High-Resolution Airborne Imagery Acquisition
2014 - 2015 USAP Antarctic Field Season
Project:
Landscape change has been observed in the McMurdo Dry Valleys
during the last decade, but the changes have not been mapped on a
large scale. The project proposes to evaluate the range of changes
occurring in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and their subsequent impacts
using data collected by airborne mapping. The project is headed by PI
Andrew Fountain (Portland State University) and Co-PI Paul Morin of
the Polar Geospatial Center (University of Minnesota), and is being
flown by the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM).
Goals:
The NCALM crew is using an Optech Titan sensor to image and map
the McMurdo Dry Valleys and surrounding areas. Mapping will include
upwards of 5000 km of2 Antarctic landscape. This will provide baseline
imagery and elevation data for the entire McMurdo Dry Valley system.
Data:
NCALM is collecting high-resolution visible (RGB) imagery over the
McMurdo Dry Valleys as well as providing dense and extensive
coverage with LiDAR. The horizontal resolution of the imagery is 6-8
cm. Data coverage at this resolution and density that NCALM will
provide for the McMurdo Dry Valleys will be an unprecedented dataset
that will change the scientific capabilities of the area.
McMurdo Station
Lake Fryxell Camp
The Labyrinth
Blood Falls
Availability:
The imagery and LiDAR data, including pointclouds and DEMs, will be
hosted through both the Polar Geospatial Center and
OpenTopography. All of the data will be publically available in time for
the 2015-2016 Antarctic field season. Part of the broader impact of this
project is the usefulness of the collected data for multidisciplinary
studies.
Center:
The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping is an NSF-supported
research center created to provide airborne laser mapping to the
scientific community. The center is based at the University of Houston
and is operated in partnership with the University of California,
Berkeley. Visit ncalm.cive.uh.edu for more information.
Deployed C-517-M Team Members:
Maciej Obryk
Abhinav Singhania
Juan Fernandez-Diaz
Darren Hauser
Andrew Fountain
Rickard Pettersson