EPSP Connects: Science Talk - Topographic change with OpenTopography (09/17)
Shashank Anand
Dear Colleagues,
Please join us for the upcoming EPSP Connects Science Talk titled "Topographic change with OpenTopography: Adventures in cloud computing, spatial uncertainty, and impactful applications" by Prof. Chelsea Scott and Dr. Cassandra Brigham at Arizona State University. The event will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, September 17, 8 am PDT San Francisco (11:00 New York, 17:00 Berlin, 23:00 Beijing). Please register here: https://tinyurl.com/sep17epsptalk.
We look forward to seeing many of you there!
AGU EPSP Connects - September 2025 - Science Talk with Prof. Chelsea Scott and Dr. Cassandra Brigham
Title: Topographic change with OpenTopography: Adventures in cloud computing, spatial uncertainty, and impactful applications
Abstract: Topographic differencing measures landscape change at the Earth’s surface due to natural and anthropogenic processes. OpenTopography, an NSF-funded data facility, provides access to topographic data and processing tools. OpenTopography has recently developed on-demand topographic differencing and uncertainty calculation tools that can be applied to roughly 25% of the US mainland. Our uncertainty tool, available via a cloud-based app and Jupyter notebook, quantifies the magnitude of uncertainty at multiple spatial scales, mirroring the variable scales of common error types. We demonstrate these capabilities by calculating topographic change for the 2025 Eaton and Palisades Fires in Los Angeles.
Speaker Bios: Chelsea Scott is an Assistant Research Professor at Arizona State University and a remote sensing specialist with OpenTopography. Her research focuses on topographic change analysis and seismic hazard to critical infrastructure.
Cassandra Brigham is a postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University and a research scientist at OpenTopography. Her work brings together geomorphology, geospatial AI, and geostatistics to better understand how Earth’s surface evolves and how we measure it.
Best wishes,
Shashank Kumar Anand
On behalf of the EPSP-Connects Team