Topographic point clouds and change analysis for the Big Sur, California coastline from structure-from-motion photogrammetry from aerial photographs, 2017-2023

This data release presents structure-from-motion (SfM) products derived from aerial imagery collected along the California coast as part of an ongoing effort by the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (CMHRP) Remote Sensing Coastal Change (RSCC) project. The products presented herein are point cloud and change detection products for 33 flights between January 2017 to June 2023 focusing on ~13 km of seacliffs along the Big Sur coast from Anderson Canyon to Gorda Point. The point clouds were referenced to previously published lidar data and contain RGB information as well as XYZ. The change detection products were created using the Multiscale Model-to-Model Cloud Comparison (M3C2) tool and contain XYZ data, M3C2 output (distance, distance uncertainty, and significance), and a vegetation index (Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index, VARI) that was used to filter vegetation related noise from the M3C2 point clouds. All point cloud coordinates are in NAD83 UTM Zone 10 meters.