Research

Research in long standing scientific questions about such geo-surficial processes as erosion, faulting, volcanism, plate motion, geomorphology, hydrology have become the focus of new research in recent years because of the availability of high-resolution and accurate research-grade Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (ALSM) data. The UF was the first university in the world to purchase an ALSM system (currently valued at $1.3 millions) in 1998.

The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) : University of Florida (UF) and University of California, Berkeley (UCB) jointly operates National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) funded by NSF. Since the initial funding for a period of two years, starting in August 1, 2003, NCALM has been funded for additional three years starting in August 1, 2005. NCALM provides research grade ALSM (LiDAR) data to scientific community in geo-surficial processes. Currently, more than 20 universities (see below) are participating in the use of ALSM data in a varieties of applications such as faulting, geomorphology, land slide, exfoliation, hydrology, erosion and land surface evolution.

#PI (First, Last)Institution
1Anderson, RobertUniversity of Colorado
2Bevis, MikeOhio State
3Bierman, Paul U of Vermont
4Dolan, JamesUniversity of Southern California
5Evans, Jim Utah State
6Gardner, KristinMontana State University
7Granger, DarrylPurdue
8Heimsath, ArjunDartmouth College
9Hilley, GeorgeStanford
10Lorang, MarkUniversity of Montana
11McGlyn, Brian Montana State University
12Menges, EricArchbold Biological Station
13Oskin, MikeUNC-Chapel Hill
14Pavlis, Terry University of New Orleans
15Pollard, David Stanford University
16Power, MaryUC Berkeley
17Roering, Joshua University of Oregon
18Snyder, Noah Boston College
19Staley, Dennis University of Memphis
20Tebbens, Sara Wright State University, OH
21Valentine, VintonWoods Hole
22Wasklewicz, ThadUniversity of Memphis
23Wernicke, BrianCaltech

Coastal Area Tactical Mapping System (CATS) : The GSE program has been awarded a research grant from the US Navy to develop a unique coastal area tactical-mapping system (CATS) for mapping both on-shore and littoral environments that make up the coastal zone (CZ). The ultimate goal of the research is to develop a sensor system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) suitable for tactical operations. The CATS system will be based on Photon Counting Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (PC-ALSM) technology and optimized for low altitude operations (nominally 600 to 1000 meters above local ground level) from light fixed-wing aircraft. The proposed sensor will provide a low operating cost method of mapping both topographic and shallow water (surf to several meters deep) bathymetric features of the CZ. The CATS system will identify and precisely locate obstacles to tactical operations, day or night, and even in moderately inclement weather. It will also be useful for post-strike damage assessment. Currently, the CATS development is at near completion stage and the testing phase will commence soon.

The Florida Hurricane Alliance : The GSE research program is a member of the Florida Hurricane Alliance (FHA) research group that consists of all Florida public universities. Some of the objectives of the UF research are: to develop algorithms to extract special features which have large effect on storm surge flooding, to investigate the utility of the PC-ALSM system to survey extreme shallow-water bathymetry with depth less than 5 meters, to fuse coastal area topographic and bathymetric data sets of dissimilar resolutions, and to develop a tool to facilitate the NOAA storm surge model to ingest the DTM and special features from ALSM surveys. The research results are expected to provide useful tools to analyze ALSM data and derive accurate information to simulate storm surge hazards at coastal zones.

Future Growth

CATS : The GSE researchers are expecting to have the first set of data from the prototype CATS in the Spring of 2008. Once the practicality and validity of the CATS data is demonstrated, the researchers plan to propose the development of a second generation sensor for the Navy, and begin to use the first generation unit to collect data for academic researchers at UF and those approved by NSF for the NCALM. We expect to see continued growth in the use of traditional ALSM and CATS technologies for a broad spectrum of areas.

The Florida Hurricane Alliance : This program led by Florida International University (FIU) and the co-owner of our ALSM expected to have continuing support from the US House Congress and GSE will be an integral part of it.