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Pre- and post-event digital elevation models generated from high-resolution stereo satellite imagery of the 2016 Lamplugh rock avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska

January 8, 2018

The use of high-resolution remotely sensed imagery can be an effective way to obtain quantitative measurements of rock-avalanche volumes and geometries in remote glaciated areas, both of which are important for an improved understanding of rock-avalanche characteristics and processes. We utilized the availability of high-resolution (~0.5 m) WorldView satellite stereo imagery to derive digital elevation data in a 100 km2 area around the 28 June 2016 Lamplugh rock avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska. We used NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline, an open-source software package available from NASA, to produce one pre- and four post-event digital elevation models (DEMs) of the area surrounding the Lamplugh rock avalanche. This data release includes five raster elevation datasets (2-m resolution) in GeoTIFF format that have been orthrectified to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system (zone 7N). Elevations are measured in reference to the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) ellipsoid. Because the study area is remote and difficult to access, ground control was not available to assess the absolute accuracy of DEMs. The DEMs have not been precisely co-registered. Data contained in this release include a pre-event DEM from 15 June 2016, and post-event DEMs from 16 July 2016, 27 August 2016, 27 September 2016, and 28 September 2016. The filenames for these DEMs are 20160615_LamplughDEM.tif, 20160716_LamplughDEM.tif, 20160827_LamplughDEM.tif, 20160927_LamplughDEM.tif, and 20160928_LamplughDEM.tif, respectively. We also provide a CSV file (Lamplugh_DEM_Image_Notes.csv) that contains the acquisition date, satellite platform, image identification number, resolution, off-nadir angle, and notes on image quality for each stereo pair used to generate DEMs.

Publication Year 2018
Title Pre- and post-event digital elevation models generated from high-resolution stereo satellite imagery of the 2016 Lamplugh rock avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska
DOI 10.5066/F7TT4Q4B
Authors Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A Coe
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Digital Object Identifier Catalog
USGS Organization Landslide Hazards Programs