U.S. Department of the Interior
Imagery collected using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are being used to document baseline vegetation conditions and to monitor progress of bottomland forest restoration at the Little Saint Francis River, Missouri.
This project focuses on the illegal artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) of small and low-grade mineral and gemstone deposits. Project scientists employ field mapping, geomorphological techniques, and remote sensing to map, monitor, and evaluate mineral deposits and ASM activities in conflict zones and during complex emergencies.
Beech bark disease (BBD) was first detected at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (PIRO) in the early 2000s and is infecting and killing American beech (Fagus grandidentata) trees, producing gaps in the forest canopy. Many wildlife species rely not only on the connectivity of the forest canopy but also on the mast produced by the beech trees, which provide food.
Palmyra Atoll is a former World War II U.S. Naval air station that is now a wildlife refuge jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy.
Low-lying island environments, such as the Majuro Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, are particularly vulnerable to coastal flooding (inundation) whether the increased water levels are from episodic events (storm surge, wave run-up, king tides) or from chronic conditions (long-term sea-level rise). Land elevation is the primary environmental variable that determines exposure to inundation in coastal settings.
Elevation data are critical for assessments of sea-level rise and coastal flooding exposure. Previous research has demonstrated that the quality of data used in elevation-based assessments must be well understood and applied to properly model potential impacts.
The Everglades National Park (EVER) and Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) vegetation mapping project is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The CERP is a cooperative effort between the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program (VMI).
BOEM is working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory at Goddard Space Flight Center to measure and monitor offshore sea level concentrations of pollutants that are used in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs).
Vegetation growth is important to monitor in areas undergoing restoration. Color imagery collected using an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) at a bottomland hardwood restoration site in northeast Indiana was used to derive a vegetation height model using Structure from Motion (SfM) image processing. Data from that model were then compared to vegetation height data collected in field plots.
To help assess the uses and value of Landsat imagery, social scientists at the USGS Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center in Colorado are leading a long-term study, which includes surveys and case studies of Landsat imagery users.