Sound (sonar or acoustic)

Testing a Small, Portable Remote Passive Acoustic Device to Monitor Wolves

Submitted by atripp on Tue, 12/27/2022 - 09:32

As part of a broader trial of noninvasive methods to research wild wolves (Canis lupus) in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Minnesota, the USGS Wolf and Deer Project (Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center) explored whether wolves could be remotely monitored using a new, inexpensive (approximately $80 USD in 2019), remotely deployable, passive acoustic recording device.

3D Topobathymetric Digital Elevation Model for Lake Powell Storage Capacity Assessment

Submitted by atripp on Wed, 06/16/2021 - 10:45

To support the modeling of the Colorado River water storage area capacity tables by the USGS Utah Water Science Center, the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center created a three-dimensional (3D) high-resolution topobathymetric digital elevation model (TBDEM) for Lake Powell, the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States.

Avian Radar Project

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/30/2018 - 14:12

Documenting bird and bat migration is challenging because migration activity is typically sporadic in nature and nocturnal movements are difficult to observe. The FWS uses avian radar to monitor the timing, duration, and activity patterns of bird and bat migrations along the shorelines of the Great Lakes (http://www.fws.gov/radar/).  In fall 2015 and spring 2016, radar units were deployed in northern Michigan along Lake Huron.

Riparian Sandbar Migration Impacts at Irrigation District Pumping Plant

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/30/2018 - 14:12

Changes in sandbar geometry were mapped using historcal and recent aerial imagery to quantify the extent of sandbar encroachment into the water intake structure of the pumping plant for the Buford-Trenton Irrigation District, Williams County, North Dakota.  Nine sets of aerial imagery spanning over 60 years and rectified plats from the original 1893 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data were used to study changes in the Missouri River extent and course.

Siltation into the Heart Butte Dam, Grant County, North Dakota

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/30/2018 - 14:12

Sound navigation and ranging (sonar) data were coupled with historical topographic  data to map the extent and volume of silt collected behind the Heart Butte Dam reservoir in southwestern North Dakota. An elevation raster of the land surface submerged beneath the dam was created using sonar with 1–foot (0.3-m) depth intervals collected by the North Dakota Game & Fish Department.  To depict the landscape before the dam was created, pre-dam contour and river lines were derived from a historical topographic map obtained from the U.S.

Scanning Sonar for Underwater Infrastructure Inspection

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/30/2018 - 14:12

One problem with using divers or remotely operated vehicles to perform underwater inspections of hydraulic structures is that frequently-encountered conditions of poor visibility increase the inspection time and reduce the inspection quality. Commercially available scanning sonar systems can be used to overcome this limitation because sonar works in even highly turbid water to produce detailed images of underwater infrastructure. Scanning sonar can also collect survey-grade bathymetry and three-dimensional (3D) point clouds of underwater features.

Avian Radar Project

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/30/2018 - 14:12

Documenting bird and bat migration is challenging because of the typically sporadic nature of migration activity and the difficulty of observing nocturnal movements.

MacFarlane Reservoir Bathymetric Survey, Arapaho NWR

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/30/2018 - 14:12

The Water Resources Division of the Region 6 FWS generated elevation data for the creation of a storage-capacity curve for MacFarlane Reservoir, which supplies water to the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) located in north central Colorado. The reservoir was originally built in 1915, repaired and reconstructed in 1962, and purchased by the FWS in 1993; the reservoir provides nesting and migration habitat for several bird species and is a water source for habitat creation and management at the refuge.