HIGH RESOLUTION LIDAR IMAGERY FROM THE OREGON LIDAR CONSORTIUM: A UNIQUE RESOURCE FOR GEOSCIENCE RESEARCH

Since 2007, the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) has been supervising and coordinating the collection of large swaths of high resolution, high accuracy lidar data in the Pacific Northwest through the Oregon Lidar Consortium (OLC). The collection, which includes data from DOGAMI and other public agencies and can be downloaded free from the DOGAMI Lidar Viewer (www.oregongeology.org/lidar/dataviewer), covers over 100,000 km², with a nominal resolution of 8 points per m² and vertical accuracy of 10 cm or better. This large collection of consistently collected public domain data covers a wealth of geologic features and provides an excellent resource for research into a range of geoscience problems.

The data covers the entire Oregon coast with a wide range of shoreline types. With nearly complete coverage of the Oregon Cascades, hundreds of young lava flows and vents can be studied, as well as extensive valley glacier features. Tens of thousands of landslides of all types and sizes are visible in the data, and fluvial features ranging from the Willamette River floodplain to lahar dominated braided streams on Mt. Hood. In eastern Oregon, the data reveal mima mounds in a wide range of geologic settings, and complex Basin and Range faulting in the Klamath Basin. In western Oregon, serial data is available in several areas, and in many cases is coupled with high resolution orthoimagery, supporting change detection studies. In eastern Oregon there are several datasets which combine lidar with high resolution thermal infrared data. Finally, bathymetric lidar is available in a growing number of sites.