Every field trip to Alaska brings with it recognition
that scientists working on the NGEE Arctic project are both curious and
innovative. Curiosity is certainly one of the hallmarks of the scientific
process. Innovation is also a distinguishing feature of science, especially in
areas where emerging technology can be used to gain new insights into ecosystem
dynamics.
This week Sebastien Biraud from Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory joined us on the Seward Peninsula to acquire
high-resolution aerial imagery of our field sites using an Unmanned Aerial
System or UAS. Sebastien works primarily with the AmeriFlux program. In that
capacity he has instrumented a quad-copter with an optical camera and with
sensors that enable other properties of the landscape to be quickly and
efficiently captured.
Sebastien kindly agreed to join us for this trip and has
secured all the necessary FAA permits and approvals to fly his UAS in Alaska.
These flights were intended to evaluate capabilities of the aerial platform and
to preliminarily characterize several of our field sites. The quad-copter was
surprisingly quiet and fast, taking a complete set of measurements for our site
in less than 15 to 20 minutes. It passed overhead with nothing more than a
“hum” as it went about collecting data.
Sebastien has agreed to give one of our monthly NGEE
Arctic Science Talks and update the team on his results and thoughts on future
collaboration. The data products derived from the UAS flights should be
interesting and applicable to our goals and objectives as we characterize sites
on the Seward Peninsula and “upscale” our field data to larger and larger
areas. This will be important as we continue to represent insights gained from
our field studies in Earth System Models.
