USGS Aerial Photos of Landslides following Hurricane Helene (3-5 October 2024)

This data release includes aerial photos taken from a small aircraft for reconnaissance purposes (Figure 1). The photos were taken from several different types of cameras ranging from iPhones to Cannon EOS6. Camera attributes can be found in the exif data associated with each file. Photos were taken over a period of 3 days (3-5 October, 2024) to obtain general situational awareness of the extent and areas of landsliding. Each photo contains geolocation data that should indicate the general location of the aircraft when the photo was taken. Lighting conditions and aircraft speed varied, which may affect photo quality. The photos are in folders labeled by date (3-Oct-2024, 4-Oct-2024, 5-Oct-2024) and the file types are either jpg or heic. In addition, this data release contains location data of the aircraft track for each day (Figure 2) as gpx files. These files are also labeled by date similar to the photo folders (3-Oct-2024.gpx, 4-Oct-2024.gpx, 5-Oct-2024.gpx).

These data are intended to provide general information of ground conditions after Hurricane Helene. The three days of survey flights were intended to cover a broad swath of the affected area (Figure 2) to identify any landslide hotspots. These photos are non-interpretive and may include images of landslides that existed prior to Hurricane Helene as well as other images that are related and unrelated to landsliding.