National Unmanned Aircraft SystemsUAS Project Office
Poster Gallery
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Utilization of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Acquiring High-Resolution Elevation Data
Date: April 2016
Size: 34" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS
Investigating Bird Surveys Using Small Unmanned Aerial Systems
Date: April 2013
Size: 34" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, USFWS, BLM, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Geospatial Product Creation with Data Acquired from sUAS
Date: January 2013
Size: 34" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS
Raven RQ-11A
The Raven small unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAV) is a hand launched reconnaissance and surveillance tool. The system transmits live airborne video images, compass headings and location information to a ground control unit (GCU) and remote video terminal (RVT). The Raven aircraft is hand launched without the need of special equipment or landing area required. The system employs a self-stabilizing aircraft configuration with stability augmentation avionics and provides ease of control and steady video imagery. The optics package includes an electrooptical (EO) color camera nose payload (side and forward look on the same payload) and two infrared (IR) thermal nose payloads (a side look payload or a forward look payload). The Raven system is typically operated by a two person team consisting of a Pilot and Mission Controller.
Date: April 2013
Size: 34" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS
THawk RQ-16A
The RQ-16A T-Hawk, is a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Air Vehicle (AV) capable of manual and autonomous flight that employs a gasoline engine to power a lift-augmented ducted fan and uses the global positioning system (GPS) for guidance. Interchangeable sensors allow the AV to be configured with either a gimbal mounted electro-optical (EO) camera or gimbal mounted infrared (IR) camera. The AV can provide a persistent stare capability while transmitting live airborne video images.
Date: September 2013
Size: 34" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Applications in the Department of the Interior
Date: August 2015
Size: 15" x 10.5"
Poster Credits: USGS
Rapid Response Data Collection Using An Unmanned Aerial System During the February 2017 Flood of the Pemigewasset River, Plymouth, New Hampshire
Date: February 2017
Size: 36" x 50"
Poster Credits: USGS
UAS Modeling of Devils Tower National Monument, WY
Date: February 2017
Size: 34" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, NPS
Cape Cod Coastal Salt Marshlands, MA
Coastal salt marshes can be distinguished from terrestrial habitats by the daily tidal flow that occurs and continuously floods the area. It is an important process in delivering sediments,nutrients and plant water supply to the marsh.[5] At higher elevations in the upper marsh zone, there is much less tidal inflow, resulting in lower salinity levels. Soil salinity in the lower marsh zone is fairly constant due to everyday annual tidal flow. However, in the upper marsh, variability in salinity is shown as a result of less frequent flooding and climate variations.
Date: March 2016
Size: 28" x 28"
Poster Credits: USGS
American White Pelican Survey of Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge, NV
USGS, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, conduct population surveys of nesting American White Pelicans at the Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada.
Date: May 2015
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, USFWS, Humboldt State University, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe
Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge Pelican Survey
The USGS in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) conducted sUAS flights as a proof of concept project testing the methodlogy for conducting groundnesting colonial waterbird surveys at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota.
Date: June 2014
Size: 35" x 28"
Poster Credits: USGS, USFWS
Using Unmanned Aerial Systems for Pleistocene Trackway Surveys
Proof-of-concept sUAS surveys to document the presence of exposed dinosaur tracks at the paleontological track site at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico.
Date: January 2014
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, BLM, NPS
DeBeque Canyon Landslide, Colorado
Collaboration between the USGS, Colorado State Geological Survey, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Mesa County Sheriffs office using imagery collected from UAV to map ground movement at the DeBeque Canyon landslide in western Colorado.
Date: October 2013
Size: 58" x 42"
Poster Credits: USGS, Colorado Geological Survey, BLM
Using Unmanned Aerial Systems for Fluvial Mapping
Pilot study using sUAS equipped with a high-resolution digital camara to map the spatial extent and elevation of emergent sandbars along two reaches of the Platte River in Central Nebraska.
Date: July 2013
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS
Evaluating the Raven RQ-11A small Unmanned Aircraft System for Monitoring Breeding Greater Sage-Grouse in Grand County, Colorado
This proof of concept study assessed the ability of the RQ-11A Raven small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) to detect greater sage-grouse utilizing leks (breeding areas).
Date: April 2013
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS-Fort Collins Science Center, BLM, CPW
Identifying Abandoned Materials Using Unmanned Aerial Systems
Proof of concept sUAS missions to locate and survey abandoned solid waste for historical assessment potential and cleanup in Mojave National Preserve, California.
Date: April 2013
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, NPS
Inspecting Coal Mining Permits using Unmanned Aircraft Systems
The Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and USGS use sUAS technology to help with permitted inspections of dangerous mines and mines with difficult areas of access.
Date: November 2012
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, OSMRE
Monitoring River Impacts of Elwha and Glines Canyon Dam Removal in Olympic National Park
Aerial flights utilizing sUAS were performed along the Elwha River as a collaborative effort between the USGS, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), and the National Park Service (NPS). The focus of these flights, which occurred in June and September 2012, was the use of repeated sUAS surveys to acquire data that, once orthorectified, would provide information about the rates and patterns of change that occur during this large scale river restoration.
Date: June 2012
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, BOR, NPS
Inspecting AML Features Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Prototype mission using video from sUAS to identify and map Abandoned Mine Land (AML) features such as portals and other dangerous openings, from a safe distance in Pitkin County, Colorado.
Date: September 2012
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, OSM, Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology
Assessing Remote Boundary Fences and Invasive Plants and Animals in Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
Feasibility study using sUAS for safe real-time monitoring of fencelines and vegetation health in extreme landscape conditions in Haleakala National Park, Hawaii.
Date: May 2012
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, NPS
Inspecting Coal Mining Permits using Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Survey surface mine sediment ditches for inadequacies using sUAS technology at the Powellton Surface Mine in West Virginia.
Date: November 2011
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, OSM
Lower Brule Reservation, SD - Monitoring Soil Bank Erosion using Unmanned Aerial Systems
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (LBST) Environmental Protection Office and USGS monitor erosion of the Missouri River shoreline on the Lower Brule Reservation. It is estimated, the Reservation is losing shoreline at a rate of approximately 8 feet per year in some locations.
Date: August 2011
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, LBST
Identifying Groundwater Discharge using Unmanned Aerial Systems
Locate known and unknown areas of groundwater and a collection of rectified images for time-series studies at Red Rocks Lake Wildlife Refuge, Montana.
Date: August 2011
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, USFWS
Utilizing sUAS to Study the Landscape Habitat of Pygmy Rabbits
Using low-altitude sUAS imagery to analyze pygmy rabbit habitats at Magic Reservoir, Idaho.
Date: June/July 2011
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, BLM, University of Idaho, Boise State University, Washington State University
Sandhill Cranes Population Estimates Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems
USGS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) Service study the feasibility of using sensors on sUAS to survey Sandhill cranes populations at Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado.
Date: March 2011
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, USFWS
Real Time Wildfire Management Using Small Unmanned Aerial Systems
USGS and USFWS conducted sUAS flight operations during a prescribed burn event at Eglin Airforce Base, Florida.
Date: February 2011
Size: 18" x 24"
Poster Credits: USGS, USFWS