IFSAR / SAR / Radar

Mapping Irregularly Flooded Wetlands, High Marsh, and Salt Pannes/Flats

Submitted by tadamson on

Irregularly flooded wetlands supply important ecosystem services, such as providing habitat for fish and wildlife, enhancing water quality, ameliorating flooding impacts, supporting coastal food webs, and protecting coastlines from erosion. Mapping irregularly flooded wetlands is a daunting challenge given their expansive coverage and dynamic nature.

Artisanal Mining River Dredge Detection Using Synthetic Aperture Radar

Submitted by tadamson on

This project utilizes Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to identify and monitor small-scale mining dredges operating on rivers in Guyana, South America. River dredging is an elusive activity that can be difficult to monitor using optical imagery due to the small spatial footprint, remote operating areas, and excessive cloud cover common to South America. SAR is an active remote sensing technology that uses longer wavelength signals (2–100 centimeters) that are unobstructed by weather and can be collected day or night.

Wildfire and Smoke Affect Bird Migration in Western North America

Submitted by tadamson on

The 2020 western U.S. fire season was among the most extreme on record. Over 100 fires were active in September, the majority occurring in California, Oregon, and Washington, where over 16,000 square kilometers burned. The 2020 fire season exemplified patterns of increased wildfire size, number, timing, return frequency, and extent, which are linked to climate-driven changes in precipitation and temperature affecting fire ignition and severity.

Informing Hurricane Flooding and Sea-level Rise Vulnerability in Wetlands

Submitted by tadamson on

Fusing remote sensing products from different satellite sensors allows the development of enhanced maps of the distribution of coastal wetland plants and more accurate models of coastal elevations. This critical information about vulnerability to sea-level rise and hurricane flooding is being used by Department of Interior partners and State and local agencies to improve management in a changing climate.

Temporal Trends in Agricultural Water Use and the Relationships to Hydroclimatic Factors in the High Plains Aquifer Region

Submitted by tadamson on

The High Plains Aquifer (HPA) is the primary water source for irrigated agriculture in the Great Plains of the United States. However, water levels in many locations of the aquifer have declined steadily over the past several decades because the rate of water withdrawals exceeds the rate of aquifer recharge. The decline of the groundwater table has been a serious concern to farmers and local governments in the HPA region as crop production is heavily dependent on the groundwater source.

Using Oblique Aerial Imagery to Aid in Synthetic Aperture Radar Interpretation

Submitted by tadamson on

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) monitors two mine sites in the State of Washington where it is difficult to obtain cloud-free multispectral imagery. OSMRE worked with the Civil Applications Committee to evaluate solutions for overcoming this limitation through high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR). SAR is an active remote sensing system in which the sensor emits a radio wave and then measures the reflected return; it is not hampered by cloud cover.

Using Synthetic Aperture Radar and Multispectral Imagery to Observe Critical Infrastructure on Former Coal Mines

Submitted by tadamson on

Commercial high-resolution multispectral imagery is available in resolutions down to 25 centimeters but can be obscured by clouds. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) observes two mine sites in the State of Washington where it is difficult to obtain cloud-free imagery.

Mapping 35 Years of Alaska’s Changing Glaciers

Submitted by tadamson on

Glaciers are important sentinels of a changing climate, crucial components of the global cryosphere, and integral to ecosystem functioning in the surrounding landscape. Until now, commonly used methods for mapping glacier change were labor intensive and thus limited in temporal and spatial scope. This work addressed some of those limitations by developing a novel deep learning–based method called GlacierCoverNet, a deep neural network that relies on an extensive, customized training dataset.

Development of An Automated and Cloud-Based Remote Sensing Routine for Surface Water Monitoring in Alaska Refuges

Submitted by atripp on

The potential for large changes in the amount and distribution of surface water in arctic landscapes is high given climate-induced changes in permafrost. Because changes in surface water have broadscale implications in the structure and function of ecosystems, understanding and tracking surface water change is a high priority for some Alaskan refuges.

Monitoring Managed Lands Using Synthetic Aperture Radar

Submitted by atripp on

The emergent proliferation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging systems, related advancements in image processing and exploitation capabilities, and the increasing availability of analysis-ready SAR data products have enhanced the BLM’s ability to use remote sensing-derived information to support resource management.