Data & Collections

The Fossett Laboratory maintains an open archive of geospatial datasets collected during field campaigns and laboratory work. Datasets include UAV photogrammetry models, lidar point clouds, multispectral imagery, and planetary terrain data.

Datasets

STAC Browser · STAC API · S3 catalog.json

Field Sites

Programmatic Access

For developers and researchers who want to access data programmatically.

STAC Browser

Open in new tab →

STAC API

Connect from Python, R, or any STAC client.

import pystac_client
catalog = pystac_client.Client.open(
  'https://fossettlab.org/api/stac'
)
API root Collections Search Quickstart ↓

S3 Bucket

Open datasets live in the public S3 bucket bradleylab-public. Bucket listing is disabled (standard S3 default); access individual files via the asset URLs in each STAC item, or start from catalog.json. Restricted datasets require a WashU login.

Open catalog.json →

Data Citation

Each dataset row in the table above includes a Cite & stable URL expander with a permanent link to the STAC item plus suggested plain-text and BibTeX citations. Use those formats when referencing Fossett Laboratory datasets in publications, reports, or downstream STAC-aware tooling.

Licensing

Most datasets are released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). Check individual dataset metadata for specific terms.

Accessing Restricted Data

Some datasets are restricted to Washington University researchers. Contact Bill Winston with your WashU WUSTL Key and a brief description of your intended use.

STAC Quickstart

The Fossett Lab catalog is a SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) — a standard for geospatial data discovery used across NASA, ESA, Microsoft, and the open-source geo community. STAC clients work the same way against our catalog as against any other STAC source.

What is STAC?

STAC describes geospatial datasets as a hierarchy of catalog → collections → items → assets. Every item carries a footprint, a datetime, and links to the actual data files (lidar point clouds, GeoTIFFs, etc.). Searches over bbox, time, or keyword work uniformly across providers.

Python (pystac-client)

# pip install pystac-client
import pystac_client

cat = pystac_client.Client.open(
    "https://fossettlab.org/api/stac"
)

# List collections
for c in cat.get_collections():
    print(c.id, "—", c.title)

# Search by bbox (e.g. Tyson Research Center) and time
search = cat.search(
    bbox=[-90.59, 38.50, -90.53, 38.55],
    datetime="2024-01-01/2026-12-31",
    collections=["pointclouds"],
)
for item in search.items():
    print(item.id, item.datetime,
          item.bbox)
    # Open the first asset, e.g. a COPC point cloud
    for k, a in item.assets.items():
        print("  ", k, a.href)

R (rstac)

# install.packages("rstac")
library(rstac)

cat <- stac("https://fossettlab.org/api/stac")

# List collections
collections(cat) |> get_request()

# Search by bbox + time
results <- cat |>
  stac_search(
    bbox = c(-90.59, 38.50,
             -90.53, 38.55),
    datetime = "2024-01-01/2026-12-31",
    collections = "pointclouds"
  ) |>
  get_request()

# Inspect items + assets
items_length(results)
items_assets(results)

Direct HTTP / curl

# Catalog root
curl https://fossettlab.org/api/stac

# All collections
curl https://fossettlab.org/api/stac/collections

# Search items in the pointclouds collection
curl "https://fossettlab.org/api/stac/search?collections=pointclouds&bbox=-90.59,38.50,-90.53,38.55"

# A specific item (returns full STAC item JSON with asset URLs)
curl https://fossettlab.org/api/stac/collections/pointclouds/items/2026-04-03_tyson_lidar

Coordinate reference systems & formats

  • Footprints & bbox: always WGS84 (EPSG:4326), as required by the STAC spec.
  • Asset CRS: stored on disk in each dataset's native CRS (commonly UTM 15N / EPSG:32615 for Missouri sites). Each item's properties.proj:epsg or asset metadata reports the actual CRS.
  • Point clouds: Cloud-Optimized Point Cloud (.copc.laz) where available; legacy .las / .laz otherwise. Stream chunks with COPC-aware readers (PDAL, copclib).
  • Imagery: Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF (.tif) so range-requests work over HTTP — open directly with rasterio, GDAL, or QGIS.
  • 3D models: glTF / GLB and Gaussian splat formats where applicable.

Licensing & citation

Most datasets are released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). Each STAC item carries a license field; check it before redistribution.

When citing a dataset, use the format provided in the item's sci:publications or sci:citation metadata if present, or attribute the Fossett Laboratory and the dataset's collection date.