High-Resolution Orthorectified Imagery from Approximately 1990, Niwot Ridge LTER Project Area, Colorado

Citation: Manley, W.F.,
Parrish, E.G., and Lestak, L.R., 2009, High-Resolution Orthorectified
Imagery and Digital Elevation Models for Study of Environmental Change at
Niwot Ridge and Green Lakes Valley, Colorado: Niwot Ridge LTER, INSTAAR,
University of Colorado at Boulder, digital media. This image is a mosaic of orthorectified aerial photography from 1988 and 1990 for
the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project area at 0.6 m
resolution. The image also covers the Green Lakes Valley portion of the Boulder
Creek Critical Zone Observatory (CZO). The mosaic has the qualities of a photograph
and the functionality of a map layer for use in Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
or remote sensing software. The mosaic is derived from approx. 1:40,000 scale, color
infrared (CIR) photographs acquired by the United States Geological Survery (USGS)
National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP). The aerial photos were obtained as 1800
dpi digital scans from the USGS EROS Data Center (EDC) and then fully orthorectified
in a Leica Photogrammetry Suite (LPS) bundle blockfile using an air-photo camera
model, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and known focal length and fiducial
coordinates from a calibration report. Individual photo frames were mosaiced with
cutlines and clipped to the Niwot project extent area. The photography was
registered to 2008 orthocorrected Denver Region Council of Governments (DRCOG)
aerial photography. Horizontal accuracy is 0.9 m (RMSE, relative to the 2008
reference imagery, based on 9 independent check points). The mosaic covers an area
of 98 km2 and is available in GeoTIFF format, in a UTM zone 13 projection and NAD83
horizontal datum, with FGDC-compliant metadata. The mosaic is available through an
unrestricted public license, and can be obtained by request (see Distributor contact
information below). Other datasets available in this series includes orthorectified
aerial photograph mosaics (for 1953, 1972, 1985, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and
2008), digital elevation models (DEM's), and accessory map layers. Together, the
DEM's and imagery will be of interest to students, research scientists, and others
for observation and analysis of natural features and ecosystems. NOTE: This EML
metadata file does not contain important geospatial data processing information.
Before using any NWT LTER geospatial data read the arcgis metadata XML file in
either ISO or FGDC compliant format, using ArcGIS software (ArcCatalog >
description), or by viewing the .xml file provided with the geospatial dataset.