Other ID: Darby UAS Mapping August 2024
Status: Completed
Organization(s): USGS, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Funding Program(s): Aerial Imaging & Mapping (AIM) (LQ000GU1400)
Principal Investigator(s): Sandra Brosnahan
Affiliate Investigator(s):
Information Specialist(s): Jin-Si Over, Jennifer Cramer
Data Type(s): Visual Identification: Ground Truthing, Imagery: Photo, Location-Elevation: Navigation, Location-Elevation: LIDAR
Scientific Purpose/Goals: sUAS flights at the Darby Creek landfill in Pennsylvania will support ecological restoration monitoring and environmental assessment. Aerial imagery will be used to quantify and classify vegetation growth over time, evaluate landscape elevation changes to assess cap stability and erosion, and collect thermal data to identify potential groundwater seepage areas.
Vehicle(s):
Start Port/Location: Woods Hole MA
End Port/Location: Woods Hole MA
Start Date: 2024-08-13
End Date: 2024-08-15
Equipment Used: Aeropoint targets, Spectra Precision SP80, Altum-PT, Skydio X10, YellowScan Mapper +, Reconnaissance
Information to be Derived: Will be flying multiple sensors on the M600 including a LiDAR and multispectral sensor. The SkyDio will be used to collect thermal and normal RGB imagery and video. GCPs will be deployed and GPS used to collect elevation check points. Vegetation data will also be collected in random quadrats (% cover, type, and height)
Summary of Activity and Data Gathered: S. Brosnahan, J. Over, and S. Ackerman mapped the Clearview Landfill site. One lidar flight, three altum-PT flights, and 6 Skydio flights. 10 AeroPoints and vinyl targets were deployed. The SP80 base station was set up for the lidar flight, and the the SP80 rover was used to take check points. 35 vegetation quadrat surveys were completed.
Staff: Jin-Si Over, Seth Ackerman
Affiliate Staff:
Notes: Entries for this field activity are based on entries from Field Activity 2024-006-FA.
Location:
Darby Township, Philadelphia, PA
| Boundaries | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| North: 39.90721244 | South: 39.87435071 | West: -75.3028965 | East: -75.24890899 |
Platform(s):
 on foot |
Cramer, J.M., Brosnahan, S.M., Ackerman, S.D., Over, J.R., Millo, A., Gazoorian, C.L., and Kelley, D.J., 2025, Topographic data, aerial imagery, and GPS data collected during uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) operations at Lower Darby Creek, Darby Township, Pennsylvania, March to August 2024: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P134HU3Y.
| Survey Equipment | Survey Info | Data Type(s) | Data Collected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeropoint targets | AeroPoint RTK-enabled targets were placed on the ground for georeferencing of processed spatial data products. | Navigation Transects Profiles | AeroPoint Targets (GPS data collected during UAS operations at Lower Darby Creek, Darby Township, Pennsylvania, August 14, 2024) |
| Spectra Precision SP80 | GPS equipment was used to survey ground-truth points and benchmark for data validation. | Navigation | SP80 RTK data (GPS data collected during UAS operations at Lower Darby Creek, Darby Township, Pennsylvania, August 14, 2024) |
| Altum-PT | MicaSense Altum-PT was attached to DJI M600 drone to collect aerial multispectral imagery. | Photo | MicaSense Altum-PT Imagery (Lidar point clouds (LPC), elevation models, GPS data, image mosaics, and aerial images from thermal infra-red (TIR), natural color (RGB), and multispectral cameras collected during UAS operations at Lower Darby Creek, Darby Township, Pennsylvania, August 14, 2024) |
| Skydio X10 | Skydio drone with integrated camera was used to collect RGB and thermal imagery. | Navigation Other Imagery Photo | Skydio Imagery ( image mosaics, and aerial images from thermal infra-red (TIR) and natural color (RGB) cameras collected during UAS operations at Lower Darby Creek, Darby Township, Pennsylvania, August 14, 2024) |
| YellowScan Mapper + | Lidar point clouds (LPC) and natural color (RGB) aerial images collected during UAS operations at Lower Darby Creek, Darby Township, Pennsylvania, August 14, 2024 | Navigation Photo LIDAR | YSMP Data (Lidar point clouds (LPC), elevation models and aerial images collected during UAS operations at Lower Darby Creek, Darby Township, Pennsylvania, August 14, 2024.) |
| Reconnaissance | --- | Ground Truthing | No data was collected |
