Hexagon Geosystems’ Post

Cyclones and insect numbers impact mangroves. A new paper from UBDC's Qiaosi Li shows how a better understanding of the resilience of these ecosystems, using multispectral Sentinel-2 images and airborne LiDAR Scanning, can help improve conservation strategies: https://ow.ly/lEQ850PnOOo

Nearview has gone #hyperspectral! In partnership with Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park, we are flying and mapping salt marsh ecosystems on the coast of Maine with a Headwall VNIR system, high-resolution RGB camera, and lidar. Can you see the difference? While the RGB provides higher resolution, the 136 spectral bands of the VNIR system more easily distinguishes vegetation types and species. Nearview appreciates the support of GRYFN in this survey effort. Our imagery will be used to classify and monitor salt marsh vegetation. The data will also be used to build out our spectral library (https://lnkd.in/ebWdtBgx). We will be releasing the next speclib within a couple of weeks, which will feature spectra for seaweed, salt marsh plants, seagrasses, and intertidal sediments. This open-access library is the only source of hyperspectral ground validation data specific to intertidal and coastal ecosystems. We will announce the upcoming release soon! #remotesensing #dronesforgood #uas #lidar #saltmarsh #marinescience #marineecology #intertidal #earthobservation

Dive into our latest case study where cutting-edge tech and untamed landscapes collide. Discover how Outline Globals LiDAR data and Anditi's near-ground algorithms unveiled the hidden world of Malleefowl habitats. From enigmatic mounds to ecological revelations, this project is a balance of science and nature. click the link to read the full case study https://lnkd.in/gHzPvyM3

📏🦉 LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology is a true game-changer in biodiversity mapping! This cutting-edge remote sensing method offers a three-dimensional view of landscapes and ecosystems, helping us unravel hidden ecological secrets. 🌿🚀 By measuring the distance between the sensor and the Earth's surface, LIDAR enables us to create detailed terrain models, detect forest structures, and even estimate carbon storage in forests. 🌳🌱 In my upcoming post, I'll delve into the advantages and diverse applications of LIDAR in biodiversity research. Let's discover how this incredible technology empowers us to conserve nature more effectively! 🛰️🌏 #LIDAR #BiodiversityMapping #ConservationTechnology

This report provides validation and intercomparison results for the Planet Forest Carbon Diligence products. It is intended for geospatial data users interested in aboveground carbon density, canopy cover, and canopy height datasets. The Forest Carbon Diligence products quantify — globally and annually — the density of carbon stored in trees, the area occupied by trees, and stand-level mean canopy height. These estimates are produced from machine learning models trained on historical satellite observations, airborne LiDAR data, and spaceborne LiDAR data. Diligence aboveground carbon estimates show strong agreement with other high quality global datasets, such as NASA-GEDI data, ESA-CCI Biomass data, and UN-FAO country-level statistics. Click in to learn more about the detailed assessment methods and results. #ForestCarbonDiligence #CarbonDensity #CanopyCover #CanopyHeight #SatelliteData #LiDARData #MachineLearning #GeoSpatialData #DataValidation #DataIntercomparison

TODAY is #gisday and to celebrate, we wanted to give you a sneak peak into some of the work our Geospatial Foundations team does with lidar. Wait, what’s lidar, you ask? It’s short for Light Detection and Ranging, and here’s how it works: A sensor that shoots a laser to the ground is mounted on an airplane. We can calculate the distance the laser traveled based on the time it takes to get back to the plane, and we can use that distance to get information about the terrain surface and height of vegetation. Our team uses lidar, in part, to collect detailed information they can then use to map human land-use and natural disturbances, and to quantify vegetation regrowth on these features. This is useful for mapping habitat recovery for threatened species, for example,  like woodland caribou. By understanding the status of caribou habitat, and recovery rates on various habitat disturbance features associated with caribou declines, habitat restoration efforts can be more effectively prioritized. #ABMIatWork #lidar #biodiversity #biodiversitymonitoring #habitat

The latest addition to the GEE Data Catalog: #DeltaDTM Global coastal digital terrain model It is a global coastal Digital Terrain Model (DTM) with a horizontal spatial resolution of 1 arcsecond (∼30m) and an overall vertical mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.45m. It is generated from the accuracy improvement of existing global elevation datasets by correcting Copernicus DEM with spaceborne lidar data from the ICESat-2 and GEDI missions.  Access Data: https://lnkd.in/gkXKb5u4 Reference paper: https://lnkd.in/gh2WFz-Y

Data Dive: View looking North East over the Bear River just West of Preston, Idaho within the Franklin Bear, area of interest. The image was created from the lidar bare earth model and colored by elevation. Data were collected, over approximately one million acres of land in southern Idaho, to aid USGS in assessing the topographic and geophysical properties of the study area to support the 3DEP mapping initiative. #DataDive #Idaho #BearRiver #USGS #3DEP #GIS #Geospatial #BeyondEngineering #NV5

Amazonia was once densely populated The Amazon rainforest is by no means an untouched primeval forest, but was a cultivated landscape modified and cultivated by humans for at least a millennium. This is suggested by a study in which a research team led by Vinicius Peripato from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) found 24 previously unknown ruins in the Amazon region. The team mapped more than 5300 square kilometers using Lidar<< technology (the abbreviation stands for >>Light Detection And Ranging<<), in which laser beams scan the ground. Lidar makes it possible to determine the precise height of the ground - even through the canopy of a forest. Based on the measurement data, the team has extrapolated that tens of thousands of structures could still be undiscovered in the entire Amazon region. The walls probably date from between 1500 and 500 years ago. It is known that populous and complex societies already existed in the Amazon region before the Spanish invasion. Experts have identified more than 1000 weathered structures from these pre-Columbian cultures, some of which were connected by road networks. However, nobody knows how many ruins are still hidden under the dense vegetation: Most of them have been found during terrain mapping, which only recorded tiny flat areas.

This week, I started studying the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission, specifically focusing on L4B version 2.1 products. The mission's objective is to characterize the structure and dynamics of ecosystems, making it one of the most innovative missions in understanding and quantifying the carbon cycle and biodiversity. Regarding forest attributes, the L2A vector version provides 100 metrics related to tree height, canopy, Vertical Vegetation Density, and terrain topography. These data are obtained through laser pulses to measure the distance between the satellite and the Earth's surface, integrated into the ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2) satellite. GEDI is a lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) instrument operating in the near-infrared spectrum. In this initial exercise, I studied how to obtain data from the latest version (2019-2021) with corrections for South America. Link  this application: https://lnkd.in/gSiR9FYn #gedi #biomass #carbon #carbonfootprint #lidar #laserscanning #earthengine #research