How the Empower Field at Mile High seat and sun data is measured

Every number comes from a USGS lidar survey of the stadium, NOAA solar equations, the Broncos section numbering and published row lists. Nothing is estimated from photos.

Sources

Stadium shape: USGS 3D Elevation Program lidar, Denver Regional (DRCOG) 2020 collection (flown 27 May 2020), 2 tiles. First-return points gridded to 1 m, noise removed.
Section directions: the section order round the stadium from a ticket map (section centres only), lined up with the field in the lidar.
Row lists, covered rows and team sides: rateyourseats.com section notes.
Gates, bag rules, parking, tailgating and transit: empowerfieldatmilehigh.com. Capacity and opening year: Wikipedia.
Sun: NOAA solar position equations. Weather: ERA5 reanalysis and forecasts via Open-Meteo.

How shade is computed

Each section is sampled on 3 lines (left, centre, right) at every row, 10950 seat points in total. For each point the surrounding stadium surface is scanned in every direction the sun can come from to give a horizon profile. A seat is in direct sun when the sun is higher than that horizon. Games are sampled every 10 minutes for 3.5 hours. Rows under the deck above count as shade.

How rows are placed

A line is walked out from the field edge through each section, and the measured profile is split into tiers by height: the lower bowl up to about 10 m, the club deck about 15 to 23 m up, and the upper deck about 27 to 48 m up. Where a cover row is published, the row depth is the open length of the tier divided by the rows in front of it. At the south end the 100s and 200s share one rake, so its length is divided by all their rows. Row depths range from 0.571 to 0.727 m.

How the seat views are made

Each view is drawn from a 3D model built from the lidar, from 1.15 m above the seat (seated eye height), facing the field. Only rows open to the sky get a view.

Limits

The lidar was flown in May 2020. The seating has not changed since: the 2023 upgrades replaced the video boards and renovated suites, concessions, the team store and elevators.
Rows under the deck above (100 level Rows 37 and up, 300 club Rows 13 and up) are hidden from above, so their position is extended along the measured slope and shown as covered.
Section edges come from the section order round the stadium, not an official drawing, so a section's sideways extent can be off by a seat or two.
The Broncos sideline (west) is from rateyourseats.com section notes; the team and stadium pages do not state it.
Light poles and video boards thinner than the 1 m grid may be missed.
No seat view for Sections 228, 236: the lidar surface over these south corner sections does not match a seating rake, so a view would be guesswork. Their rows and sun minutes are still shown.

Downloads (CC BY 4.0)

sun-by-section.csv: game, kickoff, section, minutes of sun, shade arrival
sections.json: section geometry and row-by-row sightlines