Lidar derived bare earth digital elevation models, Atascosa, Karnes, and Live Oak Counties, Texas, USA
Dates
Publication Date
2024-05-03
Citation
Stengel, V.G., McDowell, J.S., Cahan, S.M., Gallegos, T.J., and Hubbard, B.E., 2024, Data associated with using lidar and earth observation temporal analysis to explore and characterize uranium mining on the south Texas landscape: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9L50M8T.
Summary
Open pit uranium mining in Atascosa, Karnes, and Live Oak Counties in the Texas gulf coast region was active during the second half of the 20th century. Understanding the history of these mining operations is important for proper management and restoration. Although some mines have extensive records documenting the locations and extents of mining pits and mine waste-rock piles, and provide descriptions of reclamation activities, abandoned mines with little to no such documentation are present on the landscape. A multiple lines of evidence approach using lidar derivatives and multispectral remote sensing temporal analysis (cite paper here) was developed to (1) identify uranium mine waste-rock, wastewater, and land disturbance due to [...]
Summary
Open pit uranium mining in Atascosa, Karnes, and Live Oak Counties in the Texas gulf coast region was active during the second half of the 20th century. Understanding the history of these mining operations is important for proper management and restoration. Although some mines have extensive records documenting the locations and extents of mining pits and mine waste-rock piles, and provide descriptions of reclamation activities, abandoned mines with little to no such documentation are present on the landscape. A multiple lines of evidence approach using lidar derivatives and multispectral remote sensing temporal analysis (cite paper here) was developed to (1) identify uranium mine waste-rock, wastewater, and land disturbance due to mining, to (2) differentiate abandon and reclaimed mine features, and to (3) help understand the life cycle of mining activities on the Texas landscape. This data release provides the 2013 and 2018 lidar data used to derive derivative terrain parameters described in the associated paper, as well as mine surface areas and volumes derived from our analysis.
