Orthoimagery and elevation data for Bluffton Native Habitat Waterway, Indiana, 2016

High resolution aerial imagery of the Bluffton [Indiana] Native Habitat Waterway bottomland restoration site was used to generate 3D products and orthoimagery to document the condition of bottomland forest restorations planted between 2002 and 2009 and to complement field vegetation data collected in 2015 and 2016. Aerial images were collected on 07 September, 2016 using Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS, or "drones"). Data were processed using photogrammetry to generate a three dimensional point cloud that identifies pixels from multiple images representing the same object and calculates the x, y, and z coordinates of that object/pixel. The point cloud was processed to create a digital surface model of the site (6 cm resolution). Finally, source images were stitched together based on shared pixels and orthoganally adjusted to the digital surface model to create a high resolution (approximately 3 cm) orthoimage for the study area. Products capture conditions of floodplain forest restorations from 7 to 14 years following planting.