Collaborative Research: Facility Support to Renew Operation of the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM)

什雷斯塔机载激光条带测绘(ALSM)允许以分米级的精度和米到亚米的空间分辨率测量表面地形特征。从原始ALSM数据(XYZ空间中激光定位的点云)处理的高分辨率、地理参考的数字高程模型(DEM)对于在与支配地形表达的基本过程相适应的尺度上观测多种地貌特征至关重要。例如，断层结构、山坡、河道、海岸地貌、冰川、火山建筑物和植被冠层结构。从ALSM发展而来的DEM可以用来建模，因此可以更好地理解这些地貌的动态以及形成它们的潜在过程。这项技术在土木工程中也有明显的应用。这笔赠款为国家机载激光测绘中心(NCALM)的管理和运营提供了五年的持续支持。作为佛罗里达大学(UF)和加州大学伯克利分校(UC-B)的合作努力，NCALM提供项目规划服务、ALSM飞行和地勤人员操作、数据分析的技术支持，以及访问计算资源和软件，以便向更广泛的地球科学界提供高精度、高空间分辨率的数字地形数据。NCALM向科学界提供了UF拥有的Optech Gemini 167 KHZ和33 KHZ ALSM系统，可以在配备GPS设备和惯性测量系统的UF双引擎塞斯纳337飞机上飞行。这些系统还可以在租赁的飞机上飞行，用于国际项目或要求高空飞行的项目。NCALM的工作人员还参与了：1)开发新的激光测距技术，包括工作在允许水穿透海岸水深的波长的MHz光子计数ALSM；2)开发用于多传感器数据收集和融合的方法和软件；3)通过UF地球传感工程研究生课程培训学生ALSM技术和应用；4)管理针对学生研究人员的竞争性种子资助计划；以及5)通过ALSM讲习班和在国家会议上组织ALSM科学会议进行社区推广。NCALM由UF和UC-B的PI管理，并由指导委员会(SC)提供建议。SC提供以下方面的指导和审查：1)安排项目时间表和确定优先顺序；2)中心的成本效益管理；3)信息传播；4)技术升级的机会和必要性；5)与主要项目(EarthScope、CUASHI、Markets等)的联系和协调。和机构(NASA、FEMA、USGS)。***

0828047Shrestha Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (ALSM) allows for the measurement of surface topographic features with decimeter-level accuracies and meter to sub-meter spatial resolution. High resolution, georeferenced, digital elevation models (DEMs) processed from raw ALSM data (point clouds of laser postings in xyz space) are critical for observing a multitude of geomorphic features at scales appropriate to the fundamental processes that govern their topographic expression. Examples include, fault structures, hill slopes, river channels, coastal features, glaciers, volcanic edifices and vegetative canopy structure. DEMs developed from ALSM can be used to model and therefore better understand the dynamics of these landforms and the underlying processes that form them. The technique also has obvious applications in civil engineering. This grant provides five years of continued support for the management and operation of the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM). A collaborative effort between the University of Florida (UF) and the University of California - Berkeley (UC-B), NCALM provides project planning services, ALSM flight and ground crew operations, technical support for data analysis, and access to computational resources and software to make available to the broader geosciences community, high accuracy, high spatial resolution digital topographic data. NCALM makes available to the science community, an Optech GEMINI 167 kHz and 33 kHz ALSM systems owned by UF that can be flown on a UF twin engine Cessna 337 aircraft equipped with GPS equipment and an inertial measurement system. These systems can also be flown on leased aircraft for international projects or projects that dictate high altitude flights. NCALM staff are also involved in: 1) development of new laser ranging technologies including MHz photon counting ALSM operating at wavelengths that allow for water penetration for coastal bathymetry; 2) developing methods and software for multi-sensor data collection and fusion; 3) training students in ALSM techniques and applications through the UF graduate program in Geosensing Engineering; 4) administering a competitive seed grant program for student investigators; and 5) community outreach through ALSM workshops and organization of ALSM science sessions at national meetings. NCALM is managed by PIs at UF and UC-B and is advised by a steering committee (SC). The SC provides guidance and review on the following: 1) scheduling and prioritizing projects; 2) cost effective management of the Center; 3) information dissemination; 4) opportunities and necessities for technological upgrades; and 5) contact and coordination with major programs (EarthScope, CUASHI, Margins, etc.) and agencies (NASA, FEMA, USGS). ***