Recent Collections from NCALM NOW and NSF Student Seed Grants Published
Three new high-resolution airborne lidar datasets collected by NCALM are now publicly available on OpenTopography, expanding access to topographic data for the earth sciences community.
- Quantifying Sediment Mobilization by Wildfire, CA 2025 (NCALM NOW rapid-response, PI: Michael Lamb): This ~160 km² post-Eaton Fire dataset in the Los Angeles area, collected February 20–21, 2025, helps quantify sediment movement for improved debris-flow hazard predictions and post-wildfire recovery studies.
Link - Monitoring Tree Water Stress, CA 2025 (Seed grant, PI: Jean Allen, California State University, Santa Barbara): This ~65 km² dataset from the Dangermond Preserve and Sedgwick Reserve captures detailed canopy structure to quantify leaf area index and track oak mortality trends when combined with hyperspectral imagery.
Link - Lithologic Controls on Slot Canyon Formation, AZ 2025 (Seed grant, PIs: Brandon Fong, Pennsylvania State University, and Michael Robinson, University of Nevada, Reno): Covering ~40 km² in Arizona, this high-density dataset enables large-scale characterization of slot canyon morphology, geomorphology, and hydrologic processes.
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These latest datasets highlight the power of the NCALM NOW program's agility in capturing time-critical events and of NCALM's Seed Program in fueling student-driven discovery. Download the data now at OpenTopography, and explore how they can advance your work!
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