How the SHI Stadium seat and sun data is measured

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

Sources

Stadium shape: USGS 3D Elevation Program lidar, New Jersey North East 6 County collection, flown 23 March 2025, 1 tile. 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 scarletknights.com gate list.
Row lists and the Rutgers side: rateyourseats.com section notes; wheelchair rows are left out.
Student and visiting team sections, bag rules, re-entry, cashless, parking, the shuttle, tailgating and the Scarlet Walk: scarletknights.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, 7212 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 Big Ten 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 decks about 24 m up. Rows spread over the visible rake, never wider than the depth measured on the sidelines (0.69 m in the lower bowl, 0.55 m in the upper decks). Row numbers a section does not sell (Rows 1 to 10 in 111, Rows 1 to 12 in the south end) 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 2025. scarletknights.com lists the same section ranges for 2026 as for 2023, and we found no official seating change since.
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 Provident Bank Club boxes, the 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