Arctic Geospatial Data for Cold Region Transportation Infrastructure Analysis: High-Resolution LiDAR Point Clouds along the Dalton Highway, Alaska, January 2024

Remote sensing makes it possible to gather data rapidly, accurately, and non-destructively, allowing for access to remote areas in near real-time. LiDAR sensor data were collected along Dalton Highway, as part of continued efforts to provide more geospatial data in Arctic regions relevant to cold region research. Dalton Highway, also known as Alaska Route 11, is a critical and remote thoroughfare that stretches approximately 414 miles from Livengood to Deadhorse, near the Arctic Ocean. This highway traverses a diverse and challenging landscape, including the Yukon River, the Arctic Circle, and the Brooks Range. The highway was originally constructed as a supply route for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and remains vital for supporting oil operations in the Prudhoe Bay Oil Fields. The Dalton Highway's remote location and extreme weather conditions present unique challenges and opportunities for studying Arctic geospatial phenomena, including permafrost dynamics, thermokarst formation, and other cold-region processes, hence this data seek to meet some of these needs.