West Coast Drone Mapping
Using UAS to measure eelgrass meadow health and extent over time
Student Authors: Owen Hussey, Tiffany Martinez, Bryan Malone (Foothill College), Jessica Reimann, Tou In Kwan, My-Thu Tran, Nick Repetto
Coastal ecosystems and eelgrass habitats provide important services to the marine environment, including primary production, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, habitat for fisheries species, and erosion control. UASs with high spatial resolution, temporal flexibility, and cost-effectiveness for repeat photogrammetry, afford a significant advancement in other remote sensing approaches for coastal mapping, habitat monitoring, and environmental management. They provide essentially on-demand remote sensing at low cost and with reduced human risk.
The DJI Phantom 4 Pro (left) and DJI Inspire (right) were our primary data collection tools for Summer 2022
Drone imagery will be collected at least annually in coordination with in situ samplings which will also be used to validate the imagery by ground-truthing across a range of points within each meadow. Because eelgrass extent in some regions is subtidal and challenging to visualize from the air, we utilize DJI Phantom 4 Pro (RGB) and DJI Inspire (multispectral) drones and related drone mapping technology through Esri Drone2Map. Each year, ideally we allocate 4-6 days at each site for each drone mission to maximize ideal conditions for collecting drone imagery, striving for lowest spring tides, and calm, bright conditions with roughly vertical sunlight.
Drone mapping locations for Summer 2022
For the Summer 2022 leg of this project, the team gathered drone data at multiple sites along the west coast, consisting of Coos Bay OR, Newport OR, Friday Harbor WA, and Bodega Bay CA. For each site, the goal was to work in conjunction with a local university team to gather data on the health and extent of eelgrass beds, these universities being Oregon State University (Coos Bay and Newport), Cornell University (Friday Harbor), and University of California Davis (Bodega Bay).
Our goal for this data collection was to gather the necessary imagery to create large, high resolution maps of the eelgrass meadows for later analysis. By using the DJI Phantom 4 Pro and DJI Inspire, we are able to produce maps not only in the RGB bands, but in the multispectral bands as well.
Aerial view of an eelgrass meadow, shown in both multispectral (left) and RGB (right)
Before setting out for the real deal, the team met for a practice fieldwork session, where they practiced the skills and tasks necessary for the field work, such as drone piloting, drone hand-catching, and collecting GPS points.
Coos Bay and Newport, Oregon
Phantom 4 Pro Drone Footage in Coos Bay, OR
As busy as the research trip was, the team still found time to enjoy the scenery and take in some of the sights!
Friday Harbor, Washington
Bodega Bay, CA
Take-off of the DJI Inspire 2 and the DJI Phantom 4 Pro
Student Testimonials
Project performed in collaboration with:
- Smithsonian Marine GEO
- University of Central Florida
- Citizen Science GIS Group
- Cornell Univeristy and the Friday Harbor Marine Lab
- UC Davis and the Bodega Bay Marine Lab
- Oregon State University
Special Thanks to:
- SJSU Research Foundation Level-up Grant
- SJSU College of Social Sciences Student RSCA Grant
- SJSU Spatial Analytics and Visualization (SAVI) Center
