How the Paycor Stadium seat and sun data is measured

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

Sources

Stadium shape: USGS 3D Elevation Program lidar, Ohio Statewide Phase 3 collection (flown 15 February 2022), 4 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, published covered rows, clubs and team sides: rateyourseats.com section notes.
Gates, bag rules, parking, tailgating and transit: bengals.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, 10566 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 south-east end stand up to about 20 m), the 200 level and clubs about 13 to 25 m up, and the 300 deck about 26 to 45 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. Row depths range from 0.55 to 0.79 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 February 2022. The 2026 renovation rebuilt the club lounges and suites; the Bengals say it will add over 2,000 club seats, but no section numbers are published, so the club sections are modelled as scanned. Seat replacement is planned for 2027.
Rows under the deck above or the canopy are hidden from above, so their position is extended along the measured slope and shown as covered.
The 300 decks and the sideline 200 level are visible from above for only about 10 to 11 m before the canopy or the 300 deck hides them, less than their published open rows need at a normal row depth. Their rows are packed at our 0.55 m minimum, so front-to-back distances and heights for their back rows are approximate (a few metres short). The published cover rows are kept as published.
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 Bengals sideline (west) is from rateyourseats.com section notes; the team's pages do not state it.
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