Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Arrives at MVPC
There is a fair amount to look forward to as summer approaches here at MVPC. For many of our staff, the most exciting development came on May 14th when the final pieces of our drone were acquired through the mail. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a fascinating piece of equipment that will help our organization advance our ability to gather and process image-based data. MVPC acquiring an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is the type of technological advancement that our GIS/IT Department is delighted to be able to have.
About Our Pilot
Although our entire staff is elated to have a drone, no one is more excited than our GIS Analyst, Sarah Reny. Having done her thesis in “The Estimation of Forest Inventory Biometrics using UAS-LiDAR.” Sarah became familiar with drone operation, data processing, and model analysis while completing this thesis at the University of New Hampshire in 2023, as well as developing a passion for integrating UAV technologies into natural resource management and community planning. Now that MVPC has a drone capable of acquiring light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and ultra high-resolution imagery, she is fully able to use her unique skillset to work on groundbreaking projects in the Merrimack Valley Region.
Healthy Estuaries Grant Work
One project that the drone will be essential for involves monitoring conditions in the Great Salt Marsh. Our environmental team was awarded a Healthy Estuaries Grant earlier this spring. This grant will fund 3 projects that will answer questions about salt marsh edge erosion, identifying ideal habitats for eelgrass restoration, and for investigating marsh wrack deposition. Extensive drone-based LiDAR data and aerial imagery will be acquired to provide the evidence and answers needed to complete these projects.
Estimating Degradation of Salt Marshes
Using a LiDAR sensor capable of co-acquiring imagery, the drone will be able to capture the necessary data crucial for evaluating and estimating the degradation of salt marshes in our coastal communities. Climate change and other anthropogenic interferences have accelerated the erosion of salt marshes. This marsh edge erosion can lead to sea level rise, and dramatically diminish the ecosystem services yielded by salt marshes. Because our coastal communities directly and indirectly depend upon these ecosystem services, it is crucial that marsh edge erosion be evaluated and monitored seasonally using the most accurate and precise surveying technology, LiDAR.
Monitoring Marsh Wrack Depositions
Another purpose of the grant is to evaluate and monitor large marsh wrack depositions. Marsh wrack depositions are a natural occurrence in salt marshes, but mega mats of this deposition have formed due to extreme tidal events and intense ice pulls decaying vegetation into the water. These mega mats of marsh wrack are leading to unnatural disruptions in vegetation growth and soil biogeochemistry. Imagery acquired by the drone will provide a comprehensive view of these mega mats, and the spatial extents can be monitored over time and compared to measurements made in the field.
Aid in Restoring Eelgrass
A final purpose of the grant is to help restore eelgrass, which has been declining in prevalence and abundance across subtidal coastal waters since the state started mapping eelgrass habitats in 1995. Eelgrass is a species that grows in meadows or beds, and when examined as a collective, serves as a critical marine habitat and significantly contributes to coastal protection, oxygen production, carbon sequestration, and improved water quality.
There have been many projects in the region geared towards restoring eelgrass in the great marsh in the past decade, and the imagery acquired by the drone will give us the opportunity to monitor the decline and come up with plans to mitigate it.
Having a drone has given MVPC and our communities opportunities to advance development and planning work in ways we have never been capable of, and this technology has unlocked many possibilities for future endeavors. Stay tuned for other drone-related projects that will come about for the MVPC team!
To learn more about our drone, visit the DJI website.
To learn more about our GIS/IT Department and the work we do, visit our website.