Dan Ladd, Geography (Middlebury College) ’14 and Max Stiss, Geography/Anthropology ’12, weilded machetes and Wellingtons in an effort to collect detailed elevation data for the Miller Run restoration project. And did I mention the 100+ degree heat? Actually, the funniest part of this photo is that it was taken directly in front of the playground at Sunflower Day Care. Wonder how the pre-school teachers explained this scene?
If you’ve driven past the golf course this week you might have noticed some students traipsing around in the underbrush near the driving range and Sunflower day care. The students are part of Bucknell’s GIS team and they have been collecting high resolution elevation data for the Miller Run restoration project. The students will be out there for another 2-3 weeks (+ or – a week depending on when the oat crop gets harvested – yes, really!). Here’s a short video to describe the work they’re doing. Thanks to Lindsay Coffee, a student video assistant, for taking the footage and producing the clip.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZzANov_8gA
Day 1 – Leveling (and then re-leveling, and re-re-leveling, etc.)
Day 1:80K dollars worth of equipment in the field… but couldn’t start till we tracked down a $2.99 tape measure
Day 1: ‘WALL-E’ looking for ‘EVE’
Day 1: Mike holding ‘EVE’
Day 1:Darin with the GPS
Come watch the Flying Bison capture high resolution aerial imagery of the Miller Run Creek watershed area. The flight is part of the work that the GIS Student assistants are doing this summer in support of the Miller Run Restoration project. Details and map below.
What: Come see the Flying Bison take off. Flight will last roughly 30 minutes. The Flying Bison drone will take off and land at the same location (see below)
When: Tuesday, July 26th at 10am
Where: Tee box behind the new Bucknell Golf Course driving range building. See map below (note that it does not show the new driving range building – underscoring the need for updated aerial images!):
In January of 2011, Bucknell received a 178K grant through PA DEP’s Growing Greener program to support the first phase of a project that will restore the Miller Run Creek (that runs through campus and the golf course) and provide flood relief to the surrounding areas. Bucknell’s GIS Student Assistants are supporting the Miller Run Restoration project by collecting high resolution aerial imagery (using a drone) and elevation data (using an RTK survey system and high accuracy GPS). We’ll post more about the project in the next few weeks, but for now here are a few pictures of Team Survey.
Nick Urban, Computer Science ’12 – designing, building and flying an aerial drone to capture high resolution imagery of the campus area
Max Stiss, Geography/Anthropology ’12 – collecting GPS data near Abbey Lane for the Miller Run Restoration Project
From L to R, clockwise: Mike Grasso, Environmental Studies ’13; Dan Dougherty, Geography/History ’12; Prof. Rob Jacob, Geology; Dan Dougherty, Geography/History ’12; Max Stiss,
Geography/Anthropology ’12 uploading GPS data after a day in the field
Training on the RTK System before heading out in the field:
Nick Urban ’12, a GIS student assistant and Computer Science major, recently competed in the 9th annual student Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) competition held at Webster Field in St. Inigoes, MD. Hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the competition challenged students to “design, fabricate, and demonstrate a system capable of completing a specific and independent aerial operation.” In other words, the teams had to design, build and fly an aerial drone and compete against each other to incorporate specialized features like automated take-off and landing, auto-pilot flight, in-flight transmission of still and/or video imagery, etc. into their drone flights. Although Bucknell had the smallest team by far (Nick Urban ’12, Computer Science and Dan Farrell ’12, Physics) and one of the smallest teams in the history of the competition – just two students as compared to upwards of 15 or 20 from other schools – the Flying Bison finished 15th out of 26 teams and earned a $1,000 award.
Earlier this spring, we joked about doing a fly-over (or blimp-over) of campus to collect high resolution imagery, but here we are a few months later doing exactly that thanks to Nick’s project. During July and August, Nick will be using the Flying Bison to collect aerial imagery and in-flight video footage of campus and surrounding areas. The data will be used for exploring the possible applications of a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) as a tool for monitoring environmental change. The data will also be used in developing a restoration plan for the Miller Run creek that runs through campus.
Click here for more information on the UAS competition and Bucknell’s Flying Bison drone.
