CoPe EAGER: Development of a Drone-Based Coastal Change Monitoring Program through Citizen Science Partnership and Capacity Building

沿海灾害(如侵蚀)的严重性需要更好的数据和量化评估，以了解海岸线的实际变化、其原因和变化率，并制定以证据为基础的减灾战略和政策。为了满足这一需要，这笔赠款将开展一项试点计划(IC-CREAM)：跨学科的基于公民的沿海遥感适应管理)，以测试关于公民科学方法的可行性和科学价值的假设，以创建一个关于五大湖沿海过程的本地化、重复的航空图像数据库。这个跨学科、混合方法项目的智力优势将在遥感、地理信息科学、海岸科学、地貌学和地理学等领域取得若干科学进步。使用民用无人机是收集关于景观变化和过程的高分辨率遥感时间序列图像的一种新方法。使用无人机和智能手机进行公民科学监测将允许记录比目前可能的范围更广的地理区域内沿海变化的影响。在该项目期间产生的新的和更好的数据对于改进沿海变化的建模和评估以及使社区参与海岸复原力的主题至关重要，因为公民-科学合作提供了一种让社区参与制定可持续沿海管理战略的新途径。对研究生和本科生进行沿海地貌学、遥感和社区参与方面的培训将是这笔赠款的主要组成部分。参与该项目的学生将通过参加社区参与研讨会以及与公民科学家的持续支持和协调，发展与无人机操作相关的现场和实验室技能以及强大的沟通技能。这笔赠款将培训一支由实践者和社区利益相关者组成的公民科学家团队，通过无人驾驶航空系统(UAS)收集密歇根湖、休伦湖和苏必利尔湖沿线六个社区的沿海地点的重复航空图像，以记录与水位波动、风暴和人类干预相关的侵蚀和沉积。其长期目标是建立一个大湖区沿海地区局部重复图像的数据库，以了解它们的物理变化、这些物理变化的根本原因以及相关的环境、社会和经济影响。该项目将评估：(1)经过适当培训和监督的社区成员公民科学家是否能够在广泛的空间范围内产生高质量的数据，从而有助于对当地和区域海岸进程的科学研究；(2)让社区利益攸关方参与严格的科学调查是否能改善公众？S对海岸进程和灾害的了解提高了主动决策的能力。公民科学家将接受UAS操作、数据收集和FAA法规的基础知识培训，以通过FAA第107部分考试并成为有资质的远程飞行员。然后，他们将收集海滩、悬崖和沙丘(季节性和风暴前后)的重复航拍图像。图像将使用运动结构摄影测量技术处理成数字表面模型(DSM)。这些DSM将与航空图像一起进行分析，以量化沿海地貌的变化。研究结果将与公民科学家分享，他们将协助研究团队公开交流研究结果。将与公民科学家和社区利益攸关方进行访谈和调查，以评估研究人员/公民科学家相结合的方法是否有助于对公众进行关于沿海变化/危害的教育，以及协助作出明智的沿海管理决策。该项目将是朝着建立一个以五大湖海岸灾害为重点的合作和协调的研究人员和利益相关者网络迈出的第一步，并将成为全国其他沿海地区的典范。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The severity of coastal hazards (e.g. erosion) requires better data and quantitative assessments to understand the physical changes to coastlines, their causes, and rates of change, and to develop evidence-based hazard mitigation strategies and policies. To address this need, this grant will conduct a pilot program (IC-CREAM): Interdisciplinary Citizen-based Coastal REmote Sensing for Adaptative Management) to test hypotheses about the feasibility and scientific value of a citizen-science approach to creating a localized, repeat aerial image database on coastal processes in the Great Lakes. The intellectual merit of this cross-disciplinary, mixed methods project will make several scientific advancements relevant to the fields of remote sensing, GIScience, coastal science, geomorphology, and geography. Using citizen-operated drones is a new approach to collecting remotely sensed high-resolution time series imagery about landscape change and processes. Citizen science monitoring with drones and smartphones will allow for the documentation of the impacts of coastal change across a broader geographic region than is currently possible. New and better data generated during this project is critical for improving modeling and assessments of coastal change, and for engaging communities on the topic of coastal resilience because the citizen-science collaboration offers a new way to get communities involved in developing sustainable coastal management strategies. Training graduate and undergraduate students in coastal geomorphology, remote sensing, and community engagement will be key component of this grant. Students participating in this project will develop field and laboratory skills associated with drone operations as well as strong communication skills through their participation in the community engagement workshops and on-going support and coordination with the citizen scientists.This grant will train a team of citizen scientists composed of practitioners and community stakeholders to collect repeat aerial imagery, via an unoccupied aerial system (UAS), of coastal sites in six communities along Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior to document erosion and accretion associated with fluctuating water levels, storms, and human interventions. The long-term goal is to compile a database of localized, repeat imagery of coastal areas across the Great Lakes region to understand their physical changes, root causes of these physical changes, and the associated environmental, social, and economic impacts. This project will evaluate: (1) whether properly trained and supervised community-member citizen scientists can generate high quality data across a broad spatial scale that contributes to scientific research on local and regional coastal processes and (2) whether engaging community stakeholders in rigorous scientific investigations improves the public?s understanding of coastal processes and hazards enhances the capacity for proactive decision-making. Citizen scientists will be trained on the basics of UAS operation, data collection, and FAA regulations in order to pass the FAA part 107 exam and become certified remote pilots. They will then collect repeat aerial imagery of beaches, bluffs, and dunes (seasonal and before/after storms). Images will be processed using structure-from-motion photogrammetry into digital surface models (DSMs). These DSMs, along with the aerial images, will be analyzed to quantify coastal geomorphic change. Results will be shared with the citizen scientists who will assist the research team in communicating the findings publicly. Interviews and surveys will be conducted with citizen scientists and community stakeholders to evaluate whether the coupled researcher/citizen scientist approach is beneficial for educating the public on coastal change / hazards as well as assisting in making informed coastal management decisions. This project will be the first step towards developing a collaborative and coordinated researcher and stakeholder network focused on coastal hazards in the Great Lakes and will be a model for other coastal regions nationally.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.