DRI and UAS Applications Research

Lynn Fenstermaker, Desert Research Institute (DRI)

Entrepreneurial Culture and World Class Facilities

• 561 employees (331 FTE) with ~176 research faculty

• ~ 56 employees (10%) receive state salary support (administrative in nature)

• Non-tenure / soft-money structure:

• Faculty are not tenured and generate their own salaries (no state-funded positions)

• Faculty bring ~$40M into Nevada’s economy

• Direct return on state-funded investment is $4.5-to-$1

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• Over 60 specialized labs & research facilities.

• DRI invests ~ $1.6M annually in non-state dollars for support of UNR and UNLV graduate students.

• DRI maintains primary campuses in Reno and Las Vegas and two satellite research facilities in Boulder City and Steamboat Springs, Colorado

• Today, DRI has two primary campuses:

• Reno• Las Vegas

• DRI has additional research facilities in:

• Boulder City• Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Locations

3Boulder City, Nev. Storm Peak Laboratory, Colo.

Atmospheric Sciences

• Air Quality Monitoring and Analysis• Atmospheric Processes & Modeling• Climate Monitoring & Weather

Modification• Meteorology & Weather Forecasting• Instrument Design to measure

Atmospheric Properties• Fire Sciences• Alternative Energy• Environmental Engineering

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Earth & Ecosystem Sciences

Geoscience & Earth Systems• Quaternary Geology & Geochronology• Geomorphology & Surface Processes• Paleoecology• Soil Science• Remote Sensing and GIS

Biological Sciences• Biogeochemical Cycling• Ecosystem Ecology & Plant Ecophysiology• Restoration Ecology• Microbial Ecology & Life in Extreme Environments• Bioinformatics

Human History and Systems• Archaeology and Anthropology• Historic Preservation• Alternative Environmental Futures Assessment• Computer Visualization

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Hydrologic Sciences

• Geochemistry and Water Quality• Groundwater Flow and Transport

Modeling• Hydrogeology• Surface Water Hydrology• Vadose Zone Hydrology• Aquatic Systems• Water, Sanitation & Health • Cryosphere: Ice Core Records &

Earth History• Advanced Computation and Data

Visualization• Human Health and the Environment

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A public-private partnership designed to drive innovation-based economic development and workforce development to yield sustainable job creation, financial growth and regional economic competitiveness by applying research, commercialization and commercially viable service-based solutions to address regional, national and global challenges related to water resources.

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Nevada Center of Excellence (NVCOE)

Vision and Mission• Contribute to Innovation Based

Economic Development in Nevada• Provide business/industry access to

expertise in data science, advanced analytics, HPC, data visualization

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Manufacturing Mining Finance

Construction UAS Systems Healthcare

Education Resource Management Genomics

• Balanced portfolio: start-up/entrepreneurial ventures, established industry, federal grants and contracts

• Seeking collaborations: with academic institutions, businesses and industries in Nevada, the U.S. and globally

Applied Innovation Center (AIC)

Manned aircraft: Cloud seeding Air quality monitoring and profiling with LiDAR Hyperspectral imaging for ecosystem monitoring

Unmanned Balloons: Air quality, chemistry and water content monitoring

Class I UAS (fixed wing and helicopter): Ecosystem monitoring Aerosol and cloud physics Radiative and water flux measurement above and below

clouds Pollution monitoring

DRI Research Using Airborne Platforms

Sensor Development for Manned and Unmanned Aircraft

Large T-Probe: designed and fabricatd by J. Hallett and R. Purcell (DRI)- Simultaneously measures cloud liquid, ice and total water - Currently mounted on manned NSF aircraft

- Fabricating smaller probe for UAS platform

Photoacoustic instrument: designed by P. Arnott (DRI/UNR)

- Measures aerosol light absorption and scattering, which is impacted by air pollution

- 4 patents and commercialization of 3 versions partnering with Droplet Measurement Technology

DRI project for DOE: Lynn Fenstermaker - DRI Lead

DRI project for USDA ARS: Ken McGwire - DRI Lead

Collaborative DRI project for NSF: Eric Wilcox - DRI Lead

Subset of DRI UAS Projects

UAS for Whole Plot Monitoring

of Climate Change Impacts -

2005Mojave Global Change Facility

96 plots with factorial treatments of increased summer precipitation, nitrogen deposition and soil crust disturbance

Needed an efficient way to monitor whole plot treatment effect, so we developed a UAS platform with multispectral camera

Assessing Climate Change Treatment Effects with a Radio Control Helicopter Multispectral Platform

Dr. Lynn Fenstermaker, Desert Research Institute ▪ Eric Knight, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

UAS Platform: Class I, radio control helicopter, 55.7” length

Sensor Package: Tetracam multispectral camera simulating green, red and IR Landsat bands and real time altimeter with engine and battery monitoring

Multispectral CIR photoStandard color digital photo

MGCF Whole Plot Treatment Effect on % Green Plant Cover

TreatmentI = irrigated, NI = not irrigated

0 kg ha-1 Nitrogen, 10 kg ha-1 Nitrogen, 40 kg ha-1 NitrogenD = disturbed, ND = not disturbed

% G

reen

Cov

er

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5

10

15

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Feasibility Testing of Helicopter-based Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technology to

Support Land Management Agency Objectives

Desert Research InstituteKenneth McGwireLynn FenstermakerDavid McGraw

USDA Agricultural Research ServiceMark WeltzChristo MorrisJulie Finzell

Federal land management agencies like the USFS, BLM and the NRCS rely heavily on field measurements to

monitor the health and productivity of millions of acres.

UAS technology can support more efficient and comprehensive landscape characterization to meet those

missions.

UAS color infrared imagery used to measure leaf area in cattle allotments and set stocking rates.

The very high spatial resolution of UAS imagery helps improve models for soil erosion and ecosystem function.

Graph shows UAS sampling improves statistical confidence over field and satellite observations and with a significantly smaller number of observation points.

Feasibility Testing Results

Moisture dynamics in the cloudy and polluted tropical atmosphere: The Cloud Aerosol Radiative

Forcing Dynamics Experiment (CARDEX)Eric Wilcox, DRI, eric.wilcox@dri.edu, 775-673-7686Rick Thomas, P. S. Praveen, Kristina Pistone, V. Ramanathan, Lynne Russell, Scripps/UCSDFrida Bender, Örjan Gustaffson , Stockholm UniversityYan Feng, Argonne National LaboratoryNic Beres, Hans Moosmüller, Rajan Chackrabarty, DRIJulia Remmers, Steffen Doener, Max Planck Institute, Mainz

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Experiment site: Hanimaadhoo Island, MaldivesFebruary-March 2012

The winter monsoon winds collect industrial, biofuel, and transport pollution from South Asia and transports them thousands of kilometers to the Maldives.

Cloud physics aircraft measures cloud drop sizes and concentration.

Flux aircraft measures high-frequency variations of vertical velocity, temperature, and humidity.

Aerosol/radiation aircraft measures aerosol particle concentration, black carbon concentration and up/down solar fluxes.

First-ever UAV profiles of turbulent moisture flux in the boundary layer

Determination of how soot-induced warming of the lower troposphere affects transport of moisture from the ocean and through the boundary layer to the clouds

CARDEX Aerosol Concentration Vertical Profile

New: Assessment of Biological Soil Crust and Impact on Soil Stability

Collaborative Project: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and DRI

Sample collection and measurements of BSC polysaccharide content

Field soil stability and spectral measurements

sUAS (eBee, fixed wing) acquisition of high resolution color and near infrared images.

Compare spectra and images with field and lab data

eBee Images Acquired

March and April 2015

UAS Cloud Seeding: • Goal: Develop cost-effective miniaturized cloud seeding

technologies for testing and application, with eventual commercialization

• First Development phase: ejectable flare technology (DONE)• DRI lead, Drone America major partner w/ State of Nevada, Province of

Alberta (via NV-AB MOU)

• Field Operational Tests (PLANNED; waiting for funding)• DRI Walker River Seeding Project Area

Three Future Directions

Drone America aircraft for cloud seeding

• New funding award from State of NV announced in Aug 2015

• Current Partners: DRI, Drone America and ArrowData;

• Possible Partners: NASA/Ames-Armstrong

UAS Fire Research: Adam Watts• Situational awareness • Pre-/post-burn analysis (vegetation, wildlife, hydrology)• On-site weather monitoring of smoke plume altitudes• Emissions monitoring (smoke constituents, temperatures, etc.)• Real-time thermal monitoring (modeling, operations)• Precision post-fire perimeter mapping• BIG DATA handling and visualization

Current efforts: Proposal to State of Nevada Knowledge Fund was awarded; collaborating with NASA/Ames, NV Div Forestry and UAS businesses

Future Directions Cont.

UAS Agriculture Research: L. Fenstermaker, T. Minor and Alaska APG• Surface topography mapping• Crop health assessment

(pests, fertilizer)• Water use and irrigation

efficiencies• UAS testing under varying

seasonal conditions• Methods development• BIG DATA handling and

visualization

Current efforts: Proposal to State of Nevada RFI, waiting decision

Future Directions Cont.