High-Resolution Data for a Low-Resolution World

Abstract

In the past 15 years, the upper section of Cañon de Valle has been severely altered by wildfires and subsequent runoff events. Loss of root structures on high-angle slopes results in debris flow and sediment accumulation in the narrow canyon bottom. The original intent of the study described here was to better understand the changes occurring in watershed soil elevations over the course of several post-fire years. An elevation dataset from 5 years post-Cerro Grande fire was compared to high-resolution LiDAR data from 14 years post-Cerro Grande fire (also 3 years post-Las Conchas fire). The following analysis was motivated by a problematic comparison of these datasets of unlike resolution, and therefore focuses on what the data reveals of itself. The objective of this study is to highlight the effects vegetation can have on remote sensing data that intends to read ground surface elevation.