GEOS 422: Ideas for remote sensing student projects
  • Mapping changes in surface hydrology in one of the test-case sites of the EPSCoR ACE project: Alaska Adapting to Changing Environments (ACE) is a project that focuses on environmental and sociological changes occurring in three regions in Alaska. Read the mid course report for background information about this project. High spatial resolution remote sensing images from the 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s are available for each of the three test-case sites of this project. One important element of the study is to map how surface hydrology has changed over time in these areas. Changes in surface hydrology impacts availability of potable water, wildlife habitat, and even transportation corridors, thereby influencing the way of life of local residents. The aim of the GEOS422 class project would be to use digital image processing to quantify changes in surface hydrology, and potentially changes in associated factors, in one of the selected study sites.
  • Re-Mapping surface temperature anomalies in the Eagle / Windfall Mountain oil-shale fire area: In late September of 2012, an active oil-shale fire occurred within Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve (Stromquist, 2014). A previous work analyzing the thermal anomalies from 2008 to 2013 over the Windfall Mountain site using Landsat thermal imagery concluded that this specific site was always significantly warmer than the background (even before the actual fire). The high temperature area coincided with known carbon-rich areas, and was in close proximity to visible carbonaceous material exposed on the surface. As the fire did not coincide with known lightning events, they concluded that it was likely caused due to oil shale found in that region. This study also established that thermal infrared from Landsat can detect active oil-shale fires. A good project would be to extend this research from 2014 to present using new data from Landsat-7, Landsat-8 and Terra-ASTER to determine the current state and risk potential of the Eagle / Windfall Mountain oil-shale fire area.
  • Mapping wetlands through airborne hyperspectral imagery at Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge: The Yukon Flats Basin, bisected by the Yukon River, includes over 7,100 miles of rivers and up to 40,000 lakes. The basin drains relatively undisturbed terrain and includes a high diversity of wetlands that provide critical habitat for avian and aquatic resources. Efforts to assess hydrology and classify wetlands in the Yukon Flats Basin have been ongoing since 1984 and have included ongoing development of a wetland classification system (1984-1989, 2006-present), a water resources inventory and assessment with emphasis on stream discharge (1993-1998), permafrost mapping and distribution (2010), site specific studies on water quality (2006 to present) and development of a hydrology model (2012). Many of these efforts are reliant on remote sensing methods to extrapolate information across the broader landscape to provide management relevant data to land managers. On September 2015, hyperspectral imagery from the airborne Hyspex system was acquired in five areas of the Yukon Flats Basin to classify wetlands and assess water chemistry across Alaska. A good project would be to map wetlands using existing wetland categories and hyperspectral imagery.