TEC conducts high resolution riparian characterization of Delaware

Published Oct. 18, 2013
The Delaware River Bridge near Hancock, N.Y., that shows survey details – the riparian zone and riffle complexes (where rocks break the water surface).  A mast-mounted LiDAR was used to acquire these river sections for the survey.

The Delaware River Bridge near Hancock, N.Y., that shows survey details – the riparian zone and riffle complexes (where rocks break the water surface). A mast-mounted LiDAR was used to acquire these river sections for the survey.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Scientists from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Topographic Engineer Center (TEC), working with their resource mapping and remote sensing counterparts from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston, Va., and Kearneysville, W.V., recently produced a series of high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scans of the upper Delaware River. 

The project, being led by Dr. John Young, a research biologist at USGS, is part of a larger USGS water resource data set, which includes hyperspectral, multispectral and airborne LiDAR data and is meant to characterize both in-stream and riparian morphologies. 

The project is part of an effort by the USGS to study the future impacts of hydraulic fracturing in the upper Delaware watershed. 

TEC is now collaborating with USGS on the merging of hyperspectral analytical data products with LiDAR and is using these data to explore sensor fusion. 

Learn more about Anderson’s research at http://www.vcu.edu/fsl/7.html