Environmental Solutions
UAS equipped with sensors supports environmental and natural resource applications. UAS help provide spatial and temporal intelligence in a cost effective and less intrusive manner than other means. Environmental services include:
- Freshwater Wetlands Mapping
- Vegetation Community Mapping
- Algal Bloom Assessments
- Forestry Investigations
- Shoreline Mapping
- Shoreline Erosion Inspection
Shoreline Inspection
Storms, flooding, strong wave action, sea level rise, and human activities all contribute to coastal erosion. Effective shoreline management policies can help maintain the natural shoreline dynamics and preserve important coastal environments. Using up-to-date 3d modeling of coastlines is critical so stakeholders can identify areas most likely to be affected. We monitor high impact coastal zones on a biannual or yearly basis to provide stakeholders with up-to-date actionable information, digital terrain models, and contour maps to compare coastal change over time.
Terrain Modeling
This interactive slider App shows the benefits of LiDAR in dense tree canopy. The LiDAR derived DEM (White and red are high elevation, green is low) shows the topography at a high resolution below the tree canopy. Using the slider, move the imagery to reveal the topography beneath. Engineers use this data to determine areas of instability in the slope and to measure erosion rates. Traditional land survey methods would take a few days to collect this data at a much lower resolution in a dangerous, steep, forested environment, whereas the LiDAR collected by drone took just a few hours.
Vegetation Mapping
With the use of Multispectral cameras on UAS,
ARE provides vegetation health monitoring for:
- Utility rights-of-way
- Railroad rights-of-way
- Golf courses and parks
- Agricultural studies
- Turf monitoring for college campuses
