Bureau Research Soars Higher with Airborne Lidar

August 1, 2024
Researchers prepare to mobilize to Galveston, Texas

From left to right: Ben Grunau, Jennifer Morris, Kutalmis Saylam, Kelsey Meisenhelder (UT Biology), and Aaron Averett prepare to mobilize to Galveston, Texas. The survey aircraft Aero Commander was operated by Talos Aviation of Arizona.

In early 2024, researchers from the Bureau’s Near Surface Observatory conducted an airborne lidar survey campaign covering the beaches, barrier islands, and shallow offshore along the entire Texas Gulf shoreline. This project, funded by the Texas General Land Office, was the first major data acquisition project using the Bureau’s new Leica Chiroptera Mark 5 airborne system. Preliminary results indicated higher spatial resolution of topography, and deeper water bottom mapping in the nearshore environment, than the previous system could achieve.
     
In addition to the coastal survey, researchers completed lidar data collection for other research groups. The Jackson School of Geosciences requested an elevation map of the Trinity River watershed in eastern Texas to examine ongoing flood effects, and the UT Integrated Biology department requested detailed elevation mapping of several UT Austin-managed environmental monitoring and biology sites to establish baseline mapping. Researchers also acquired detailed near-infrared lidar data of downtown Austin to compare city infrastructure with data acquired with the Bureau’s first lidar system in 2002.

In early August, Bureau researchers returned from reflying the beach and dunes along the upper Texas Gulf coast to assess the impact of Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall in July 2024.

For more information about the Bureau’s lidar system, please contact the Near Surface Observatory’s Kutalmis Saylam: kutalmis.saylam@beg.utexas.edu.

Galveston Island topographic map derived from near-infrared lidar.

Galveston Island topographic map derived from near-infrared lidar. The data was collected at an altitude of 1300 meters above the sea level.

Southern Padre Island topography and nearshore bathymetry derived from near-infrared and green (underwater) lidar.

Southern Padre Island topography and nearshore bathymetry derived from near-infrared and green (underwater) lidar.

 


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