Idaho LiDAR Consortium

NSF grant to develop LiDAR tools

idaholidar — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:48:55 +0000

LiDAR point clouds from a landslide area near Salmon Falls, Idaho

The National Science Foundation awarded a $320,000 grant to develop software tools to analyze LiDAR data.

The collaborative research is led by Nancy Glenn (Idaho State University’s Department of Geosciences Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory), Andrew Hudak (U.S.

Carbon in juniper woodlands

idaholidar — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:23:34 +0000

A total of 60,628 individual juniper trees were identified and their aboveground biomass estimated using lidar point cloud data

Researchers from Idaho State University and USDA-ARS use lidar to estimate carbon in encroaching juniper woodlands in southwestern Idaho.

Woody encroachment into shrub steppe and grassland ecosystems is a global phenomenon. Juniper encroachment is one of the most prominent changes occurring in rangelands of western North America. The spatial extent of pinyon-juniper woodlands, the third most common vegetation type in the USA, is documented to have increased by an order of magnitude since the mid-19th century.

Mapping spider habitat with LiDAR

idaholidar — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:36:27 +0000

Spider, Eurocoelotes inermis (Source: Vierling et al., 2011)

University of Idaho professors and a group of German scientists used LiDAR data to map spider habitat within the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany.

University of Idaho professors Lee Vierling and Kerri Vierling collaborated with a team of German scientists to study ecosystems using remotely sensed laser data. The research team used LiDAR data collected from aircraft to create 3-D pictures of the different forest layers in Germany’s Bavarian Forest National Park. By combining LiDAR data with extensive field data about spiders and other information about an area’s vegetation, rainfall patterns and temperature, researchers can get a detailed picture about the habitat characteristics important to a healthy spider population.

LiDAR helps discover new fault

idaholidar — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:14:35 +0000

Regional faults (highlighted in red) in the area

A highly detailed LiDAR topographic image helps ISU professor Glenn Thackray discover a previously unknown active earthquake fault in Idaho’s Sawtooth Range, about 65 miles from Boise.

While looking at a highly detailed new topographic image of Idaho’s Sawtooth Range, Idaho State University geosciences professor Glenn Thackray had an "eureka moment" when he discovered a previously unknown active earthquake fault about 65 miles, as the crow flies, from Boise. ISU researchers estimate the fault has been active twice in the last 10,000 years, about 4,100 and 7,000 years ago.

New LiDAR Acquisition by FEMA

idaholidar — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:07:24 +0000

LiDAR Collection Areas

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region X will be collecting LiDAR data to map 875 square miles of Idaho floodplain from June 8-17, 2011.

June 8 - June 17, Aerometric, a contractor hired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region X, will be flying an aircraft-mounted Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) laser sensor to map 875 square miles of Idaho floodplain. This LiDAR data will be processed to make enhanced digital topographic maps. IDWR prefers to use LiDAR data for mapping Idaho floodplains because LiDAR is a floodplain mapping best practice for superb accuracy, resolution, precision, cost effectiveness and utility.

Woodpecker Habitat from LiDAR

idaholidar — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:11:49 +0000

Pileated Woodpecker (Source: Wikipedia.org)

Patrick Adam, graduate student from University of Idaho, has been working on developing techniques to predicting wood pecker habitat using GLAS satellite lidar.

Researchers from University of Idaho have proved they can predict the presence of the Pileated Woodpecker in a coniferous forest in northwestern Idaho, using small footprint airborne lidar, large footprint satellite lidar from the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), and field survey data. The results were presented at the annual meeting of American Geophysical Union (AGU) in December, 2010.

LiDAR Processing Workshops

idaholidar — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:25:22 +0000

NSF EPSCoR Airborne LiDAR Data Processing Workshop in Boise, Idaho

BCAL organized LiDAR processing workshops in Pocatello, ID and Sydney, Australia

Idaho State University, Boise Center of Aerospace Laboratory (BCAL) organized workshops on LiDAR processing during Intermountain GIS Conference in Pocatello, ID (March, 2011) and International Symposium for Remote Sensing of the Environment in Sydney, Australia (April, 2011). A similar workshop was previously organized in August, 2010 during NSF EPSCoR Annual Meeting in Boise, ID. A significant part of the workshop was focused on processing LiDAR data to create derived products useful for watershed modeling.

FEMA Standards for LiDAR

idaholidar — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:13:08 +0000

Idaho LiDAR Consortium and FEMA has prepared a specifications for LiDAR and other high quality digital topography data

Beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initiated a five-year program for Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP). FEMA’s vision for the Risk MAP program is to deliver quality data that increases public awareness and leads to mitigation actions that reduce risk to life and property. To achieve this vision, FEMA will transform its traditional flood identification and mapping efforts into a more integrated process of accurately identifying, assessing, communicating, planning for, and mitigating flood risks.

3D LiDAR Visualization

idaholidar — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:03:41 +0000

IQ Station at Idaho State University, Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory (BCAL)

Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory (BCAL) is developing new methods to visualize and interact with LiDAR remote sensing data using 3D-IQ Station

Idaho State University, Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory (BCAL) is developing new methods to visualize and interact with hyperspectral and LiDAR remote sensing data. As these data are becoming increasing complex, new methods for fusing and interacting with the data are necessary for leveraging their multidimensionality. With a new immersive
3D system resulting from a collaboration between Idaho Universities and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), scientists can explore multiple dimensions of data that, until now, could only be viewed two dimensionally.

New BCAL LiDAR Tools

idaholidar — Sat, 07 May 2011 21:21:26 +0000

Newer version of BCAL LiDAR Tools

Open-source BCAL LiDAR Tools has been updated to remove the dependencies on ENVI Remote Sensing software.

Open-source BCAL LiDAR Tools has been updated to remove the dependencies on ENVI Remote Sensing software. The tool can be run in any computers (PC, Mac, Unix) with IDL Virtual Machine (VM), which can be downloaded for free from ITTVis.