Low and Blue

Elevation data source: USGS, National Elevation Dataset.

River Plains

Elevation data source: USGS, National Elevation Dataset

The Hills Have Shadows

Hillshade derived from USGS National Elevation Dataset at 1/3 Arc-Second resolution (approximately 10 meter resolution).

Regional Relief

Elevation data source: USGS, National Elevation Dataset (NED).

Highs and Lows

Kansas’s data clearinghouse has released updated elevation data for several counties. What a benefit to those who need it for contouring, viewsheds, hillshades, slope maps, aspect maps, least cost paths, or whatever.

It’s also fun just to look at it.

Legends Area and the Kansas Speedway

 

Argentine, Kansas River, and the Railroad

 

Downtown Kansas City, Kansas

The 2012 LIDAR data spotlighted in this post originated from a joint project that included the following agencies\organizations:

• U.S. Geological Survey
• Kansas Department of Agriculture/Division of Water Resources
• U.S. Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Kansas Department of Transportation
• Wyandotte County
• Bourbon County
• Crawford County
• US Army Corps of Engineer

 

KCMO: Rivers & Streams

Rivers and streams within the boundaries of Kansas City, Missouri labeled on a ten-meter digital elevation  model.

 

Elevation Data Source: U.S. Geological Survey-National Elevation Dataset (NED)

Downtown Has Two Hills

Generalize the elevation pattern in downtown Kansas City and two hills stand out within the area looped by the local interstates. The western rise supports Quality Hill and its view of the west bottoms. The eastern summit supports the US Federal Courthouse and its watchful eye over City Market and Columbus Park.

2006 LIDAR data used to generate elevation view was obtained from Missouri Spatial Data Information Service.

Park Relief

The elevation data below includes one of Kansas City’s historic parks. Most of the area shown is residential, but the park boundaries appear naturally, and clearly, within the central to north-central portions of the image where the elevation breaks downward into darker shades on the map.

Here’s the same data at the same perspective as above, but with the addition of standard colors for elevation. The breaks in elevation look sort of unnatural, like the remnant edges of a stone quarry.

Here the park area is brought into closer view from a northeast perspective. Except for those rectangular patterns of neighborhood blocks in the higher areas, the colors applied to the terrain make it look alien.

Here’s the same perspective as above, but now imagery is draped over the elevation data to help erase the feeling of being on Venus.

Now that you’ve seen it, can you name this historic park?

Brush Creek Corridor

A 2010 NAIP image of the Brush Creek corridor from the Plaza (west end) to its confluence with the Blue River (east end).

A ten-meter digital elevation model (DEM) covering the same area. The river corridors are the most prominent features. Dark areas are low elevations, light areas are higher in elevation.

The elevation data symbolized with traditional elevation colors. The colors are vivid and help distinguish the topography, but they exaggerate the overall relief.

The elevation data converted to a hillshade using an azimuth of 315 degrees and an altitude of 45 degrees; that is, the sunlight is depicted as coming in from the northwest at a 45 degrees angle.

The imagery made semi-transparent and overlaid on the hillshade. The subtleties of the terrain appear on the image but the color contrast within the image is degraded.

The imagery used in combination with the hillshade and the colored elevation. The image is less washed out, but the clarity of the topography is reduced.

The combinations are interesting to mess around with, and the experimentation could go on and on. An adept reviewer would notice that imagery and elevation are out of sync. This is likely because the elevation data shown here stems from surveys conducted in 1934 and the imagery was captured in 2010.

Snapshot from elevation metadata. Source: Center for Applied Research and Environmental Systems (CARES).

The background information provided with the elevation data also notes that the elevation data was enhanced using imagery from 1955 and 1975.  Knowing this, either the US 71 corridor had not been built to its current extent at those times, or the updates were designed to improve other aspects of the elevation data.