Photo: Saildrone

For the fourth consecutive year, Saildrone and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are sailing a fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) into hurricanes to better understand how these storms develop, track and intensify.

Saildrone Explorer USVs are 23 ft long and carry a payload of sensors to measure air, surface and water temperature as well as humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, salinity and wave height. To withstand major hurricane conditions—winds over 110 mph and waves that exceed 50 ft—they have a shorter and stronger “hurricane wing,” similar to a reefed sail on a sailboat.

Saildrone USVs sail autonomously along prescribed routes, which Saildrone Pilots define according to weather conditions and to meet mission objectives. Saildrone’s science partners in the mission at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) will work closely with Saildrone Mission Control to guide the saildrones into oncoming hurricanes.

As the final group of saildrones was readied for deployment, Tropical Storm Debby was forming in the Gulf of Mexico. Just days after SD-1057 was deployed, the USV sailed through the eye of Hurricane Debby hours before the storm made landfall in Florida. Powered solely by renewable wind and solar energy, the Saildrone fleet will stay at sea for the duration of the mission, which will last through October 2024.

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Photo: Saildrone and NOAA.

As Hurricane Beryl moved across the Caribbean, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has partnered with Saildrone to deploy seven hurricane-tracking saildrones in strategic locations.  

These unmanned surface vessels (USVs) are equipped with a specialized “hurricane wing” to withstand extreme wind conditions. The USVs are gathering real-time data on key atmospheric and oceanic parameters such as wind speeds, wave heights, temperature, pressure and salinity​. 

Hurricane Beryl 

Hurricane Beryl impacted Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the Yucatan Peninsula. Residents were urged to complete preparations to protect life and property as the storm progressed. 

Two saildrones were deployed in the Gulf of Mexico, launched from St. Petersburg, Florida, and Port Aransas, Texas, and five more in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, launched from Jacksonville, Florida, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These systems provide critical data to improve the understanding and prediction of tropical cyclone intensity changes, particularly rapid intensification — where hurricane wind speeds increase dramatically in a short period​. 

To enhance these efforts, Rutgers University deployed underwater gliders that work in tandem with saildrones. These gliders measure temperature and salinity at various depths, offering a detailed picture of the ocean’s conditions before, during and after a hurricane.  

The collaboration aims to provide high-resolution, coordinated measurements from the ocean surface to the atmosphere, enhancing situational awareness for forecasters and improving the accuracy of hurricane intensity forecasts. 

Our researchers flew into Cat5 Hurricane #Beryl w/ @NOAA_HurrHunter to gather data from the air, while a @saildrone and a @RutgersU sea glider gathered data from the ocean, and @NOAASatellites gathered data from space. #collaboration @NOAAResearch pic.twitter.com/gG8P0yM9wo

— NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab (@NOAA_AOML) July 3, 2024

Advanced Technologies  

Equipped with a “hurricane wing,” Saildrone’s USVs can collect continuous data in harsh storm conditions, providing real-time insights into the physical interactions between the ocean and atmosphere. Underwater gliders, deployed by Rutgers, aid in measuring subsurface ocean conditions, which are critical for understanding how variations in temperature and salinity affect hurricane strength. 

The information gathered by these technologies is extremely valuable for enhancing predictive models, ultimately helping to improve disaster preparedness and response. The partnership between Saildrone, NOAA and Rutgers University represents a significant step forward in the use of uncrewed systems for environmental monitoring. 

Photo: Saildrone and NOAA

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Photo: Verizon

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has entered into a three-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Verizon Frontline to refine the use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) for assessing storm damage. This initiative aims to provide rapid and accurate damage assessments following severe weather events such as tornadoes and hurricanes.

Verizon Frontline will deploy its UAV technology to capture high-resolution imagery of areas affected by storms, providing crucial data to NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Severe Storms Laboratory. This imagery will assist in post-storm damage assessments and contribute to research aimed at understanding tornado behavior and improving severe weather warnings.

“Following a crisis, the initial imagery available is often from satellites, which may not offer the best resolution. Our goal with NOAA is to provide high-resolution imagery much faster, enhancing the support to emergency management and public safety agencies,” said Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team member, Chris Sanders.

The collaboration represents a step forward in integrating modern technology into traditional environmental and emergency management practices, aiming to improve outcomes after natural disasters.

<p>The post NOAA, Verizon Frontline enhance storm damage assessment first appeared on GPS World.</p>

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of solar flares on May 11, 2024. The NOAA says there have been measurable effects and impacts from the geomagnetic storm. (Photo: Solar Dynamics Observatory)

Earth is experiencing a severe solar storm causing concern for those responsible for power grids, communication systems and satellites.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reported measurable effects and impacts from the geomagnetic storm that has been visible as aurora across vast swathes of the Northern Hemisphere. As of May 12, 2024, NOAA had seen no reports of major damage.

There has been some degradation and loss to communication systems that rely on high-frequency radio waves, NOAA told NPR, as well as some preliminary indications of irregularities in power systems.

“Simply put, the power grid operators have been busy since yesterday working to keep proper, regulated current flowing without disruption,” said Shawn Dahl, service coordinator for the Space Weather Prediction Center at NOAA.

“Satellite operators are also busy monitoring spacecraft health due to the S1-S2 storm taking place along with the severe-extreme geomagnetic storm that continues even now,” Dahl added, saying some GPS receivers have struggled to lock locations and offered incorrect positions.

As NOAA warned, the Earth has been experiencing a G5, or “extreme,” geomagnetic storm. It is the first G5 storm to hit the planet since 2003, when a similar event temporarily knocked out power in part of Sweden and damaged electrical transformers in South Africa.

As of May 13, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said that a G3, or “strong,” geomagnetic storm warning was in effect until 2 a.m. ET. While stronger storms are no longer likely and conditions are expected to “gradually wane” throughout the day, the center said in its forecast that moderate to strong geomagnetic storms are “likely” on May 13, as are minor storms on May 14.

The center also said that “solar activity is expected to be at high levels” with a possibility of more solar flares, or bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the sun.

The update came as another X-class solar flare was recorded. X-class flares are the strongest class of these solar bursts, and the latest was recorded as “moderate.”

Flares of this magnitude are not frequent,” the center said. “…Users of high frequency (HF) radio signals may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth.”

Northern lights in unusual places

On May 12, people from all around the world shared photos of a dazzling display of the Northern Lights, which were visible in Russia, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, continental Europe and some even reported seeing the aura as far south as Mallorca, Spain.

In the United States, the NOAA center shared that the storm-induced auroras were visible as far south as Northern California and Alabama.

The source of the solar storm is a cluster of sunspots on the sun’s surface that is 17 times the diameter of Earth. The spots are filled with tangled magnetic fields that can act as slingshots, throwing huge quantities of charged particles toward our planet. These events, known as coronal mass ejections, become more common during the peak of the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle.

While the storm has proven to be large, predicting the effects of such incidents can be difficult, Dahl said.

The world has grown more reliant on electronics and electrical systems. Depending on the orientation of the storm’s magnetic field, it could induce unexpected electrical currents in long-distance power lines. Those currents could cause safety systems to flip and trigger temporary power outages in some areas.

I took these photos near Ranfurly in Central Otago, New Zealand. Anyone can use them please spread far and wide. https://t.co/NUWpLiqY2S

— Dr Andrew Dickson reform/ACC (@AndrewDickson13) May 10, 2024

The storm caused some navigational systems in tractors and other farming equipment to break down, suppliers and farmers told the New York Times.

Farmers have become dependent on equipment that utilizes GNSS and other navigation technology to help them plant more effectively — a practice known as precision agriculture. However, some of these operations in the Midwest, as well as in other parts of the United States and Canada, came to a temporary halt.

How it affects the ionosphere

The storm will also likely disrupt the ionosphere, a section of Earth’s atmosphere filled with charged particles. Some long-distance radio transmissions use the ionosphere to “bounce” signals around the globe, and those signals can be disrupted.

The particles may also refract and otherwise scramble GNSS signals, according to Rob Steenburgh, a space scientist with NOAA. Those effects can linger for a few days after the storm.

The storms can bring on ionospheric scintillation, which refers to rapid fluctuations in GNSS signal strength and phase due to localized irregularities in the electron density of the ionosphere resulting from solar activity. Scintillation adversely affects GNSS positioning, particularly around the geomagnetic equator after local sunset.

Similarly to Dahl, Steenburgh said that it is unclear just how bad the disruptions will be. While we still depend on GNSS, there are also more satellites in orbit. Moreover, the anomalies from the storm are constantly shifting through the ionosphere like ripples in a pool. “Outages, with any luck, should not be prolonged,” Steenburgh said.

<p>The post How the strong solar storm could impact GNSS first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Photo: Dana Caccamise II

In my November 2023 GPS World newsletter, I highlighted the announcement made by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) of the recipients of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) FY 23 Geospatial Modeling Competition awards. The primary objectives of these projects are to modernize geodetic tools and models and to develop a geodetic workforce for the future. My last three GPS World newsletters — February 2024, March 2024 and April 2024 — highlighted three of the grantees, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, The Ohio State University, and Oregon State University that included developing models to address what NGS denotes as the Intra-Frame Deformation Model (IFDM) and creating geodesy curriculums that will help address the geodesy crisis. Changes in these geomatic programs will provide students with the skills in geospatial systems that will make available opportunities for employment in the public and private sectors. This newsletter will address the proposal by the fourth NGS geospatial modeling grant awardee, Michigan State University (MSU).

First, it should be noted that this award is denoted as the MSU geospatial modeling award; that said, the execution of the project will be led by MSU, along with two sub-awardees — University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and Michigan Tech University (MTU). Jeffrey Freymueller and Julie Elliott are the MSU grant’s principal investigators (PI). They provided me with information about the goals and objectives of their grant proposal.

The MSU proposal includes enhancing software and monitoring capabilities for NGS, enhancing graduate-level geodetic education and providing opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to be exposed to geodetic science. Again, focusing on geodesy curriculums will help address the geodesy crisis and will provide students with the skills in geospatial systems that will increase their opportunities for employment in the public and private sectors. The proposal has two main goals and objectives.

Goals and objectives

CORS Dashboard 

• Build an online, web-based CORS dashboard that will support monitoring of the continuously operating reference station (CORS) network.
• Making it easier to continually validate the current position of CORS sites to the existing motion models (IFDM).
• To validate and correct the motion models themselves in the presence of time-dependent tectonic and volcanic activity.

Education

• Work with partner universities toward developing and establishing a consortium model for future distributed geodetic degree programs that leverage the capabilities and capacity of multiple universities.
• Develop new course material for graduate level geodetic education that is intended for hybrid or asynchronous remote delivery and the establishment of a formal degree program.
• Host summer undergraduate interns who will work on a variety of geodetic projects including the CORS dashboard.
• Two graduate students will be supported to work on various aspects of the proposed work at MSU and MTU.

Anyone using NGS’s “user-friendly” software knows that they are working on improving their web-based services. However, NGS still needs help from outside users.

I want to emphasize that I am not criticizing NGS’s products and services. I worked for NGS for over three decades, and I personally know that NGS has limited resources to accomplish too many tasks. NGS needs to focus on the science and get help with the development of models, tools and the dissemination of results and data. That is one of the reasons that these geospatial modeling grants are important to all users of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS).

The proposed CORS Dashboard will be very useful to NGS employees monitoring the CORS and evaluating the IFDM. The proposal highlights that users of NGS products and services have various precision and accuracy requirements and that all users expect that NGS products will be sufficiently precise and accurate to meet their positioning needs. Their design of the CORS Dashboard will provide a tool for effectively monitoring and assessing a CORS site status and the validity of its coordinates. The first phase of this tool is being developed for internal use at NGS. However, in my opinion, after all the bugs have been identified and dealt with, NGS will release a version for the user.

Not all CORS are created equal. So, having a CORS Dashboard that quickly identifies and notifies CORS users of a systematic deviation at a site, regardless of cause, will avoid promulgating erroneous positions to users. In addition, providing statistical information about a CORS site such as short- and long-term plots and their residuals would provide users with helpful information for planning a GNSS project. The metadata of CORS is extremely important since most of the CORS included in the NOAA CORS Network are not maintained by NGS.

CORS managers are supposed to notify NGS when they make any change to their CORS site such as an antenna change and any changes surrounding the CORS site, including new vegetation or construction that could cause potential obstructions. The CORS Dashboard will help identify issues with CORS before users include them in their projects.

NGS’s OPUS Project online user guide provides information on selecting the best CORS.  The following is from the user guide:

• Using the centered time-series plots, select the candidates with RMS (in northing, easting, and up) less than 2 cm. Candidates with large spikes, data gaps or discontinuities should be rejected. Selecting candidates in this manner will provide some assurance that the published coordinates and velocities at the CORS agree with the daily solutions for the CORS.
• The best CORSs should have “consistent” data depicted in 90-day short-term time-series plots. NGS processes each day of GNSS data collected at each CORS and plots the differences between the resulting coordinates and the published coordinates on short-term time-series plots (in terms of delta northing, easting, and up). These plots can be accessed for every CORS at https://geodesy.noaa.gov/corsdata/Plots/. CORS with plots that depict significant biases from the published coordinates (more than 2 cm in northing, easting, or more than 4 cm), spikes or data gaps should be avoided.

NGS has developed a Beta CORS Time Series Tool that provides information that assists users in the selection of appropriate CORS for a project. The tool computes and displays the residual differences from the daily NGS OPUS-NET solutions with the coordinates from the official CORS’ coordinate functions. The tool also generates a summary table with the mean, standard deviation, and root-mean-square error of the residuals. On April 24, 2024, NGS announced the release of a beta version of a new NOAA CORS Network (NCN) Station Web Page. According to the announcement, each CORS in the NCN will have its own page with data, metadata, maps and photos for that station displayed in a modular layout so information is easily found all in one location. I will describe this new beta site in a future newsletter.

The new, modernized NSRS will offer time-dependent coordinates based on an IFDM. This has been described in previous GPS World newsletters (February 2022 and August 2022). The MSU proposal includes developing a model that accounts for crustal movements — such as earthquakes, slow slip events, and volcanic eruptions, — as well as slower, cumulative growth of error due to post-seismic deformation, surface loading (ice or water changes) and changes in rates of human-induced subsidence due to fluid withdrawal. Like any model, the IFDM model will have uncertainties. Being able to provide a realistic estimate of the uncertainties of the IFDM is very important. The PIs of the proposal have extensive knowledge and experience in generating models and uncertainties. As noted in their proposal, the “problem” may not be an issue with the site or the equipment but with the model. See the box titled “Excerpt from the MSU Proposal.”  I have highlighted several sections that I believe are important to the users of the new, modernized NSRS.

As anyone who has been following my newsletters knows, I have been highlighting the geodesy crisis and programs that advance the science of geodesy — July 2020, November 2022, and December 2022. The proposal includes developing geodetic science courses that will be optimized for hybrid or asynchronous online courses that address advanced technical topics on GNSS, InSAR, map projections, reference frames, and adjustment theory. This will build on existing programs at MSU, UAF and MTU that will provide an online graduate degree in geodesy. MSU envisions this to be a step toward a consortium-based enhanced graduate-level education that provides a range of course options and flexibility. The university believes that there will be opportunities to expand the consortium in the future. The courses have not been finalized yet,  but below are some of the topics and concepts that are being considered for the program.

As previously stated, these courses have not been finalized. An important aspect of the courses is that they contain content that will provide students with the skills and knowledge in geodetic concepts to help address the geodesy crisis in the United States.

I first mentioned the need for more trained geodesists in my July 2020 article for the “First Fix” column of GPS World, where I stated that the shortage of U.S.-trained geodesists poses a significant economic risk for the United States. In that column, I mentioned how geodetic science and technology now underpin many sciences, large areas of engineering such as driverless vehicles, UAVs, navigation, precision agriculture, smart cities and location-based services.

My November 2022 GPS World Newsletter highlighted “The inverted geospatial pyramid” graphic, which depicts how the entire $1 trillion geospatial economy is supported and dependent on geodesy. A lack of geodetic expertise in the United States presents a significant challenge, with future impacts on positioning, navigation, mapping and dependent geospatial technologies. These changes in the geomatic programs at the universities being funded by NGS’s geospatial modeling grants will provide students with the skills in geodetic concepts that will provide opportunities for employment in the public and private sectors involved with geospatial technology.

This newsletter and my past three GPS World newsletters highlighted the four NGS Geospatial Modeling grantees, which included creating geodesy curriculums that will help address the geodesy crisis. The MSU proposal describes a consortium-based enhanced graduate-level education program that will provide a range of course options and flexibility. I believe their proposed hybrid or asynchronous online program will provide more opportunities for individuals to study geodesy and advance the science of geodesy.

One final note about the NGS Geospatial Modeling Grants. On June 4, 2024, Brad Kearse, director of NGS, will moderate a session at the UESI Surveying and Geomatics 2024 Conference held in Corvallis, Oregon, on June 4 to 5, 2024. This will be a good opportunity for participants to obtain a better understanding of the geospatial modeling grants.

Lunch & panel discussion: NGS Geospatial Modeling Grants panel session

Moderator: Brad Kearse, Acting Director, NGS

The NGS Geospatial Modeling grant program is focused on modernizing and improving the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) and address emerging research problems in the field of geodesy. A secondary objective of this funding opportunity is to support a geodesy community of practice in collaboration with federal and nonfederal stakeholders to address the nationwide deficiency of geodesists and improve the coordination and use of geospatial data. This panel session will explore the research and other activities underway from recipients of the most recent round of the NGS Geospatial Modeling Grant Program.

<p>The post MSU developing CORS dashboard and geodetic program first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Image: NGS

I had the opportunity to speak with Juliana Blackwell, director of the NGS, about the geospatial awards. I asked her how the grants will help NGS in its development of products and services as well as the implementation of the modernized NSRS.

“The geospatial modeling grant is an opportunity to expand our abilities within NGS to address research challenges, diversify the tools we provide, and multiply our future workforce,” Blackwell said. “I’m excited about the competitive and collaborative nature of the grant and the chance for NGS to work with a variety of academic institutions.”

NGS awarded the grant funding to four institutions including Oregon State University, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Michigan State University, and the Ohio State University. Looking at the summary of the awards, there appears to be some overlapping interest between grantees that could lead to a diverse set of solutions to a problem or task. I will report on specific tasks and outcomes as more details become available.

I was pleased to see that grant proposals included developing new geodetic tools and operating procedures for working with the new, modernized NSRS. Hopefully, these universities will engage the geospatial user community when developing new tools so the tools will be useful during the implementation of the new NSRS.

Summary of the Geospatial Awards (Image: NGS)

Besides providing funds for the geospatial grants, NGS is collaborating with other federal agencies to address the geodesy crisis. This collaboration, denoted as the “Geodesy Community of Practice (COP),” includes four agencies — NGS, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and United States Geological Survey (USGS). The co-chairs of the group discussed the group’s actions and goals at the Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP) fall committee meeting held in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Sept. 27-29.

Geodesy Community of Practice. (Image: NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel)

The HSRP involves four NOAA offices: three National Ocean Service (NOS) program offices -NGS, the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), the Office of Coast Survey (CS), and the University of New Hampshire’s Joint Hydrographic Center and Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping. More information and the presentations from the HSRP meeting can be obtained here. The purpose of the committee is to review and provide NOAA with independent advice on their products and services.

(Image: NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel)

I attended the three-day HRSP meeting as a virtual participant. As previously noted, NGS is one of the NOS offices that’s part of the HSRP. As the Director of NGS, Blackwell participated in the 2023 fall HSRP meeting. A majority of the meeting discussed the geodesy crisis. In my opinion, this is due to Blackwell’s efforts to highlight the importance of geodesy to NOAA products and services.   

The presentation by the co-chairs of the Geodesy Community of Practice highlighted a few articles that have brought the geodesy crisis to the attention of the geospatial user community. Anyone keeping up with my columns knows that I have been highlighting the geodesy crisis and programs that advance the science of geodesy (July 2020, November 2022, December 2022, and April 2023). The geodesy crisis white paper is posted on the American Association for Geodetic Surveying (AAGS) website. 

Image: NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel)

The Geodesy COP established working groups to address topics that are important to all geospatial users. All the agencies are supporting the working groups which should help create more effective and efficient solutions to technical geodetic issues.

Image: NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel

A goal of the Geodetic Community of Practice is to train future geodesists. The advancements in satellites and computers have enabled geodesy to expand into many different disciplines.  Geodetic science and technology now underpin many sciences, large areas of engineering (such as driverless vehicles and UAVs), navigation, precision agriculture, smart cities, and location-based services. Major U.S. companies, such as Google and FedEx, as well as the automobile industry, precision farming companies and mining companies also need more accurate geodetic models, tools, and algorithms. Therefore, these companies also need trained geodesists to perform important research on topics that address their specific geodetic requirements. I highlighted this in my July 20, 2020, GPS World First Fix article. To address the geodesy tradecraft, the COP includes providing professional government assignments. That said, many industries that rely on accurate and consistent geodetic information should also provide professional geodetic assignments.   

Training future geodesists. (Image: NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel)

I asked Blackwell how she thought the U.S. government’s Geodesy Community of Practice will help NGS and the geodesy crisis.

“The Geodesy Community of Practice is in the beginning phase right now with the collaboration among federal agencies with geodetic missions, NOAA/NGS, NGA, NASA, and USGS,” Blackwell said. “There is already a benefit in sharing research, workforce, and operational needs and leveraging our resources. I envision expanded engagement with academia, private industry, and other government agencies as the community of practice matures.”

In my opinion, the Geodesy Community of Practice’s integrated working groups consisting of individuals with different backgrounds and skills addressing geospatial problems will help to advance the field of geodesy. I believe that integrated and collaborative organizations create the best geospatial solutions; the Geodesy COP is an embodiment of this concept.

Of course, as I have stated in many of my columns, I like to remind everyone that “geodesy is the foundation for all geospatial products and services.”

<p>The post Federal agencies addressing the geodesy crisis first appeared on GPS World.</p>

The projects have spanned from the Nuyakuk River in Alaska, Lake Tahoe in California, the Rio Grande in Texas, the entire coasts of South and North Carolina, the Achigan River in Quebec, Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and the Florida Keys.

In 2022, the company mapped and acquired topobathymetric lidar data for 14 projects including the Yellowstone River, Wyoming; Hells Canyon, Indiana; Revillagigedo Island, Alaska and Iles de la Madeleine in Quebec.

NV5 Geospatial first mapped these environments in 2012 using high-resolution bathymetric lidar and natural color imagery. The company mapped 34,051 acres of shoreline along the Sandy River, located in northwestern Oregon, to study the ever-changing basin geomorphology.

NV5 has also signed a two-year contract with the National Geodetic Survey of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide topobathymetric lidar, 4-band imagery and mapping of 3,115 sq miles of the Maine shoreline.

“For a decade we have been helping local, state, and federal government agencies as well as commercial and private entities gain the insights they need to solve some of their most challenging nearshore and riverine projects through our mapping technologies including topobathymetric lidar,” Kurt Allen, vice president of NV5 Geospatial, said. “Whether it be mapping the shoreline after a hurricane, updating the national shoreline, assisting water boards with flood planning, or hundreds of other possible use cases, we are constantly improving our technology and scalability to always be at the ready for our customers.”

<p>The post NV5 Geospatial maps North American shorelines and riverine environments first appeared on GPS World.</p>

Photo: Alexey_Seafarer/iStock/Getty Images Plus

HOW BIG IS THAT BEAR?

Monitoring the weight of polar bears — an important health factor — usually means tranquilizing them from the air and lifting them with a tripod attached to a scale. However, technology might provide a non-invasive solution. Various zoos and sanctuaries are testing the accuracy of lidar scanners to measure the weight of polar bears, reports Geo Week News. The scans could be done using drones and mobile mapping equipment and techniques, according to Joel Cusick, a GIS specialist for the National Parks Service.

Photo: PaulFleet/iStock/ Getty Images Plus

SLIP SLIDING AWAY

Researchers used a combination of GNSS and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data from Sentinel-1 satellites to determine subsidence in
99 cities around the world between 2015 and 2020. Subsidence rates in Tianjin, Semarang and Jakarta exceed 30 mm per year. Even in mostly stable cities, areas are sinking faster than sea level is rising, with Istanbul, Lagos, Taipei, Mumbai, Auckland and Tampa sinking faster than 2 mm per year in some areas. Besides climate change, causes include groundwater extraction, mining, reclamation of natural wetlands, infrastructure projects and ecological disturbances. The study is published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Photo: NOAA Fisheries/Raymond Boland

FINDING NEMO

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ocean mapping ship Rainier completed a five-month expedition to the Mariana Islands in September, combining mapping and charting with coral-reef ecosystem surveying. Collection of high-resolution mapping data in near real time improved the effectiveness of the traditional marine science data collection as the combined team mapped 4,000 square nautical miles of seabed and conducted 1,800 SCUBA dives. The data will improve navigation safety through updated NOAA nautical charts and increase understanding of coral reefs through the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program. Besides charts, the seabed mapping data supports marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, and offshore wind siting — and, in the Marianas, is important for tsunami modeling.

Photo: mikulas1/iStock/Getty Images Plus

GRAVITY DOWN UNDER

An airborne gravity sensor is flying above 80,000 square kilometers of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, collecting data that will improve the accuracy of real-world heights from GNSS positioning to just a few centimeters. Data for the 18-month NSW Gravity Model project will be captured in five stages, starting in Western NSW. The resulting model is expected to enable better resource management, infrastructure planning and natural hazard preparation. It is also a critical building block for developing digital twins, replacing datasets that predate GNSS positioning.

<p>The post Seen & Heard: Finding Nemo, weighing bears first appeared on GPS World.</p>