune sand that is either currently bare, vegetated, or biocrust-covered. Lastly, these data were used as a framework for interpreting how aeolian transport and sediment mobility has changed for current land cover types over the preceding four decades. These data represent monthly topographic surveys and in-field sediment transport data collected between February 13, 2020 and December 16, 2020, piloted aerial imagery collected in 1984, 2002, 2009, 2013, and 2021, unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery collected in March 2021, classification of land cover, and tabular summaries of topographic changes derived from these datasets. These data were collected between 1984 and 2021 within a small aeolian dunefield near the confluence of the Paria and Colorado Rivers, upstream of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey. These data can be used to 1) to evaluate how dune surfaces with bare sand, sand with vegetated cover, and sand with biological soil crust cover (biocrust) change on a monthly time scale with differences in wind strength and 2) assess how the dunefield surface changed with vegetation loss and expansion over almost 4 decades. Additionally, these data could be used to assess detailed changes in landscape cover over monthly and decadal time scales.