View the Published Paper at this Link: (Link not available yet)
Lead Author: Paul R. Hanson
Co-Authors: R. M. Joeckel, and L. M. Howard
Overview:
The Oregon Trail was the primary westward migration route into the trans-Missouri west for Euro-Americans prior to completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. Remnant wagon-wheel ruts are preserved in several locations in Nebraska under various environmental conditions and land uses.
In this paper we identify remnant ruts in historical aerial photographs dating back to the late 1930s, in satellite imagery taken from the 1980s to the present, and—for the first time—in recent LiDAR images.
Photos Below:
LiDAR and 2018 NAIP images for Oregon Trail ruts at California Hill.
- The first image is a hillshades generated from LiDAR data collected in 2016. The arrows on the LiDAR image indicates ruts and direction of movement by wagon trains.
- The second Image is an aerial photograph from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) taken during the growing season in 2018.
