microsoft · ghidalgo3 · Feb 4, 2026 · Feb 3, 2026
diff --git a/datasets/3dep-lidar-copc/collection/description.md b/datasets/3dep-lidar-copc/collection/description.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+This collection contains source data from the [USGS 3DEP program](https://www.usgs.gov/3d-elevation-program) reformatted into the [COPC](https://copc.io) format. A COPC file is a LAZ 1.4 file that stores point data organized in a clustered octree. It contains a VLR that describes the octree organization of data that are stored in LAZ 1.4 chunks. The end product is a one-to-one mapping of LAZ to UTM-reprojected COPC files.
+
+LAZ data is geospatial [LiDAR point cloud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_cloud) (LPC) content stored in the compressed [LASzip](https://laszip.org?) format. Data were reorganized and stored in LAZ-compatible [COPC](https://copc.io) organization for use in Planetary Computer, which supports incremental spatial access and cloud streaming.
+
+LPC can be summarized for construction of digital terrain models (DTM), filtered for extraction of features like vegetation and buildings, and visualized to provide a point cloud map of the physical spaces the laser scanner interacted with. LPC content from 3DEP is used to compute and extract a variety of landscape characterization products, and some of them are provided by Planetary Computer, including Height Above Ground, Relative Intensity Image, and DTM and Digital Surface Models.
+
+The LAZ tiles represent a one-to-one mapping of original tiled content as provided by the [USGS 3DEP program](https://www.usgs.gov/3d-elevation-program), with the exception that the data were reprojected and normalized into appropriate UTM zones for their location without adjustment to the vertical datum. In some cases, vertical datum description may not match actual data values, especially for pre-2010 USGS 3DEP point cloud data.
+
+In addition to these COPC files, various higher-level derived products are available as Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs in [other collections](https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com/dataset/group/3dep-lidar).
diff --git a/datasets/3dep-lidar-copc/collection/template.json b/datasets/3dep-lidar-copc/collection/template.json
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+{
+    "type": "Collection",
+    "id": "3dep-lidar-copc",
+    "stac_version": "1.0.0",
+    "description": "{{ collection.description }}",
+    "links": [
+        {
+            "rel": "license",
+            "href": "https://www.usgs.gov/3d-elevation-program/about-3dep-products-services",
+            "title": "About 3DEP Products & Services"
+        },
+        {
+            "rel": "describedby",
+            "href": "https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com/dataset/3dep-lidar-copc",
+            "type": "text/html",
+            "title": "Human readable dataset overview and reference"
+        }
+    ],
+    "stac_extensions": [
+        "https://stac-extensions.github.io/item-assets/v1.0.0/schema.json",
+        "https://stac-extensions.github.io/pointcloud/v1.0.0/schema.json"
+    ],
+    "item_assets": {
+        "data": {
+            "type": "application/vnd.laszip+copc",
+            "roles": [
+                "data"
+            ],
+            "title": "COPC data",
+            "pc:type": "lidar",
+            "pc:encoding": "application/vnd.laszip+copc"
+        },
+        "thumbnail": {
+            "type": "image/png",
+            "roles": [
+                "thumbnail"
+            ],
+            "title": "3DEP Lidar COPC"
+        }
+    },
+    "msft:group_id": "3dep-lidar",
+    "msft:container": "usgs-3dep-copc",
+    "msft:storage_account": "usgslidareuwest",
+    "msft:short_description": "Nationwide Lidar point cloud data in COPC format.",
+    "msft:region": "westeurope",
+    "title": "USGS 3DEP Lidar Point Cloud",
+    "extent": {
+        "spatial": {
+            "bbox": [
+                [
+                    -166.8546920006028,
+                    17.655357747708283,
+                    -64.56116757979399,
+                    71.39330810146807
+                ],
+                [
+                    144.60180842809473,
+                    13.21774453924126,
+                    146.08202179248926,
+                    18.18369664008955
+                ]
+            ]
+        },
+        "temporal": {
+            "interval": [
+                [
+                    "2012-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+                    "2022-01-01T00:00:00Z"
+                ]
+            ]
+        }
+    },
+    "license": "proprietary",
+    "keywords": [
+        "USGS",
+        "3DEP",
+        "COG",
+        "Point cloud"
+    ],
+    "providers": [
+        {
+            "name": "Landrush",
+            "roles": [
+                "processor",
+                "producer"
+            ]
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "USGS",
+            "roles": [
+                "processor",
+                "producer",
+                "licensor"
+            ],
+            "url": "https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/3dep/"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "Microsoft",
+            "roles": [
+                "host",
+                "processor"
+            ],
+            "url": "https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com"
+        }
+    ],
+    "summaries": {
+        "gsd": [
+            2.0
+        ]
+    },
+    "assets": {
+        "thumbnail": {
+            "href": "https://ai4edatasetspublicassets.blob.core.windows.net/assets/pc_thumbnails/3dep-lidar-copc-thumbnail.png",
+            "type": "image/png",
+            "title": "Thumbnail",
+            "roles": [
+                "thumbnail"
+            ]
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/datasets/alos-dem/description.md b/datasets/alos-dem/description.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+The "ALOS World 3D-30m" (AW3D30) dataset is a 30 meter resolution global digital surface model (DSM), developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). AWD30 was constructed from the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) on board Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), operated from 2006 to 2011.
+
+See the [Product Description](https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/en/aw3d30/aw3d30v3.2_product_e_e1.2.pdf) for more details.
diff --git a/datasets/alos-dem/template.json b/datasets/alos-dem/template.json
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+{
+    "type": "Collection",
+    "id": "alos-dem",
+    "stac_version": "1.0.0",
+    "description": "{{ collection.description }}",
+    "links": [
+        {
+            "rel": "license",
+            "href": "https://earth.jaxa.jp/policy/en.html",
+            "title": "JAXA Terms of Use of Research Data"
+        },
+        {
+            "rel": "describedby",
+            "href": "https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com/dataset/alos-dem",
+            "type": "text/html",
+            "title": "Human readable dataset overview and reference"
+        }
+    ],
+    "stac_extensions": [
+        "https://stac-extensions.github.io/item-assets/v1.0.0/schema.json",
+        "https://stac-extensions.github.io/table/v1.2.0/schema.json"
+    ],
+    "item_assets": {
+        "data": {
+            "type": "image/tiff; application=geotiff; profile=cloud-optimized",
+            "roles": [
+                "data"
+            ]
+        }
+    },
+    "msft:container": "alos-dem",
+    "msft:storage_account": "ai4edataeuwest",
+    "msft:short_description": "ALOS World 3D is a global digital surface model (DSM) with a horizontal resolution of approximately 30 meters, constructed from the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) on board Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS).",
+    "msft:region": "westeurope",
+    "title": "ALOS World 3D-30m",
+    "extent": {
+        "spatial": {
+            "bbox": [
+                [
+                    -180,
+                    -90,
+                    180,
+                    90
+                ]
+            ]
+        },
+        "temporal": {
+            "interval": [
+                [
+                    "2016-12-07T00:00:00Z",
+                    "2016-12-07T00:00:00Z"
+                ]
+            ]
+        }
+    },
+    "license": "proprietary",
+    "keywords": [
+        "ALOS",
+        "PRISM",
+        "JAXA",
+        "DEM",
+        "DSM",
+        "Elevation"
+    ],
+    "providers": [
+        {
+            "name": "Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency",
+            "roles": [
+                "producer",
+                "processor",
+                "licensor"
+            ],
+            "url": "https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/en/aw3d30/index.htm"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "OpenTopography",
+            "roles": [
+                "host"
+            ],
+            "url": "https://doi.org/10.5069/G94M92HB"
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "Microsoft",
+            "roles": [
+                "host"
+            ],
+            "url": "https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com"
+        }
+    ],
+    "summaries": {
+        "gsd": [
+            30
+        ],
+        "platform": [
+            "alos"
+        ],
+        "instruments": [
+            "prism"
+        ]
+    },
+    "assets": {
+        "thumbnail": {
+            "href": "https://ai4edatasetspublicassets.blob.core.windows.net/assets/pc_thumbnails/alos-dem.png",
+            "type": "image/png",
+            "title": "ALOS DEM",
+            "roles": [
+                "thumbnail"
+            ]
+        },
+        "geoparquet-items": {
+            "href": "abfs://items/alos-dem.parquet",
+            "type": "application/x-parquet",
+            "title": "GeoParquet STAC items",
+            "description": "Snapshot of the collection's STAC items exported to GeoParquet format.",
+            "msft:partition_info": {
+                "is_partitioned": false
+            },
+            "table:storage_options": {
+                "account_name": "pcstacitems"
+            },
+            "roles": [
+                "stac-items"
+            ]
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/datasets/alos-fnf-mosaic/description.md b/datasets/alos-fnf-mosaic/description.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+The global 25m resolution SAR mosaics and forest/non-forest maps are free and open annual datasets generated by [JAXA](https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/en/dataset/fnf_e.htm) using the L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar sensors on the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2 PALSAR-2), the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS PALSAR) and the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 (JERS-1 SAR).
+
+The global forest/non-forest maps (FNF) were generated by a Random Forest machine learning-based classification method, with the re-processed global 25m resolution [PALSAR-2 mosaic dataset](https://planetarycomputer.microsoft.com/dataset/alos-palsar-mosaic) (Ver. 2.0.0) as input. Here, the "forest" is defined as the tree covered land with an area larger than 0.5 ha and a canopy cover of over 10 %, in accordance with the FAO definition of forest. The classification results are presented in four categories, with two categories of forest areas: forests with a canopy cover of 90 % or more and forests with a canopy cover of 10 % to 90 %, depending on the density of the forest area.
+
+See the [Product Description](https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/en/dataset/pdf/DatasetDescription_PALSAR2_FNF_V200.pdf) for more details.
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
		@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
		The "ALOS World 3D-30m" (AW3D30) dataset is a 30 meter resolution global digital surface model (DSM), developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). AWD30 was constructed from the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) on board Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), operated from 2006 to 2011.

		See the [Product Description](https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/en/aw3d30/aw3d30v3.2_product_e_e1.2.pdf) for more details.