How the Nippert Stadium seat and sun data is measured

Every number comes from a USGS lidar survey of the stadium, NOAA solar equations, the official Nippert seating chart and published row lists. Nothing is estimated from photos.

Sources

Stadium shape: USGS 3D Elevation Program lidar, Ohio Statewide Phase 3 collection, flown 26 January 2022, 9 tiles. First-return points gridded to 1 m, noise removed.
Section directions: the section order round the stadium from a ticket map, lined up with the field in the lidar and checked against the gobearcats.com seating chart. The north end (131 to 135) is spaced evenly across its stand, which is only as wide as the field.
Row lists and the Cincinnati and visitors' sides: rateyourseats.com section notes.
The student section, band, Redzone, Bearcats Lair and Varsity View: the gobearcats.com seating chart. Gates, re-entry, cashless, alcohol, parking, the shuttle and tailgating: the gobearcats.com game day guide. Bag sizes: UC Public Safety. 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, 4215 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. Kickoffs not yet announced are modelled at each likely Big 12 window (noon, 3:30 pm, 7:30 pm Eastern).

How rows are placed

A line is walked out from the field edge through each section and takes the first rake in that tier's height band: the lower bowl from the field wall, the upper deck about 15 m up. Rows spread over the visible rake, never wider than the depth measured on the east side (0.57 m in the lower bowl, 0.74 m in the upper deck). Rows past the visible rake where the press tower or the upper deck stands right behind them keep that depth and count as covered. Row numbers a section does not sell (Rows 1 to 8 in 110, 111 and 117; Row 7 on the upper deck) keep their place.

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 January 2022. We found no section added, removed or renumbered since; the 2022 field-level suites and the 2026 HOP Shops Tunnel Club are hospitality spaces, not numbered sections.
The ticket map is not drawn to scale, so section directions come from it but section edges can be off by a few seats.
Not modelled: the Gravity Club (330 to 344) and Patio Suites (350 to 359) in the west tower, the field-level suites and the press box.
Light poles and video boards thinner than the 1 m grid may be missed.

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