This reference contains the imagery data used in the completion of the baseline vegetation inventory project for the NPS park unit. Orthophotos, raw imagery, and scanned aerial photos are common files held here.

PAG imagery was acquired, at no cost, in the form of natural-color, 1-foot resolution aerial photos. Although these did not contain a near-infrared (NIR) band, which can be useful for visually identifying vegetation in certain environments, the resolution was such that individual shrub canopies and cacti shadows were visible, which proved far more useful in the park’s sparsely vegetated desert areas. At the RMD, multiple remote-sensing mapping efforts were used throughout this project. Not all were fully successful, but the project team learned from each of them. The same PAG imagery that was available for the TMD also covered the RMD, in the form of natural-color, aerial photos of 1-foot resolution from 2011. The RMD had also recently been surveyed using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). These raw data were made available to us and our project partners at no cost. The LiDAR measurements, contracted by the Pima Association of Governments in 2008 and 2011, were collected by Sanborn, Inc. The 2008 measurements encompassed portions of eastern Pima County and the western half of the RMD. The 2011 measurements included the eastern half of the RMD, providing a complete dataset for the study area.