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Welcome

The mission of the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) is to:

  • Provide research-quality airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) observations to the scientific community.
  • Advance the state of the art in airborne laser mapping.
  • Train and educate graduate students with knowledge of airborne mapping to meet the needs of academic institutions, government agencies, and private industry.

NCALM is based at the University of Houston and is operated in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley. The center is supported by the National Science Foundation and is associated with the multi-disciplinary Geosensing Systems Engineering & Sciences graduate program at the University of Houston.

News

CEE's Xie Researching Improvements to Seafloor Motion Monitoring for Earthquake Hazard Assessment

New Acoustic Methods for Better Offshore Earthquake and Tsunami Hazard Assessment By: Stephen Greenwell An assistant professor at the Cullen College of Engineering has received a $690,000… 		Surui Xie is conducting research on improvements to seafloor motion monitoring thanks to a $690,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. (Credit: Cullen College of Engineering)
CEE's Milillo, Italian Space Agency Deliver Unprecedented View of Antarctica Glacier to Predict Sea-Level Rise

Pioneering Satellite Radar Reveals Hidden Dynamics of Thwaites Glacier, Sharpening Future Sea-Level Rise Forecasts By: Laurie Fickman A University of Houston scientist has teamed with… 		Pietro Milillo is working with the Italian Space Agency to interpret unprecedented photos of Antarctica glaciers. (Credit: Cullen College of Engineering)
Francisco Haces-Garcia Defends Ph.D. Dissertation

Advancing Urban Flood Resilience Doctoral candidate Francisco Haces-Garcia, from the Geosensing Systems Engineering & Sciences program, has successfully defended his dissertation, "… 		2025 GSES Graduate Francisco Haces-Garcia
CEE's Milillo, International Team Expose Weakness in Bridges Worldwide

Study Shows North American, African Bridges Most at Risk; Scientists Propose Satellite Monitoring to Prevent Failures By: Laurie Fickman A scientist at the University of Houston's Cullen… 		Pietro Milillo and an international team propose monitoring bridge stability from space. (Credit: Cullen College of Engineering)
CEE's Lee Seeks to Further Expand Flood Forecasting Framework

By: Alex Keimig Kaspar J. Willam Professor Hyongki Lee's satellite-driven inundation forecasting framework, Forecasting Inundation Extents using REOF (Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function… 		Hyongki Lee's satellite-driven inundation forecasting framework, FIER, has received funding from both NASA and NOAA. (Credit: Cullen College of Engineering)