Two GeoEarthScope airborne LiDAR imagery acquisition campaigns were successfully completed in April 2008: the Southern/Eastern California (SoCal) project and the Pacific Northwest (PNW) project. Field work began on March 31 and concluded on April 27. More than 1200 km2 were imaged for SoCal. Primary SoCal targets included the following fault systems: Garlock, Elsinore, San Cayetano, Calico, Blackwater, Helendale, Lenwood, Panamint, Ash Hill, Hunter Mountain, Tin Mountain and Owens Valley. Nearly 300 km2 were imaged for PNW. The primary PNW target was the Yakima fold and thrust belt. Targets were identified by the GeoEarthScope LiDAR working group. Data processing has begun and imagery products will become available to the community in the coming months.

LiDAR data were collected and will be processed by the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM). Supplementary geodetic control and data analysis will be performed by Ohio State University. When data products become available they will be distributed by Arizona State University and the San Diego Super Computer facility. All of the above groups are operating under subawards from UNAVCO. Overall project management as well as GPS data collection was led by UNAVCO. Hight rate GPS ground control data were collected by PBO and NUCLEUS sites, with several additional GPS campaign sites deployed during the project. Additional support was provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Navy Geothermal Program Office, and Central Washington University.

In addition to these data acquisition campaigns, a GeoEarthScope airborne LiDAR training course was also presented to the community in April 2008. This short course, entitled "Processing and Analysis of GeoEarthscope and Other Community LiDAR Topography Datasets", was taught at Arizona State University by ASU faculty and organized by the UNAVCO Education & Outreach group. This successful 2-day course was attended by 27 participants. This was the second GeoEarthScope LiDAR training course to be offered to the community, the first having been presented at UNAVCO during the 2007 GSA meeting and also taught by ASU faculty and UNAVCO staff.

GeoEarthScope, managed at UNAVCO, is a component of the EarthScope Facility project that includes the acquisition of aerial and satellite imagery and geochronology. Previously acquired airborne LiDAR imagery for GeoEarthScope included the northern California project and the Death Valley-Fish Lake Valley project. Additional GeoEarthScope airborne LiDAR projects planned for 2008 include imagery acquisitions for targets in the Intermountain Seismic Belt (Yellowstone, Tetons, Wasatch) and in Alaska.