Topographic Analysis and Historical Preservation at the Vicksburg National Military Park
NUSO scientists, along with USGS landslide researchers, in December 2022 undertook a topographic analysis of slide-prone areas of the National Park Service Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi.
Following heavy rains during a major storm event in 2020, several locations within the park experienced significant soil stability issues impacting historic sites and infrastructure in the park. These unfortunate circumstances prompted Park managers to develop both short-term emergency and long-term plans for mitigation of future damage from extreme weather events.
To support mitigation efforts, the NUSO team completed light detection and ranging (lidar) UAS surveys to create point clouds and digital elevation models for analysis. One of the primary objectives was to identify potential landslide locations and their distribution within the Park boundaries that may not have been easily identified due to their distance from marked trails and access points. Of particular interest were targeted areas of the Park having steep slopes within the rolling hills. Despite poor weather conditions which limited field efforts, much of the northern extent of the Park was surveyed.
Study Points of Contact:
Joe Adams, IT Specialist & Remote Pilot
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Jessica DeWitt, Research Geographer
USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
UAS Radiometric and Geometric Calibration and Validation
In support of Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Cal/Val Center of Excellence (ECCOE) research, in November 2022 NUSO remote pilots collected UAS hyperspectral, multispectral, lidar, and natural color data in conjunction with ground-based spectral and structural measurements at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, Colorado.
Calibration (converting remote sensing data values into scientific units of interest) and validation (assessing the quality and utility of remote sensing data) are essential steps of producing science-grade remote sensing data products. The EROS ECCOE is developing and evaluating best practices for radiometric and geometric cal/val of UAS-derived imagery.
Study Points of Contact:
Joe Adams, IT Specialist & Remote Pilot
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Victoria Scholl, Physical Scientist & Remote Pilot
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Matthew Burgess, Ph.D., UAS Operations / Geospatial Analyst
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Smoke Plume Monitoring in Alaska
In August 2022 the NUSO flew UAS-mounted with the Kolibri, a smoke particle sampling payload being developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to capture smoke plume concentrations and behavior to serve as input data for dispersion modeling by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Although the number and magnitude of oil spills have greatly decreased, oil spills can still happen. In-situ burning is one of several tactics that can be employed to quickly mitigate large offshore oil spills since the controlled burning of spilled oil known can help reduce negative impacts on water quality and marine habitats. The “Alaska Plume Project” (U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Oil Spill Response Research project 1148) aimed to study the smoke emission impacts on first responders and downwind communities using a controlled in-situ burn, smoke particle sampling using EPA’s Kolibri sensor, and subsequent smoke plume modeling by the NOAA.
Researchers from the EPA, BSEE, USGS, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), International Arctic Research Center Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Team, and Alaska Clean Seas gathered at the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska to conduct in-situ burns and collect data for improving plume dispersion modeling. Ground level and aerial instrumentation were deployed to collect real-time weather and smoke data. During each burn, pilots from the USGS and USCG flew UAS to collect smoke plume particle data along with natural color and thermal video data. Alaska Clean Seas personnel safely and efficiently poured, ignited, and cleaned the oil for each in-situ burn.
The NUSO flew horizontal, vertical, and downwind plume transects with a DJI Matrice 600 Pro UAS with the Kolibri sensor into the burning oil smoke plume during each of the 7 in-situ burns. Measurements consisted of spatiotemporal measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and fine particulates (PM2.5) PM2.5. On-site meteorology measurements were collected with a balloon-carried weather sonde. The NUSO also piloted a Mavic Pro UAS for real time video collection to improve the Kolibri’s positioning within the smoke plume. Overall, the results of this field data collection will improve smoke dispersion modeling to better understand the impacts of in-situ burns during oil spills.
Learn more about the EPA Kolibri Sensor
Study Points of Contact:
Brian Gullett, Environmental Engineer
Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Karen Stone, Research Program Manager
Response Research Branch, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
Joe Adams, IT Specialist & Remote Pilot
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Measuring Natural Methane Emissions from Bogs at Fairbanks, Alaska
The NUSO supported USGS methane emissions research in August 2022 by flying a UAS equipped with a methane-sensing payload at various altitudes over a bog in the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Forested areas cover large parts of Alaska, Canada, and Russia, much of them with permafrost. Permafrost is soil that has been frozen for at least two years but has often been frozen for hundreds to thousands of years. These frozen conditions lock up carbon within the soil of these forests. Permafrost thawing can lead to the conversion of permafrost forests to wetlands, such as bogs. These wetlands are a significant source of methane emitted to the atmosphere. Therefore, conversion of forests to bogs will increase the flow (or flux) of methane from the soil to the atmosphere.
The balance of carbon inputs and losses within an ecosystem is often studied using stationary sensors mounted on towers (called flux towers). While these towers provide great 24/7 data, they are expensive to install and maintain. Therefore, they are not usually replicated across the landscape. How can we fill in these observational gaps? The USGS is testing the use of small UAS equipped with highly accurate methane sensors to calculate greenhouse gas flux using mass balance and optimization methods. This system will foreseeably allow ecosystem fluxes to be measured across the landscape with relative ease.
During this mission, the NUSO flew a DJI Matrice 600 UAS carrying a methane-sensing payload to test different methods to calculate methane flux from a box that also has a flux tower, allowing scientists to compare the two methods. NUSO remote pilots also flew a DJI Mavic Pro UAS to collect videos and photos for flight planning, science communication efforts, and generating an updated orthomosaic for the BNZ LTER.
Learn more about Permafrost:
A disappearing act in Alaska
Arctic Biogeochemical Response to Permafrost Thaw (ABRUPT)
Study Points of Contact:
Kristen Manies, Ecologist
USGS Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Joe Adams, IT Specialist & Remote Pilot
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Victoria Scholl, Physical Scientist & Remote Pilot
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) Remote Sensing Field Campaign in West Virginia
The NUSO in July 2022 collected UAS hyperspectral, multispectral, lidar, natural color, and video data as an intermediate scale of observations between satellite overpasses and microscopic analyses to support an interdisciplinary collection of USGS scientists’ efforts to evaluate remote sensing of harmful algal blooms (HABs).
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are rapid growths of algae in bodies of water with associated toxins that can affect water quality, aquatic ecosystems, and even threaten the health of nearby humans and animals. In support of studying algae life cycles, environmental triggers, and growth patterns, USGS scientists from across the country gathered to participate in a proof-of-concept project involving remote sensing of HABs. The goal was to examine and develop remote sensing capabilities to image and identify algae species presence and growth in a controlled setting: 14 large, lined ponds at the Eastern USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center - Leetown Research Laboratory (EESC-LRL) located in Leetown, West Virginia. Field-based teams collected water temperature, algae, and vegetation samples which were subsequently sent to USGS labs for spectral and chemical analysis.
This project involved immense coordination between domain experts in ecology, geography, hydrology, and microbiology as well as managing complex logistics onsite, in laboratories, and at the airborne and spaceborne levels. Multi-scale remote sensing observations were collected via lab-based cameras and microscopes, handheld field spectrometers, UAS flights, and low-earth orbit satellites, the space station.
NUSO researchers collected UAS-based hyperspectral (Headwall Nano and Resonon Pika-L), 10-band multispectral (MicaSense Dual), lidar (YellowScan Mapper) and true-color data coincident with satellite overpasses during this field campaign. The USGS Oregon Water Science Center also collected UAS coincident hyperspectral imagery (Resonon Pika-L) for comparison and educational purposes as both offices are developing and refining their hyperspectral data collection and processing procedures. Ortho-rectified reflectance orthomosaics and digital elevation data products will be provided as an intermediate scale of observations to support HABs research at USGS.
Study Points of Contact:
Peter Rinkleff, Associate Center Director for Science
USGS National Civil Applications Center
John Young, Remote Sensing and GIS Team Lead
USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center - Leetown Research Laboratory
Natalie Hall, Physical Scientist
USGS MD-DE-DC Water Science Center
Joe Adams, IT Specialist & Remote Pilot
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Post-wildfire Soil and Vegetation Monitoring in California
In April 2022 the NUSO provided UAS data collection support for ongoing post-wildfire studies in northern California led by researchers at the USGS Western Geographic Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, California Water Science Center, and in partnership with the National Innovation Center.
Northern California experienced a record-breaking wildfire season in 2020. Wildfire increases a landscape’s susceptibility to flooding and erosion, which can pose threats to nearby ecosystems and human communities. Researchers at USGS Science Centers in Northern California are conducting repeat field and remote sensing data collections to study the hydrological impacts of wildfire across several post-wildfire sites.
NUSO researchers collected natural color and multispectral UAS imagery, which will be used to generate photogrammetric data products including an orthomosaic and a structure-from-motion derived point cloud. High resolution (1-4cm) UAS imagery was also collected in 2021 so this multi-year data collection will be used to assess soil and vegetation recovery over time.
Study Points of Contact:
Joe Adams, IT Specialist & Remote Pilot
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Miguel Villareal, Ph.D., Research Geographer
NASA AMES-Moffett Field, USGS Western Geographic Science Center
Additional Information:
Characterizing high-resolution soil burn severity, erosion risk, and recovery using Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS)
Snowpack Mapping at Winter Park and Berthoud Pass
NUSO scientists teamed with the USGS Water Resources Mission Area in a multi-year data collection effort to help develop and verify a process for generating snow depth measurements from UAS-collected lidar data from 2020 to 2022. This ability to calculate centimeter-level snow depth measurements from remotely sensed data also contributes to the USGS Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) goal of remotely sensed mapping of snow conditions to better forecast snowmelt runoff in Colorado watersheds.
Accurately measuring snow depth is crucial for calculating snow water equivalent, the amount of water in snow, that plays a key role in estimating snowmelt runoff and the seasonal water amounts that will enter various watersheds.
NUSO researchers are working to develop and verify methods for generating snow-depth maps from UAS-collected lidar point cloud data as part of an initiative between the USGS NGWOS and Colorado Department of Transportation. This multi-year initiative is aimed at collecting and comparing on-the-ground snow measurements, taken from snow pits, snow probes, and snow cores, to snow depths derived from remotely sensed data. The ability to utilize UAS data collection for snow-depth measurements could also contribute to the NGWOS goal to cover currently unmonitored watershed areas.
The USGS field team conducted three separate UAS data collects of the Winter Park, Colorado study site in September 2020, February 2021, and April 2021. During each of these missions, USGS collected topographic data in a lidar point cloud (LPC) format from a YellowScan Vx20-100 lidar payload, a lidar scanner and integrated inertial navigation unit, mounted on a UAS. Natural color imagery was also collected, and ground-based targets were surveyed for control and accuracy validation. After successfully processing the LPC data a bare-earth digital elevation model and a snow-surface model (vegetation removed) were generated. Snow-depth maps were then created by subtracting the bare-earth terrain from the snow-surface model. And as a final product the orthomosaic created from the natural color imagery was used to colorize the LPC data.
In March and April of 2022, the NUSO performed additional UAS lidar and natural color data collection missions over the Berthoud Pass study site in Colorado. NUSO remote pilots flew a UAS-mounted with the YellowScan Mapper lidar payload with a RGB camera module to enable photogrammetry and colorizing of the point cloud data. Work is currently underway to process the collected data and generate the various maps and models to assist with mapping spatial and temporal variations in snowpack.
Study Point of Contact:
Graham A. Sexstone, PhD, Research Hydrologist
U.S. Geological Survey
Additional Information:
Get to know the scientists behind snow to flow: The study of snowmelt in the Western U.S. (USGS Featured Story)
Biocrust Remote Sensing near Moab
Researchers from the NUSO, USGS Canyonlands Research Center, USGS Western Geographic Science Center, and the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment teamed up in February 2022 for a biocrust remote sensing and field data campaign near Moab, Utah to enable cross-scale observations of biocrust presence, composition, and behavior changes in response to climate change.
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are diverse communities of organisms including lichen, moss, and cyanobacteria living on soil surfaces in arid environments around the world. Although biocrusts play important roles in water and carbon cycling, there is great uncertainty and many unanswered questions related to their presence and function. Researchers at the USGS Canyonlands Research Station maintain a long-term biocrust monitoring site near Moab, Utah to study the effects of a warming climate and precipitation changes on biocrust community behavior and composition. Ground-based measurements including soil moisture, biocrust and vegetation species composition, and gas exchange are collected regularly at plots receiving various temperature and watering treatments. Remote sensing technologies provide opportunities to scale up observations of how biocrusts respond to environmental changes.
During this mission, USGS Canyonlands Research Station researchers and collaborators collected a series of coincident field-based observations while NUSO researchers acquired UAS remote sensing data at the biocrust monitoring plots. The NUSO conducted a series of UAS flights carrying six different sensors to collect natural color RGB (Ricoh GRII), thermal (Zenmuse XT2), multispectral (MicaSense MX-Dual; MicaSense Altum), and hyperspectral (Resonon Pika-L; Headwall Nano) remote sensing imagery across the extent of the biocrust monitoring plots.
Using this imagery, NUSO researchers will generate a series of spectral and structural photogrammetric data products including reflectance orthophotomosaics, digital elevation models, and three-dimensional structure-from-motion point clouds. Ground based measurements collected during the UAS flights included spectral reflectance profiles of land cover types and biocrust/vegetation species, plot-level thermal and RGB images, and gas exchange measurements. Multiple satellite overpasses occurred during the field campaign to enable further cross-scale remote sensing analyses.
Study Points of Contact:
Sasha Reed, Ph.D., Research Ecologist
Canyonlands Research Station, USGS Southwest Biological Science Center
Miguel Villareal, Ph.D., Research Geographer
NASA AMES-Moffett Field, USGS Western Geographic Science Center
Matthew Burgess, Ph.D., UAS Operations / Geospatial Analyst
USGS NUSO, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Sediment Accumulation and Volume Evaluation in Nevada’s Arrow Canyon
The NUSO and the Nevada Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, in January 2022 carried out a preliminary evaluation of sediment age and depositional rates to better understand the timing of historical sediment buildup within the Arrow Canyon in Clark County, NV.
The Arrow Canyon Flood Control Dam is an approximate 35-foot-tall masonry structure built in an ephemeral wash northwest of Arrow Canyon. Since its construction in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps to impound periodic flood waters in Pahranagat Wash, floodwaters have deposited fine-grained sediments on the upstream side of the dam to near its crest to a depth of approximately 25 feet. The wash is home to several Native American petroglyph sites which, in time may be potentially threatened by the rising of sediment.
For this project, the NUSO utilized UAS-mounted sensors to collect natural color imagery and lidar point cloud data to support the generation of the DEM and contour maps needed to evaluate the total extent and volume of sediment accumulation in the study area.
Study Point of Contact:
Jon Wilson, Hydrologist,
USGS Nevada Water Science Center