Unit 6 Hazards and Risk at Convergent Plate Boundaries (Day 2 of activity)
In this two-day activity, students monitor a simulated evolving volcanic crisis at a convergent plate boundary (Cascadia). Using monitoring data and geologic hazard maps, students make a series of forecasts for the ...

Introduction to Terrestrial Laser Scanning
In this assignment, students analyze terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) data in a similar manner as done previously with structure from motion (SfM) data, earlier in the course. Students compare and contrast the SfM ...

Unit 6.1: Making Distal Observations
What tools do scientists use to investigate planets from a distance? In this unit, students unpack the tools of the trade used in remote sensing to understand which types of data are used to identify features and ...

Unit 4: Analyze and Prescribe a Risk Assessment and Hazard Mitigation Plan
How can community stakeholders use the landslide susceptibility model to inform planning and infrastructure decisions? Students will create a landslide risk analysis report and assessment plan for a specific ...

DEM of Difference (DoD)
This assignment builds on students' point cloud and raster differencing skills practiced on their SfM and TLS data in the previous assignment. In this assignment, the students use two lidar-derived raster ...

Geoscience Field Issues Using High-Resolution Topography to Understand Earth Surface Processes
The objective of the course is to train students in manual and remote sensing methods of topographic data collection, including 1) GPS/GNSS surveys, 2) structure from motion (SfM), and 3) ground-based (terrestrial ...

Unit 3: Develop and Test Models of Landslide Susceptibility
How do geoscientists confidently create landslide susceptibility maps based on empirical data? Together with Unit 2: Examining the Distribution of Mass Wasting Events, this exercise helps students use GIS to gain ...

Point Cloud and Raster Change Detection
In this assignment, students difference point cloud and raster data sets to compare structure from motion (SfM) and terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) results. They interpret error in these methods used for ...

OpenTopography Data Sources and Topographic Differencing
In spring 2020, the world was hit by a pandemic that spread globally by March, causing universities and most of the world to move to remote means. Summer field camps, long hailed as a rite of passage in the ...

Unit 1: Mass Wasting Identification and Quantification
How can geoscientists identify and quantify landslide events using remote sensing data? The analysis of mass wasting events from remotely sensed data is a complicated task, burdened by the range of geomorphic ...