2018 Student Seed Proposal Winners Selected

The National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping surveys multiple projects each year for graduate student PIs whose research would be enhanced by airborne lidar data and visible imagery. Students write and submit a two- to three-page proposal to be considered for an award (details at: ncalm.cive.uh.edu/seed/about). The applications are reviewed by the NCALM Steering Committee, who then select winners based on intellectual merit and broader impact.

NCALM would like to announce that the 2018 seed proposal winners have been awarded. There were 36 submissions, and eight projects were selected. Congratulations to the following students (and their advisors):

Joel Eklof (Rebecca Neumann) University of WashingtonAdvective heat transfer by rain as a mechanism of soil warming, CH4 release, and permafrost thaw

James Guilinger (Andrew Gray) University of California, RiversideSource attribution of eroded sediments from post-fire runoff events using nested scales of sequential change detection

Thomas Herbst (Alan Whittington) University of MissouriA bird's eye view of lava domes: Airborne laser swath mapping of Lassen Volcanic Center, Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA

Nate Mitchell (Brian Yanites) Indiana UniversityVariations in bedrock cliff morphologies with fracture density and incision rate along a transient stream

Miles Reed (Nicole West) Central Michigan UniversityChemical erosion response to transient physical erosion along the path of a migrating knickpoint

Alba Mar Rodríguez Padilla (Michael E. Oskin) University of California, DavisConstraining rheology from lidar-based comparisons of seismogenic versus creeping normal faults

Cole M. Speed (Zoltan Sylvester & David Mohrig) University of Texas at AustinInterpreting fluvial processes from the ancient rock record: Linking geomorphology to stratigraphy using 3-D outcrops of exhumed channel-belt deposits, Eastern Utah, USA

Kirk Townsend (Marin Clark) University of MichiganThe role of extreme events in setting the pace and magnitude of landscape change: Post-fire debris flows in the Santa Monica Mountains, Southern California

NCALM Adventures Topic of Lecture at Houston Museum of Natural Science

Throughout the year, the Houston Museum of Natural Science hosts a distinguished lecture series focused on the latest scientific discoveries and a variety of topics presented by experts in each field. The last lecture in February is titled “Maya Megalopolis and Ancient Secrets Revealed by Airborne Lidar.”

Geosensing Systems Engineering & Sciences student, Andrea Albright, won an Outstanding University Achievement in Lidar award for the most innovative use of lidar at this year's International LiDAR Mapping Forum in Denver. She won the award with her presentation on measuring breaking waves with lidar technology, using Velodyne lasers. Congratulations, Andrea!

Read about the second annual Lidar Leader Awards here.

Ph.D. candidate Nima Ekhtari defended his dissertation titled, "Land Cover and Impervious Surface Mapping Using Multispectral Airborne Laser Scanner Data." High-resolution, multispectral (multiwavelength) laser scanner data were used to classify land cover, using machine learning, into diverse classes for impervious surface mapping and urban change studies. The dissertation proposes two methods to mitigate the influence of multi-echo effect on the spectral information of ALS returns. Hybrid intensity correction schemes were also devised and tested to improve classification accuracy. The final impervious surface map showed that the approach had higher accuracies compared to a similar map created from a hyperspectral passive imager, demonstrating the advantage of multispectral ALS data for automated, high-accuracy, high-resolution impervious surface mapping.

Nima’s Geosensing Systems Engineering & Sciences (GSES) advisor was Dr. Craig Glennie. He is currently working at CobbFendley & Associates as a GIS Analyst. Congratulations, Nima!