MRI: Acquisition of a novel multi sensor-equipped unmanned aerial system (UAS) observatory for coastal mapping

这一重大研究仪器奖支持购买一种新型的多传感器装备的无人/无人空中系统(UAS)观测站，用于综合地从空中和地面进行海岸测绘和数据收集。天文台将由三个现成的商用无人机平台组成，配备四个互补的遥感传感器：10波段多光谱、高光谱、地形和地形测深光探测和测距以及所需的现场参考仪器，以形成一个监测和绘制沿海生态系统图的综合系统。这个沿海的UAS天文台是美国东南部地区大学的第一个此类天文台，建立在大学的专业知识和正在进行的研究的基础上。通过加强快速城市化的沿海地区的基础设施，此次收购将使UAS衍生数据的新的和多样化的跨学科应用得以继续和发展，重要的是，将为学生培训、专业发展和社区合作提供无与伦比的机会。最先进的仪器还将为学生，特别是妇女和来自代表性不足群体的参与者提供操作、收集和分析遥感数据集的动手培训。赋予学生这些高需求技能，不仅将增加他们在沿海工程、地理和环境科学就业市场的竞争力，还将扩大他们在快速增长的UAS和地理空间就业领域的代表性。这些资产还将增加美国东南部的学术招生，那里贫困普遍，代表不足的少数民族占该地区人口的很大比例。这些仪器和数据集将随时提供给越来越多的研究人员、机构和当地和区域利益攸关方，因为学术界、政府和不断增长的地理空间工业部门之间在这种设备的支持下开展了新的创新合作。计划中的研究将侧重于对沿海地区研究不足和关键的沿海生态系统中的沿海生态系统和人类环境动态进行量化、测绘、监测和建模，目前沿海地区拥有世界一半以上的人口。最强烈的影响将发生在那些考虑空间和时间上明确的动态过程至关重要的领域。连续、综合的(例如，近岸、河口和河流)和天气测量将确定最容易受到海平面上升和极端天气事件综合影响的地区，指导土地管理决策，并为使生态系统和人类能够适应不断变化的环境条件的战略和工具提供信息。因此，天文台将提供重要的基础设施，以观测和量化人类环境、生物地理、地貌、生物地球化学和地表过程，并建立一个新的框架，用于检测、建模和预测未来对复杂和受人类影响的沿海地区的影响。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。

This Major Research Instrumentation Grant award supports the acquisition of a novel multi sensor-equipped Uncrewed/Unoccupied Aerial System (UAS) observatory for coastal mapping and data collection from both the air and the ground in an integrative manner. The observatory will consist of three off-the-shelf, commercial UAS platforms equipped with four complementary remote sensors: 10-band multispectral, hyperspectral, topographic and topo-bathymetric Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) along with required in situ reference instrumentation to form a consolidated system to monitor and map coastal ecosystems. This coastal UAS observatory, the first of its kind at a Southeast United States regional university, builds on university expertise and on-going research. By bolstering infrastructure in a rapidly urbanizing coastal region, this acquisition will enable continuation and development of new and diverse interdisciplinary applications of UAS-derived data and, importantly, provide unparalleled opportunities for student training, professional development and community partnerships. The state-of-the art instrumentation also will provide students, especially women and participants from underrepresented groups, with hands-on training in the operation, collection, and analysis of remotely-sensed datasets. Empowering students with these high-demand skills will not only increase their competitiveness in coastal engineering, geography, and environmental science job markets but also expand representation in the rapidly growing UAS and geospatial employment fields. These assets also will increase academic recruitment to the southeastern U.S. where poverty is prevalent, and underrepresented minorities comprise a large percentage of the region’s population. The instrumentation and datasets will be readily available to a growing community of researchers, institutions, and local and regional stakeholders given the new and innovative collaborations between academia, government and growing geospatial industry sectors supported by this equipment.The planned research will focus on quantifying, mapping, monitoring and modeling coastal ecosystem and human-environmental dynamics in under-studied and critical coastal ecosystems of coastal regions, currently home to more than half of the world’s population. The strongest impact will occur across those fields where accounting for spatially- and temporally-explicit dynamic processes is critical. Continuous, integrated (e.g., nearshore, estuarine, and riverine) and synoptic measurements will identify areas that are most vulnerable to the combined impacts of sea-level rise and extreme weather events, guide land management decisions and inform strategies and tools that enable both ecosystems and humans to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Therefore, the observatory will provide critical infrastructure to observe and quantify human-environment, biogeographic, geomorphic, biogeochemical and surface processes and establish a novel framework for detecting, modeling and predicting future impacts to complex and anthropogenically-impacted coastal regions.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.