UAS Lidar Mapping of an Arctic Tundra Watershed – Challenges and Opportunities

Presenter: Adam Collins

Author(s): Adam Collins | Christian Andresen | Lauren Charsley-Groffman | Tom Cochran | Julian Dann | Emma Lathrop | Gert Riemersma | Erika Swanson | Andre Tapadinhas | Cathy Wilson

Session: LIDAR AND 3D APPLICATIONS

Arctic landscapes are rapidly changing and are expected to become an increasingly large climate forcing component in the future. In order to better understand hydrological and biogeochemical processes governing arctic landscape evolution across multiple spatial scales, high-resolution surface topography and vegetation maps are essential but often unavailable at sufficient spatial and temporal resolution. We conducted field campaigns in the summers of 2017 and 2018 on the Seward Peninsula in Alaska, USA with a heavy-lift uncrewed aerial system (UAS)-based lidar instrument to map topography and vegetation at the watershed scale. These campaigns were executed in complex terrain, under a wide range of environmental conditions, with different four- and five-person teams working in close collaboration with the lidar vendor (Routescene Inc.). In this case study, we will discuss the challenges we encountered and overcame, and the new opportunities we uncovered through our UAS-based lidar campaigns over dense vegetation in the arctic tundra environment. Data will be presented regarding levels of effort required for successful mission completion, lessons learned, and best practices for safely and efficiently obtaining lidar data at the quality necessary to acquire this remarkable high-resolution data.

 

June 23 @ 11:45
11:45 — 12:00 (15′)

Adam Collins