UP TCAGP Releases Taal Open LiDAR Data

With the Philippines being at constant risk from natural disasters, the UP Training Center for Applied Geodesy and Photogrammetry (UP TCAGP) is aware that adequate data is needed for disaster risk reduction planning and operations. And as an institution mandated to provide training and research services on geomatics, the UP TCAGP is equipped with the capacity to generate geospatial data for mapping and planning purposes.

As a response to the desire to provide better data for the implementation of this mandate, LiDAR data generated during the DREAM and Phil-LiDAR programs are hereby being released by the UP TCAGP for open access.

This allows anyone who wishes to utilize the data, e.g. planning and reconstruction, for their specific scientific research purposes (the use of the data for disaster risk reduction and resource management is highly encouraged) provided that proper citation will be given to the UP TCAGP and PHIL LIDAR Program as the source of the data. Please note that while stringent QA/QC protocols were in place during the program operation, we cannot guarantee that the data is free of discrepancies, bugs or defects. These datasets can be opened by most modern GIS software, and have a nominal spatial resolution of 1x1 m.

These data are now available via https://phillidar-dad.github.io/taal-open-lidar.html .

For further inquiries, you may contact the data archiving and distribution team of UP TCAGP at lipad@dream.upd.edu.ph .

Frequently Answered Questions: 

What are LiDAR? Orthophotos? DSM? DTM?

LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. These datasets are derived from data acquired through the use of airborne LiDAR systems mounted on an airplane. The output of the LiDAR sensor is a 3D point cloud containing points that were scanned. Here is a link to the DREAM program sample product description for more information: https://dream.upd.edu.ph/products/product-samples/

Is there a catch?

Yes, there is. You’ll have to cite the UP TCAGP and PHIL-LiDAR Program when you use the data, that’s it.

What’s the data license?

We don’t have a final license yet but for now think of it as CC-SA-BY. You’ll have to cite the program (see above) when you use the data. Its share a-like so products you derive or generate from the LiDAR datasets should be open too! (Meaning it should be free, no you can’t sell the data, but it does not mean you can’t charge for your data processing services if you want to. Hello GIS/CLUP consultants!)

What are the datasets openly accessible?

LiDAR data from the DREAM/Phil LiDAR Program (Laz, DSM, DTM and Orthophotographs) within 20km from the Taal crater. <Due to data cleaning and vetting purpose we’ll be staggering the release of the data starting starting from DTM and DSMs first then laz files from volcano island, 14km, 17km, then 20km radius.>

Will LiDAR data for other areas be openly accessible as well?

There are no plans yet, but you never know. If you need data for other areas and you’re working on a government, research, or academic project we freely (no payment) provide the data using: https://lipad.dream.upd.edu.ph/ Do keep in mind that the program has ended in 2017, and former researchers are maintaining this as volunteer work, so try to be patient with your requests.

Can we download the data by bulk?

If you’re lazy and would like to download the whole dataset as a whole please log on to LiPAD as well. Perhaps when our volunteers have more time to develop the site. But for now, pag may tiyaga may nilaga!

How was the data created/processed?

Long story! If you have the time to read here are our data acquisition and processing reports found here https://dream.upd.edu.ph/up-phil-lidar-1-program-technical-reports/. Short answer, these we acquired, processed, and validated by Phil Lidar 1 program, specifically researchers from University of the Philippines and Mapua University.

We want new data!

A quick google search will show a number of Philippine commercial enterprises you can engage for Lidar data acquisition, there are a handful of options around and we were not paid to plug anyone else but ourselves. If your area is greater than 100sq km, our lidar systems can be commissioned through the DREAM Commercial Services under the UP TCAGP. You may contact us through bdo@dream.upd.edu.ph .

When were these taken?

Between 2014 to 2017.

Where is the metadata?

We know, we’re working on it. We’ll upload it as soon as we can should be downloadable in the same interface at a later time.

There seems to be some discrepancies in the data.

Like with any product, these were generated with a specific purpose in mind, the original being for flood mapping. Hence our product development pipeline prioritized QA/QC for that purpose. This means some checks might have been missed, in case you see any please let us know. We’ll look into it.

What can be done with these datasets?

The sky's the limit. Digital elevation models can be used for terrain modelling.Classified point clouds (Laz) can be reprocessed to generate your own DEMs. Together they can be used for various applications, not just for DRR. Phil Lidar 2 used these data to generate resource assessments and maps. You can get these datasets from: Agriculture: ParMap - www.parmap.dream.upd.edu.ph Forestry: Frexls - www.frexls.dream.upd.edu.ph Coastal: Coastmap - www.coastmap.dream.upd.edu.ph

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank UP, UP OVCRD, DOST, DOST PCIEERD, and Mapua University for their concurrence in opening these datasets. A very big thank you to all the previous Phil LiDAR researchers who generated these datasets (see all their names on reports posted above).

The web map interface, data cleaning, checking, and preparation was done by volunteer work by our current and former researchers from UP TCAGP namely:

Benjamin Dag,Benjamin Jiao, Benjamin Magallon, Cham Mamador, Ian Panganiban, Julius Sempio, Rk Aranas, and Rodel Ismael

For other queries please contact us at lipad@dream.upd.edu.ph.