In support of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center researchers, and in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) conducted uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) remote sensing flights over two BLM Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots at the NEON Moab site in Utah for multi-scale carbon sequestration research on public lands. The UAS data collected include natural color, multispectral, and hyperspectral imagery, and lidar to capture diverse information about vegetation and soils on drylands. The first site (“site 1”) features intact sagebrush and was mapped on May 3, 2023. The second site (“site 7”) is located on a grazed rangeland environment and was mapped on May 5, 2023. These UAS surveys were conducted in early May 2023 to coincide spatially and temporally with ground-based BLM AIM sampling and airplane-based remote sensing surveys by NEON. This portion of the data release presents discrete lidar point clouds from low-altitude UAS flights at two dryland sites approximately 40 km south of Moab, Utah. A YellowScan Vx20-100 scanner (laser wavelength 905 nm) was flown at an altitude of 31 meters above ground level on a DJI Matrice 600 Pro UAS with approved government edition firmware. The lidar point clouds were post-processed kinematic (PPK) corrected to a concurrently operating Trimble R8s GNSS base station and each point was assigned Red, Gren, Blue (RGB) image values using corresponding natural color orthomosaics at each site. The point clouds were also point classified using a bare-ground classification scheme (0-Created, never classified; 2-Ground) and exported in .las format.

In support of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center researchers, and in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) conducted uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) remote sensing flights over two BLM Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots at the NEON Moab site in Utah for multi-scale carbon sequestration research on public lands. The UAS data collected include natural color, multispectral, and hyperspectral imagery, and lidar to capture diverse information about vegetation and soils on drylands. The first site (“site 1”) features intact sagebrush and was mapped on May 3, 2023. The second site (“site 7”) is located on a grazed rangeland environment and was mapped on May 5, 2023. These UAS surveys were conducted in early May 2023 to coincide spatially and temporally with ground-based BLM AIM sampling and airplane-based remote sensing surveys by NEON. This portion of the data release presents hyperspectral data products from low-altitude UAS flights at two dryland sites approximately 40 km south of Moab, Utah. A Headwall Nano-Hyperspec line scanning sensor was flown at an altitude of 31 meters above ground level on a DJI Matrice 600 Pro UAS with approved government edition firmware. The hyperspectral images were post-processed using the sensor manufacturer's proprietary software and following their recommended workflow. The orthorectified hyperspectral reflectance images are stored as 32-bit single precision floating point numbers in flat binary files with a band sequential (BSQ) interleave. Each image is accompanied by an ASCII text header file (.hdr) containing band center wavelengths and other parameters relevant to the images. Each image has 274 spectral bands spanning the visible and near infrared wavelengths, 398 to 1002 nm. The images were georeferenced to a geographic coordinate system (latitude and longitude) and WGS84 datum with spatial resolution 1.7 cm (site 1) and 1.5 cm (site 7). There are 30 hyperspectral images with accompanying header files captured at site 1, provided in 5 zip folders to facilitate bulk download. There are 33 hyperspectral images with accompanying header files captured at site 7, provided in 5 zip folders.

In support of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center researchers, and in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) conducted uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) remote sensing flights over two BLM Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots at the NEON Moab site in Utah for multi-scale carbon sequestration research on public lands. The UAS data collected include natural color, multispectral, and hyperspectral imagery, and lidar to capture diverse information about vegetation and soils on drylands. The first site (“site 1”) features intact sagebrush and was mapped on May 3, 2023. The second site (“site 7”) is located on a grazed rangeland environment and was mapped on May 5, 2023. These UAS surveys were conducted in early May 2023 to coincide spatially and temporally with ground-based BLM AIM sampling and airplane-based remote sensing surveys by NEON. This portion of the data release presents hyperspectral data products from low-altitude UAS flights at two dryland sites approximately 40 km south of Moab, Utah. A Headwall Nano-Hyperspec line scanning sensor was flown at an altitude of 31 meters above ground level on a DJI Matrice 600 Pro UAS with approved government edition firmware. The hyperspectral images were post-processed using the sensor manufacturer's proprietary software and following their recommended workflow. The orthorectified hyperspectral reflectance images are stored as 32-bit single precision floating point numbers in flat binary files with a band sequential (BSQ) interleave. Each image is accompanied by an ASCII text header file (.hdr) containing band center wavelengths and other parameters relevant to the images. Each image has 274 spectral bands spanning the visible and near infrared wavelengths, 398 to 1002 nm. The images were georeferenced to a geographic coordinate system (latitude and longitude) and WGS84 datum with spatial resolution 1.7 cm (site 1) and 1.5 cm (site 7). There are 30 hyperspectral images with accompanying header files captured at site 1, provided in 5 zip folders to facilitate bulk download. There are 33 hyperspectral images with accompanying header files captured at site 7, provided in 5 zip folders.

In support of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center researchers, and in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) conducted uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) remote sensing flights over two BLM Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots at the NEON Moab site in Utah for multi-scale carbon sequestration research on public lands. The UAS data collected include natural color, multispectral, and hyperspectral imagery, and lidar to capture diverse information about vegetation and soils on drylands. The first site (“site 1”) features intact sagebrush and was mapped on May 3, 2023. The second site (“site 7”) is located on a grazed rangeland environment and was mapped on May 5, 2023. These UAS surveys were conducted in early May 2023 to coincide spatially and temporally with ground-based BLM AIM sampling and airplane-based remote sensing surveys by NEON. This portion of the data release presents ground control point (GCP) location data collected during low-altitude UAS surveys at two dryland sites approximately 40 km south of Moab, Utah. Survey control was established using Propeller AeroPoint temporary GCPs distributed throughout the survey area. GCPs were post-processed with corrections from a concurrently operating Trimble R8s post-processed kinematic (PPK) GNSS base station. Six GCPs were used at each survey site for a total of twelve GCPs described in this data release.

In support of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center researchers, and in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) conducted uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) remote sensing flights over two BLM Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots at the NEON Moab site in Utah for multi-scale carbon sequestration research on public lands. The UAS data collected include natural color, multispectral, and hyperspectral imagery, and lidar to capture diverse information about vegetation and soils on drylands. The first site (“site 1”) features intact sagebrush and was mapped on May 3, 2023. The second site (“site 7”) is located on a grazed rangeland environment and was mapped on May 5, 2023. These UAS surveys were conducted in early May 2023 to coincide spatially and temporally with ground-based BLM AIM sampling and airplane-based remote sensing surveys by NEON. This portion of the data release presents ground control point (GCP) location data collected during low-altitude UAS surveys at two dryland sites approximately 40 km south of Moab, Utah. Survey control was established using Propeller AeroPoint temporary GCPs distributed throughout the survey area. GCPs were post-processed with corrections from a concurrently operating Trimble R8s post-processed kinematic (PPK) GNSS base station. Six GCPs were used at each survey site for a total of twelve GCPs described in this data release.

This data collection of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) consists of Lidar Point Cloud (LPC) projects as provided to the USGS. These point cloud files contain all the original lidar points collected, with the original spatial reference and units preserved. These data may have been used as the source of updates to the 1/3-arcsecond, 1-arcsecond, and 2-arcsecond seamless 3DEP Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). The 3DEP data holdings serve as the elevation layer of The National Map, and provide foundational elevation information for earth science studies and mapping applications in the United States. Lidar (Light detection and ranging) discrete-return point cloud data are available in LAZ format. The LAZ format is a lossless compressed version of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) LAS format. Point Cloud data can be converted from LAZ to LAS or LAS to LAZ without the loss of any information. Either format stores 3-dimensional point cloud data and point attributes along with header information and variable length records specific to the data. Millions of data points are stored as a 3-dimensional data cloud as a series of geo-referenced x, y coordinates and z (elevation), as well as other attributes for each point. Please refer to https://www.asprs.org/Committee-General/LASer-LAS-File-Format-Exchange-Activities.html for additional information on the .LAS file format. All 3DEP products are public domain.

In support of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center researchers, and in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) conducted uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) remote sensing flights over two BLM Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots at the NEON Moab site in Utah for multi-scale carbon sequestration research on public lands. The UAS data collected include natural color, multispectral, and hyperspectral imagery, and lidar to capture diverse information about vegetation and soils on drylands. The first site (“site 1”) features intact sagebrush and was mapped on May 3, 2023. The second site (“site 7”) is located on a grazed rangeland environment and was mapped on May 5, 2023. These UAS surveys were conducted in early May 2023 to coincide spatially and temporally with ground-based BLM AIM sampling and airplane-based remote sensing surveys by NEON. This portion of the data release presents raw natural color and multispectral images collected during low-altitude UAS surveys at two dryland sites approximately 40 km south of Moab, Utah. A Skydio X2D UAS was flown at an altitude of 15 meters above ground level to capture natural color red, green, blue (RGB) imagery. A DJI Matrice 600 Pro UAS with approved government edition firmware carrying an AgEagle MicaSense Altum-PT sensor was flown at an altitude of 31 meters above ground level to capture multispectral imagery. The images are provided here in zip files to facilitate bulk download.

In support of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center researchers, and in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the USGS National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) conducted uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) remote sensing flights over two BLM Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots at the NEON Moab site in Utah for multi-scale carbon sequestration research on public lands. The UAS data collected include natural color, multispectral, and hyperspectral imagery, and lidar to capture diverse information about vegetation and soils on drylands. The first site (“site 1”) features intact sagebrush and was mapped on May 3, 2023. The second site (“site 7”) is located on a grazed rangeland environment and was mapped on May 5, 2023. These UAS surveys were conducted in early May 2023 to coincide spatially and temporally with ground-based BLM AIM sampling and airplane-based remote sensing surveys by NEON. This portion of the data release presents raw natural color and multispectral images collected during low-altitude UAS surveys at two dryland sites approximately 40 km south of Moab, Utah. A Skydio X2D UAS was flown at an altitude of 15 meters above ground level to capture natural color red, green, blue (RGB) imagery. A DJI Matrice 600 Pro UAS with approved government edition firmware carrying an AgEagle MicaSense Altum-PT sensor was flown at an altitude of 31 meters above ground level to capture multispectral imagery. The images are provided here in zip files to facilitate bulk download.

These data were compiled for assessing how geomorphic changes measured as topographic differences from repeat surveys represent measured and modelled estimates of aeolian sediment transport and dune mobility. Objective(s) of our study were to investigate whether topographic changes can serve as a proxy for aeolian transport and sediment mobility in dunefield environments. This was accomplished by relating topographic changes to modeled and observed estimates of sediment transport and dune mobility over months to decades within a partially vegetated dunefield starved of upwind sediment supplies. We specifically tested if topographic changes measured as net and total volume changes and topographic surface roughness differences provide evidence for intra-annual differences and decadal changes in sediment mobility for dune sand that is either currently bare, vegetated, or biocrust-covered. Lastly, these data were used as a framework for interpreting how aeolian transport and sediment mobility has changed for current land cover types over the preceding four decades. These data represent monthly topographic surveys and in-field sediment transport data collected between February 13, 2020 and December 16, 2020, piloted aerial imagery collected in 1984, 2002, 2009, 2013, and 2021, unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery collected in March 2021, classification of land cover, and tabular summaries of topographic changes derived from these datasets. These data were collected between 1984 and 2021 within a small aeolian dunefield near the confluence of the Paria and Colorado Rivers, upstream of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey. These data can be used to 1) to evaluate how dune surfaces with bare sand, sand with vegetated cover, and sand with biological soil crust cover (biocrust) change on a monthly time scale with differences in wind strength and 2) assess how the dunefield surface changed with vegetation loss and expansion over almost 4 decades. Additionally, these data could be used to assess detailed changes in landscape cover over monthly and decadal time scales.

These data were compiled for assessing how geomorphic changes measured as topographic differences from repeat surveys represent measured and modelled estimates of aeolian sediment transport and dune mobility. Objective(s) of our study were to investigate whether topographic changes can serve as a proxy for aeolian transport and sediment mobility in dunefield environments. This was accomplished by relating topographic changes to modeled and observed estimates of sediment transport and dune mobility over months to decades within a partially vegetated dunefield starved of upwind sediment supplies. We specifically tested if topographic changes measured as net and total volume changes and topographic surface roughness differences provide evidence for intra-annual differences and decadal changes in sediment mobility for dune sand that is either currently bare, vegetated, or biocrust-covered. Lastly, these data were used as a framework for interpreting how aeolian transport and sediment mobility has changed for current land cover types over the preceding four decades. These data represent monthly topographic surveys and in-field sediment transport data collected between February 13, 2020 and December 16, 2020, piloted aerial imagery collected in 1984, 2002, 2009, 2013, and 2021, unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery collected in March 2021, classification of land cover, and tabular summaries of topographic changes derived from these datasets. These data were collected between 1984 and 2021 within a small aeolian dunefield near the confluence of the Paria and Colorado Rivers, upstream of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey. These data can be used to 1) to evaluate how dune surfaces with bare sand, sand with vegetated cover, and sand with biological soil crust cover (biocrust) change on a monthly time scale with differences in wind strength and 2) assess how the dunefield surface changed with vegetation loss and expansion over almost 4 decades. Additionally, these data could be used to assess detailed changes in landscape cover over monthly and decadal time scales.