Initial Octocopter Testing – Image Acquisition

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The LASERS Lab collected data from its new Octocopter UAV for this first time yesterday afternoon. We collected a series of images over a tree previously scanned with our Leica ScanStation 2 Terrestrial Lidar Sensor. While we determining the best multispectral sensor for our UAV we decided to collect some test images utilizing several iPhones attached to the UAV’s gyroscopically stabilized gimbal system.

Our data collection methodology is far from perfected, but the results look promising. The initial image acquisition flight has allowed us to become more familiar with our system and its current limitations. In the near future we will utilize this system to collect high resolution multispectral imagery over specific areas of interest. Keep checking back for more updates on our UAV system!

ASPRS Meeting – Guest Speaker Jeremiah Johnson | Unmanned Aerial Systems For Geospatial Data Collection In Private Industry

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Hey Everyone!

Our first get together for the semester will be this coming Thursday (November 7th) at 5:00 pm. The meeting will be held in our usual meeting location at the Centeq Building room 216 (located in Suite B). The meeting will feature a guest speaker, so if more people than usual show up we might move to room 212 , which is also located in Suite B (just down the hall from room 216). Please remember that parking is free at the Centeq building. If you are interested in catching a bus to Centeq use Route 05. Directions to Centeq can be found here.

* This meeting is open to both members and non-members, so come check us out! For details on how to join ASPRS, contact Ryan Sheridan at ryan.sheridan@tamu.edu.

About Our Guest Speaker
Jeremiah Johnson is a former Texas A&M Student who received his degree in Spatial Sciences from the Ecosystem Science and Management Department. After receiving his degree,  Jeremiah was hired at Surveying And Mapping, Inc. (SAM, Inc.) as a technical consultant for the company’s growing acquisition departments. His main job duties are finding inefficiencies in the acquisition and processing workflows and solving these inefficiencies by writing computer applications. After working with manned helicopters, airplanes, and ground vehicles, Jeremiah decided to research the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for geospatial data acquisition. SAM, Inc. has since bought its first UAS, and Jeremiah has been tasked with providing technical support in regards to unmanned acquisition workflow integration. Jeremiah also has a pilot’s license, which he uses to fly manned aircraft as a hobby.

Presentation Description
Jeremiah will be presenting on use of UAS in the Private Industry. His presentation will provide a brief introduction and history of UAS along with an overview of worldwide UAS legislation. Finally I will go through a sample UAS acquisition project and the different steps involved.

About SAM, Inc.
Surveying And Mapping, Inc. is a surveyor owed and operated company dedicated to delivering integrated geospatial solutions for surveying, aerial mapping, airborne, mobile, and terrestrial LiDAR, GIS, SUE, hydrographic surveying, and construction phase services. With over 600 employees and 120 field crews, including more than 90 licensed surveyors, engineers, and photogrammetrists, SAM, Inc provides services to a diverse range of clients across North America. For more information about Sam Inc. available from their website.

 

 

NATIONAL ASPRS SCHOLARSHIPS

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ASPRS recently posted information on available scholarships for student and faculty members. The student scholarships are for both graduate and undergraduates, and provide a good opportunity to get some recognition for your hard work (not to mention some funds). See below for a breakdown of the scholarship information:

  • Official Website
  • Due date for applications: October 18, 2013 (most scholarships require official transcripts, so remember to start your applications early)

Undergraduate Student Scholarship Opportunities:

Graduate Student Scholarship Opportunities:

Remember that all scholarships are only for ASPRS members, so if you are not a member get in touch with us to learn how to become one! Also, please don’t forget to fill out all applications fully to ensure they will be considered by those reviewing the applications.

GOOD LUCK!!

And We’re Back!!

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We hope that the semester has been treating y’all well so far! Our members have been busy this summer working on abstracts for the regional fall conference and for the national conference this coming spring. For more details about either of these events visit: www.asprs.org

In other news, we noticed our club e-mail address has not been functioning properly. So, if you tried to contact us over the summer (or perhaps even the spring) we most likely did not receive the message. We would like to apologize for any problems this might have caused. We have worked out all of the kinks and everything should be sorted now. So, feel free to contact us!

Keep checking back on this site, as we will have information about our first fall meeting posted soon. All are welcome!

Hey, We Scanned a Soybean Field…

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Here are some images of data we collected with our terrestrial lidar scanner for a small soybean field. The data will be used by the USDA for research.

 

 

GIS Day 2012 Poster Submission

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This is a poster submitted by our some of the graduate students in our group for GIS Day 2012.

Abstract:
Current land cover maps used by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) provide complete coverage of the 12 km meteorological modeling domain. However, this dataset provides only general urban classes that were assigned without taking into account the species composition, abundance, and spatial distribution of forested areas within urban landscapes. The quantification of urban forests is critical for biogenic emissions modeling since urban forests are typically located near anthropogenic sources of Oxides and Nitrogen (NOx), and can affect ozone generation. The objective of this project was to create high-resolution (1 m spatial resolution) urban forest maps for select metropolitan areas in Texas where high ozone levels are commonly experienced. The 1 m spatial resolution maps were generalized to produce medium-resolution (30 m spatial resolution) urban forest maps. Both high and medium spatial resolution metropolitan area classifications resulting from this project will be utilized to improve TCEQ biogenic emissions modeling outputs.
* Click on the image for a full size view*

Terrestrial Lidar Data Collection

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Check out this article about how the Spatial Sciences Laboratory group, lead by Dr. Popescu (our organization’s faculty advisor), utilizes a terrestrial lidar system in their research.

 

Fun With The Terrestrial Lidar System

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A Few weeks ago, Tony and I decided to refresh our knowledge on how to operate our terrestrial lidar scanner before collecting some data with the unit in the field…

 

GIS Day 2012

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Next week, the Texas A&M University Libraries and a number of other organizations will be celebrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day. Activities for this celebration will be held on Tuesday November 13th and Wednesday November 14th. GIS day seeks to highlight GIS technologies through demonstrations and presentations based on student and faculty research. A schedule of all of the activities planned for GIS day can be found here.

There will also be a student poster exhibition on Wednesday. Students can submit a poster of their research utilizing GIS or remote sensing and have the poster printed for free, and because this is an exhibition, students can reuse the poster for other events (like student research week). The deadline to submit a poster for free printing is Sunday, November 11th, no later than noon. As an added bonus, when you submit a poster you will be entered into a drawing to win a $100 debit card. Click here for more details. This is an excellent opportunity to get a poster printed for free and display your current GIS/remote sensing research!