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crosbycj.bsky.social
Chris Crosby
@crosbycj.bsky.social
72 followers 58 following 4 posts
Co-Founder & PI @opentopography.org

Geodetic Imaging Data (#lidar, laser scanning, UAS, photogrammetry, InSAR) Program Manager at @earthscope.org

Bikes & skis in Crested Butte, CO.
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crosbycj.bsky.social
Topographic #lidar differencing by @opentopography.org team following the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires highlighted in @beautifulpublicdata.com & @technologyreview.com

Summary of original work:
opentopography.org/blog/using-l...
August 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
OpenTopography is excited to announce a major expansion to its international data catalog with the addition of the High Resolution Digital Elevation Model from Natural Resources Canada. This 1-meter resolution dataset is ideal for a wide range of applications.

opentopography.org/news/opentop...
Map showing extent of data coverage, primarily over southern Canada A hillshade colored by elevation of downtown Toronto draped on Google Earth imagery. A three panel figure of a section of the Athabasca River in Alberta. Figure A is the Digital Surface Model which includes buildings, trees and other structures. Figure B is the Digital Terrain Model and is a bare-earth representation of the topography. Figure C is the Canopy Height Model (CHM) which is the difference between the DSM and the DTM.
July 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
acyn.bsky.social
Neguse: Only in Washington, D.C. could politicians come to the floor and brag about cutting $9 billion from rural radio stations while two weeks ago they voted to increase the deficit by $4 trillion. Spare us these lectures.
July 18, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
New topographic datasets are now available on OpenTopography! June additions include lidar over Mount Ruapehu (New Zealand), Point Beach State Forest (WI), and new NOAA coastal data from Florida and the Southeast U.S.

➡️ opentopography.org/news/june-20...
3D point cloud colored by RGB over a section of the Lake Michigan coastline. 3D point cloud colored by elevation showing a draw bridge opening over the Miami River. Colorized hillshade of homes along the canals in Cape Coral, Florida. Hillshade of Mount Ruapehu crater lake draped on Google Earth imagery.
July 10, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
volcanodiana.bsky.social
CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY OR TOMORROW AND ASK THEM TO SAVE NSF!!! Full Committee Markup of NSF Appropriations for FY26 is happening Thursday morning at 9:30 EDT.
July 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
davidimiller.bsky.social
🧪 Detailed data viz NYT article, out today, on the extent of funding cuts at the National Science Foundation.

This "broken pie chart" is neat & new to me: Powerfully shows the slowdown in new NSF awards across areas.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
May 22, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
OpenTopography's April 2025 data releases include Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) coverage of Auckland, New Zealand, UAV lidar surveys in California, and SfM high resolution topography of Stromboli Volcano, Italy.

Discover the data here: opentopography.org/news/april-2...
3D point cloud colored by intensity of downtown Auckland, New Zealand and the Auckland SkyTower. Hillshade draped on colorized DEM of Stromboli Volcano in Southern Italy. 3D point cloud colored by RGB over the Dawson Los Monos Canyon Reserve in California.
May 6, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
Check out the latest updates to RiverREM, a Python package that automatically generates river REM visualizations. Recent improvements include new colormap options (including custom and cmocean palettes), more efficient CPU and RAM usage, and expanded documentation.

buff.ly/bwtP8Vs
Relative elevation model of the Neches River, Texas, showing complex river channel patterns and surrounding floodplain topography in varying shades of green and blue.
April 9, 2025 at 4:30 PM
crosbycj.bsky.social
Cassie Brigham and I will be teaching this @opentopography.org short course. Please join us if you are planning to be in Minnesota for the GAGE/SAGE workshop.
opentopography.org OpenTopography @opentopography.org · Mar 18
Planning on attending the 2025 NSF GAGE/SAGE Community Science Workshop? OpenTopography will be offering a short course, providing an introduction to OpenTopography, with a focus on tools for computing topographic change from multi-temporal data. 

Learn More & Register: www.earthscope.org/workshop
Promotional graphic for a short course titled "Introduction to OpenTopography Tools for Calculating Change at the Earth’s Surface," part of the 2025 NSF GAGE/SAGE Community Science Workshop. The event is on May 18, 2025, in Bloomington, MN. The background features a topographic map pattern, and the bottom portion includes a satellite-style image with red and blue overlays representing surface changes.
March 19, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
Using #lidar to understand the impacts of the 2025 Palisades and Eaton Fires, Los Angeles, CA: We processed pre- & post- fire lidar data to illustrate the changes to the natural and built environments caused by these devastating fires. Blog for more info & images: opentopography.org/blog/using-l...
Map for lidar-derived change from the Palisades Fire for La Costa Beach. Map colored red to blue to show change, overlain on a post-fire digital surface model hillshade. Impacts on vegetation in Topanga State Park. Map colored red to blue to show areas of change. Overlain on a post-fire digital surface model hillshade.
February 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
crosbycj.bsky.social
This is the 2nd time @opentopography.org has collaborated with the Yurok Tribe to make #lidar data available. The first was in 2020 with the publication of the “Klamath River Renewal” dataset: opentopography.org/news/klamath...
February 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
Join us for the FREE OpenTopography Spring Webinar Series. Four weekly hour-long webinars starting March 5th. We'll provide an overview of OpenTopography, high resolution topography (#lidar), and OpenTopography's processing tools. Registration & more information: opentopography.org/news/2025-we...
Flyer summarizing webinar series of events: March 5, 2025 Introduction to OpenTopography; March 12, 2025 Introduction to point clouds; March 19, 2025 Introduction to Digital Elevation Models; March 26, 2025 Introduction to topographic differencing.
February 26, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
We've expanded and refreshed OpenTopography governance. Three advisory committees provide guidance on: 1) Research, 2) Sustainability & Technology, 3) Education. Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to ensure OT's activities are aligned with the needs of our community: opentopography.org/about/ac
Webpage screen capture listing three advisory committees - Research, Sustainability and Technology, and Education - and their members.
February 20, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
science.org
Exclusive: NSF this week began to search through billions of dollars of grants the agency has already awarded for anything touching on topics that President Donald Trump has criticized. And NSF has blocked grantees and trainees from accessing funds while the review is underway. scim.ag/3El0NZh
EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump’s orders
Grantee accounts remain frozen, while union accuses NSF of ignoring rules governing peer review
scim.ag
January 30, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
npr.org
The National Science Foundation's funding freeze, and wider confusion about the status and future of science funding, is already hampering research.
National Science Foundation freezes payments in response to Trump's executive actions
The National Science Foundation's funding freeze, and wider confusion about the status and future of science funding, is already hampering research.
www.npr.org
January 31, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
In response to the devastating wildfires in S. California, OpenTopography is temporarily opening our services applied to USGS 3DEP & NOAA Coastal #lidar datasets covering Los Angeles County. 42 pre-wildfire datasets are available to aid response efforts: opentopography.org/news/2025_LA...
3D view of a pre-wildfire lidar point cloud for a portion of Pacific Palisades showing the coastal bluffs in the center and Potrero Canyon on the right. The fire destroyed houses in this area. The 7 points/ m2 lidar dataset was acquired in 2015-2016. Data source: Los Angeles lidar 2016 3D view of the topographic pre-wildfire bare earth hillshade at Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and the upland canyons. The 7 points/ m2 lidar dataset was acquired in 2015-2016. Data source: Los Angeles lidar 2016
January 14, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
caleyfretz.bsky.social
Vail ruins everything they touch.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/04/t...
Park City Ski Patrol Strike Against Vail Resorts Continues (Gift Article)
Long lift lines, limited terrain and frustration among skiers and snowboarders are downstream impacts of a wage dispute between union workers at Park City Mountain in Utah and its owner, Vail Resorts.
www.nytimes.com
January 4, 2025 at 11:15 PM
crosbycj.bsky.social
The @earthscope-sci.bsky.social Geodetic Imaging (formerly WInSAR) Lunch at AGU is this Wed, Dec 11, 2024 from 12:30pm - 2:00pm at the Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20001 (9-10 minute walk from the Convention Center) in room Independence FGHI. (cc: @gfun.bsky.social)
December 10, 2024 at 4:30 AM
Reposted by Chris Crosby
opentopography.org
OT will be at #AGU24 next week. Visit us in booth #1108 in the exhibit hall. Our booth is staffed by the OT team. Stop by & ask questions, provide feedback, and see what's new in OT. We'll also have "I ❤️ #LIDAR" stickers!

More info on the OT booth, talks, posters: opentopography.org/news/opentop...
OpenTopography "I heart lidar" bumper sticker.
December 6, 2024 at 3:21 PM