Natural color aerial imagery and structure-from-motion models from Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) 3D Scan flights at the Marsh-Felch Quarry in Garden Park Fossil Area, Colorado, July 2024

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) supported the USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program’s Geoheritage Sites of the Nation Project in July of 2024 with the collection of UAS-based high-resolution imagery of the Marsh-Felch Quarry site at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Garden Park Fossil Area. One of the most complete dinosaur skeletons ever unearthed was found here. These discoveries around present-day Garden Park Fossil Area sparked the “Bone Wars” of the late 1800s and inspired the selection of Colorado's state fossil, the Stegosaurus. Three-dimensional (3D) scan flights were conducted at the fossil site using a Skydio X10 UAS, in which the aircraft autonomously determined where to capture photos to achieve coverage across a volume of interest. The natural color UAS images were processed in photogrammetry software to generate a 3D model of this fossil site for inclusion in the Geoheritage web application. A two-dimensional (2D) mapping flight with the Skydio X10 UAS flown at 300 feet above ground level was also conducted to capture the topography of the surrounding area. This portion of the data release presents raw natural color images collected during the 3D scan flights over the fossil site. Over the course of three 25-minute flights, a Skydio X10 UAS with an integrated VT300-L Wide angle sensor scanned a 2,863 square meter area and captured 2,753 natural color red, green, blue (RGB) photos to achieve 80% overlap and 70% sidelap. The images in .JPG format are provided here in zip files to facilitate bulk download. Structure-from-motion 3D models were generated by processing these 3D scan images in photogrammetry software. These 3D models are provided here as binary glTF files (.GLB), an open format for online viewing. A low resolution model is provided for fast rendering in a web browser. A high resolution model is also provided to discern finer details in the site.

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  "geospatial"
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