MRI: Acquisition of a Light-Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) System for Civil Infrastructure Research

这一重大研究仪器(MRI)奖资助购买先进的飞行时间地面光探测和测距(LIDAR)系统，以扩大研究机会，并将尖端技术整合到拉斐特学院的工程和科学课堂中。飞行时间激光雷达使用激光脉冲来捕捉物体和表面在三维空间中的位置和反射率。新一代激光雷达技术和相关的后处理软件比前几代要强大得多，用户也更友好。这种特殊的激光雷达系统足够坚固，可供本科生动手使用，并配备了全波形处理，以探索可视化和表征物体和地形的全新方法。激光雷达技术走向主流，正在引发工程师和科学家感知、绘制和记录自然和建筑环境的革命。这场革命超越了科学，进入了历史保护、执法和艺术领域。在可预见的未来，即使是个人车辆也将利用激光雷达进行自动导航。因此，有必要向本科生介绍激光雷达，并帮助他们识别这项技术的新用途和创造性用途。激光雷达系统及其将实现的研究将用于：通过采用新技术的研究和教学方法培训未来的工程师和科学家；在学术界和工业界之间发展新的合作与伙伴关系；显著加强拉斐特学院进行前沿研究的能力。参与本科生研究的拉斐特学院学生通常会受到启发，在学术界和工业界攻读高级学位和与研究相关的专业。激光雷达是一种多功能工具，它不仅将扩大拉斐特的研究基础设施，还将在工程和科学课程中提供新的实验经验。激光雷达系统将支持拉斐特学院至少九门课程以及研究密集型独立学习和荣誉论文课程，每年约有400名学生联系。激光雷达的高科技性质和便携性很适合为当地高中生进行外展演示，他们中的许多人是代表不足的少数民族，以激发人们对STEM领域的兴奋。PI和Co-PIs在指导女学生方面有着良好的记录，并将利用Lafayette正在进行的新努力，将更多未被充分代表的群体成员招募到他们的研究计划中。该项目的智力优势集中在创造新知识和增加Lafayette学院教职员工和本科生的研究机会上。激光雷达系统将产生立竿见影的效果，使PI、Co-PIs、研究生和学术界和工业界的外部合作者能够在以下领域进行研究：1)交通基础设施，2)斜坡稳定性和侵蚀过程，3)水文和泥沙运输，以及4)遥感在土壤表征中的应用。这些地区的项目直接涉及地方和国家一级与建筑和自然环境有关的重要问题和问题。具体地说，激光雷达系统将使研究活动产生下列影响：制定使用激光雷达测量土工合成加筋土壤综合桥梁系统(GRS-IBS)性能的最佳做法；就如何有效地设计柱支撑路堤(CSE)达成共识；增进对用细长加固元件加固的斜坡中存在的复杂土壤-结构相互作用的了解；描述导致富兰克林组拉斐特学院附近斜坡不稳定的因素；研究基岩地质和长期大坝运行对河流和溪流河道形态的影响；以及开发一种创新概念，通过利用遥感仪器的数据来表征压实土壤的关键特性。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award funds the acquisition of an advanced time-of-flight terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system to expand research opportunities, and to integrate cutting edge technology into the engineering and sciences classrooms at Lafayette College. Time-of-flight LIDAR uses laser pulses to capture the position and reflectivity of objects and surfaces in three-dimensional space. The new generation of LIDAR technology and associated post-processing software are far more capable and user friendly than previous generations. This particular LIDAR system is sturdy enough for hands-on use by undergraduate students and is equipped with full waveform processing to explore entirely new ways of visualizing and characterizing objects and terrain. The movement of LIDAR technology toward the mainstream is creating a revolution in how engineers and scientists sense, map, and record the natural and built environment. This revolution extends beyond the sciences and into fields of historical preservation, law enforcement, and art. In the foreseeable future, even personal vehicles will utilize LIDAR for autonomous navigation. Therefore, it is essential to introduce students at an undergraduate level to LIDAR, and assist them in identifying new and creative uses of this technology. The LIDAR system and the research it will enable will be used for: the training of future engineers and scientists through research and pedagogy that embraces new technology; the development of new collaborations and partnerships between academia and industry; and the significant enhancement of the capability to perform leading edge research at Lafayette College. Lafayette students involved in undergraduate research are typically inspired to pursue advanced degrees and research-related professions in both academia and industry. LIDAR is a versatile tool that will not only expand the research infrastructure at Lafayette but also provide new experimental experiences in the engineering and science curricula. The LIDAR system will support at least nine courses at Lafayette College as well as research intensive independent study and honors thesis courses, with approximately 400 student contacts per year. The high tech nature and portability of the LIDAR lends itself well to conducting outreach demonstrations for local high school students, many of whom are underrepresented minorities, to generate excitement about the STEM fields. The PI and Co-PIs have strong records mentoring women students and will take advantage of new efforts that are underway at Lafayette to recruit additional members of underrepresented groups into their research program The intellectual merit of this project is centered on creating new knowledge and enhancing the research opportunities for faculty and undergraduate students at Lafayette College. The LIDAR system will have the immediate impact of enabling the PI, Co-PIs, research students, and outside collaborators in academia and industry to conduct research in the following areas: 1) transportation infrastructure, 2) slope stability and erosional processes, 3) hydrology and sediment transport, and 4) application of remote sensing to soil characterization. The projects in these areas directly address important issues and questions related to the built and natural environments at a local and national level. Specifically, the LIDAR system will enable research activities with the following impacts: development of best practices for using LIDAR to measure performance of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Integrated Bridge Systems (GRS-IBS); movement toward consensus on how to efficiently design Column-Supported Embankments (CSEs); advancement in understanding of the complex soil-structure interaction that exists in slopes stabilized with slender reinforcing elements; characterization of the factors leading to instability of slopes near Lafayette College formed in the Franklin Formation; examination of the effects of bedrock geology and long-term dam operation on channel morphology along rivers and streams; and development of an innovative concept to characterize key properties of compacted soil by leveraging data from remote sensing instruments.