lidar – Page 2 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

NASA Map Sees Earth’s Trees in a New Light

By Guest PostFebruary 19, 2012Environment, Scienceaustralia, caltech, carbon, carbon cycle, climate change, cloud, data, earth, effects of topography, eucalyptus, flowering plants, forest, forest canopy, forest habitat, global map of forest height, height, high resolution map, icesat, laser pulse measurements, lidar, light detection and ranging, marc simard, modis, monitor, NASA, new zealand, satellites, south latitude, southern tropical forests, Space, spatial modeling, spatial resolution, trmm sensors, vegetation, worldclim database

PASADENA, Calif. – A NASA-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth’s forests. The map will help scientists better understand the role forests play in climate change and how their heights influence wildlife habitats within them, while also helping them quantify the carbon stored in Earth’s vegetation.

Scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; the University of Maryland, College Park; and Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, Mass., created the map using 2.5 million carefully screened, globally distributed laser pulse measurements from space. The light detection and ranging (lidar) data were collected in 2005 by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System instrument on NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat). (more…)

3-D Laser Map Shows Earthquake Zone Before and After

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2012Science2010 mexicali earthquake, 3d post earthquake image, agricultural fields, arizona state university, austin elliott, borrego fault, China, colorado river, colorado river delta, crust, data, davis, desert floor, earth science, earthquake, earthquake zone, earthscope, fault, fault behavior, fault rupture, fault surface ruptures, floodplain, geologist, greg anderson, indiviso fault, jing liu zeng, john fletcher, ken hudnut, laser pulses, lidar, light detection and ranging, magnitude, mexicali, Mexico, michael oskin, multi fault earthquake, national science foundation, ncalm, off fault deformation, orlando teran, pescadores fault, peter gold, post earthquake topography, pre earthquake, ramon arrowsmith, ridge, rock sample, san andreas, scarp, seismic hazard, seismic wave, united states, university of california

*Geologists learn how earthquakes change the landscape — down to a few inches*

Geologists have a new tool to study how earthquakes change the landscape–down to a few inches. It’s giving scientists insights into how earthquake faults behave.

In this week’s issue of the journal Science, a team of scientists from the United States, Mexico and China reports the most comprehensive before-and-after picture yet of an earthquake zone, using data from the magnitude 7.2 event that struck near Mexicali, Mexico, in April 2010. (more…)

Evidence Emerges of Ancient Lake in California’s Eel River

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2011Environment, Scienceairborne light detection and ranging, ancient landslide, benjamin mackey, california institute of technology, catastrophic landslide, dam burst, diverse phenomena, ecological changes, eel river, gene flow, genetic introgression, genetic trajectories, genetics of steelhead trout in the eel river, geological history, global positioning systems, gps, humboldt county, interbreeding, joshua roering, lakebed, late pleistocene, lidar, michael lamb, modern landslide hazard, mountainous region, national science foundation, northern california, pacific ocean, paul cutler, populations, remote sensing technology, steelhead trout, university of oregon

*Ecological changes from lakebed may have led to two different populations of once-related steelhead trout*

A catastrophic landslide 22,500 years ago dammed the upper reaches of northern California’s Eel River, forming a 30-mile-long lake which has since disappeared. It left a living legacy found today in the genes of the region’s steelhead trout.

Using remote-sensing technology known as airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and hand-held global-positioning-systems (GPS) units, scientists recently found evidence for a late Pleistocene, landslide-dammed lake along the river. (more…)

Study Shows Wind Turbines on Farmlands May Benefit Crops

By Guest PostDecember 19, 20101 commentEnvironmentatmosphere, carbon dioxide, corn, crop, crops, domestic source of energy, earth surface, electricity, fungal infestations, gene takle, generate, laser, lidar, midwestern farm, moisture levels, photosynthesis, renewable energy, research, soybean, takle, turbine blades, wind turbines

Wind turbines in Midwestern farm fields may be doing more than churning out electricity. The giant turbine blades that generate renewable energy might also help corn and soybean crops stay cooler and drier, help them fend off fungal infestations and improve their ability to extract growth-enhancing carbon dioxide from the air and soil.

The preliminary findings of a months-long study that examines how wind turbines on farmlands interact with surrounding crops were presented on December 16 at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. The presentation was made by researcher Gene Takle of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Julie Lundquist, assistant professor in the University of Colorado at Boulder’s atmospheric and oceanic studies department. (more…)

Better Weather: Water-vapor Profiling System Could Result in More Accurate, Less Costly Forecasting

By Guest PostNovember 4, 20102 commentsEnvironment, Nature, Scienceatmosphere, bennett aerospace, david roberts, georgia institute of technology, laser radar, lidar, light detection and ranging, prototype, researchers, Technology, water vapor, water vapor profiler, wav-pro, weather forecasting

A vehicle from the National Severe Storms Laboratory observes conditions around a tornado in Wyoming during June of 2009. Image credit: Mike Coniglio, NOAA/NSSL

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Bennett Aerospace are leveraging light detection and ranging (lidar) technology to develop a ground-based system that will automatically measure water vapor in the atmosphere. Known as”WaV-Pro^TM,” for Water Vapor Profiler, the system aims to provide more frequent data collection that could dramatically improve weather forecasting.

Initial work on the project began in mid-2009, when Bennett Aerospace, in collaboration with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), won a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop design requirements for the system. Recently, the researchers won a Phase II grant to build and test critical components needed for a final operating prototype of WaV-Pro. (more…)

First-of-Its-Kind Map Details the Height of the Globe’s Forests

By Guest PostJuly 21, 20101 commentEnvironment, Scienceaqua, atmosphere, canopy, carbon cycles, carbon dioxide, desdynI, douglas fir, ecosystems, height of the world’s forests, icesat, imaging spectrodiometer, lidar, michael lefsky, modis, NASA, richard Houghton, satellite data, satellites, tallest forests, terra, tropical rain forests, woods hole research center

WASHINGTON — Using satellite data, scientists have produced a first-of-its kind map that details the height of the world’s forests. Although there are other local- and regional-scale forest canopy maps, the new map is the first that spans the entire globe based on one uniform method.

(more…)

Tag Archives: lidar