Digital Surface Models (DSMs) of the Whale's Tail Marsh region, South San Francisco Bay, CA

This portion of the data release presents digital surface models (DSM) of the Whale's Tail Marsh region of South San Francisco Bay, CA. The DSMs have resolutions of 5 centimeters per pixel and were derived from structure-from-motion (SfM) processing of repeat aerial imagery collected from fixed-wing aircraft. Unlike a digital elevation model (DEM), a DSM represents the elevation of the highest object within the bounds of a cell. Vegetation, structures, and other objects have not been removed from the data. The raw imagery used to create these elevation models was acquired from an approximate altitude of 427 meters (1,400 feet) above ground level (AGL), using a Hasselblad A6D-100c camera fitted with an HC 80 lens, resulting in a nominal ground-sample-distance (GSD) of 2.5 centimeters per pixel. The acquisition flight lines were designed to provide approximately 50 percent overlap between adjacent flight lines (sidelap), with approximately 70 percent overlap between sequential images along the flight line (forelap). Survey control was established using an onboard camera-synchronized dual-frequency GPS system as well as ground control points (GCPs) distributed throughout the survey area and measured using survey-grade post-processed kinematic (PPK) GPS. Both the data from the onboard GPS and from the GPS used to measure the GCPs were post-processed using a nearby Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) station operated by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS). Structure-from-motion processing of these data was conducted using a "4D" processing workflow in which imagery from each of the different acquisition dates were co-aligned in order to increase relative spatial precision between the final data products. The resulting DSMs have been formatted as cloud optimized GeoTIFFs with internal overviews and masks to facilitate cloud-based queries and display.