How the Protective Stadium seat and sun data is measured

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

Sources

Stadium shape: USGS 3D Elevation Program lidar, Alabama 11 County 2023 collection, flown 27 March 2024, 4 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. The map is drawn mirrored; the short south end stand (113 and 114 sell only Rows N to V) and the two-level east stand fix which way round it goes.
Row lists, the UAB side and the visitor section: rateyourseats.com section notes; ADA wheelchair rows are left out.
Student section and band: blazergameday.com. Capacity, bag rules, food, umbrellas, re-entry, cashless, alcohol, smoking, parking and rideshare: protectivestadium.com. Gates and the shuttle: UAB Athletics game day guides.
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, 5985 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 11 am, 2:30 pm and 6 pm Central.

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 level from the field wall, the east 200 level about 14 m up. Rows spread over the visible rake, never wider than the depth measured on the sidelines (0.89 m on the lower level, 0.85 m on the 200 level). The 200-level corners continue the lower rake, so their rows start behind the rows of the section in front. Rows a section does not sell (Rows A to M in 113 and 114) 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.

Limits

The lidar was flown in March 2024. The stadium opened in 2021 and we found no official seating change since.
No official page says which sideline is UAB's. rateyourseats.com tags the west side (104 to 110, 140 to 146 and the Stadium Club) as the UAB side and the east side as the visitors' side.
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 field-level club boxes C112 to C115 (they sit on the flat apron at the south end, with no rake to measure), Section 210 (its line runs onto the south-west ramp), the suites, the cabanas 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