Four-Band Image Mosaic of the Colorado River Corridor Downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, Derived from the May 2013 Airborne Image Acquisition

Abstract

In May 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey's Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center acquired airborne multispectral high-resolution data for the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The image data, which consist of four color bands (blue, green, red, and near-infrared) with a ground resolution of 20 centimeters, are available to the public as 16-bit geotiff files at http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7TX3CHS. The images are projected in the State Plane map projection, using the central Arizona zone (202) and the North American Datum of 1983. The assessed accuracy for these data is based on 91 ground-control points and is reported at the 95-percent confidence level as 0.64 meter (m) and a root mean square error of 0.36 m. The primary intended uses of this dataset are for maps to support field data collection and simple river navigation; high-spatial-resolution change detection of sandbars, other geomorphic landforms, riparian vegetation, and backwater and nearshore habitats; and other ecosystem-wide mapping.

Acknowledgments

Fugro Earthdata Inc. acquired the airborne images under USGS contract. Tom Gushue of GCMRC provided important GIS support and other institutional knowledge and led the GCP (panel) placement operation. Keith Kohl of GCMRC led the flight base-station operation and GCP survey control. Carol Fritzinger supervised the GCMRC logistics program. We appreciate the numerous GCMRC personnel who manned GPS base stations in remote, hot, and windy Grand Canyon rim locations during the flight mission, and Grand Canyon Youth for their help in collecting control panels postflight. Finally, we thank Paul Grams, Tom Gushue, and Keith Kohl for their helpful discussions, suggestions, and reviews of the manuscript.

Suggested Citation

Durning, L.E., Sankey, J.B., Davis, P.A., and Sankey, T.T., 2016, Four-band image mosaic of the Colorado River corridor downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, derived from the May 2013 airborne image acquisition: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1027, https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1027.

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