FARO Focus 3D laser scanner, wavelength 905 nanometers

At three locations in the Sacramento, California area, the USGS Western Remote Sensing and Visualization Center (WRSVC) has utilized tripod-mounted lidar to map the three-dimensional (3D) extent of mammal burrows and tree-root casts, which can substantially compromise the structural integrity of flood-control levees. The burrows and casts were filled with grout and/or polyurethane and then carefully excavated, exposing the network of interconnected voids. An incremental sequence of excavations followed by lidar scans enabled 3D mapping of the burrow and cast networks.

At the Humbug Creek/South Yuba River study site in northern California, the USGS Western Remote Sensing and Visualization Center (WRSVC) has utilized tripod-mounted lidar to quantify the eroded and deposited volumes of mercury-contaminated sediment from 2011 to 2013. A mass balance of the measured erosion and deposition volumes provides an estimate of the amount of contaminated sediment transported below a historical high water mark.