Emerald Creek

The lidar survey was conducted by vendor Spectrum Mapping LCC, a LiDAR company. Lidar instrument Datis II sensor was flown over the period of 10 and 12 July 2004. The data were delivered in ASCII format (files separated by vegetation points and ground points) with information on X, Y, elevation, Return number, RGB and scan angle. The primary goal of the study is to provide operational implementation of LiDAR technology in support of project level planning. The proposed applications of LiDAR in support of planning are: vegetation structural modeling, erosion modeling, fuels, transportation planning, timber system planning, wildlife habitat modeling, and stream quality. The Rocky Mountain Research Station will provide the development of peer-reviewed forest structural metrics and technical support in implementation of LiDAR technology. The technical specifications have been defined to specifically support vegetation modeling using LiDAR data. The project area consists of one contiguous blocks totaling 13234 hectares in Emerald Creek, St. Joe National Forest, Idaho. The project area consists of moderately variable topographic configurations with diverse vegetation components.