Date of Award
Riparian areas assessment, land management applications, Unmanned Aerial Systems, GIS analysis
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was loaned older military Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and is pioneering their employment for land management applications. Riparian areas make up a small percentage of BLM lands but are some of the most environmentally and economically valuable. Assessments of these riparian areas are required by law. Assessments from UAS imagery could become an important monitoring tool that is cheaper, safer and allows access to previously unreachable areas. This capstone project tests the UAS imagery for conducting riparian proper functioning condition (PFC) and quantitative assessments; and includes a technical reference with an interpretation key and GIS analysis instruction for future assessments. The test area imagery was mosaicked, analyzed and instructions documented for Google Earth, ArcGIS and ENVI software.
Fonda, Heather, "BLM Riparian Area Management Technical Reference: Using UAS remotes sensing imagery to assess Proper Functioning Condition of Riparian-Wetland Areas" (2013). Geography & the Environment Graduate Student Capstones. 36.