PE and RS PUBLIC December 2011 : Page-1186continued from page 1185 "The dual sensor port twin-engine aircraft platform and close coordination with the DOT permitted the emergency flyover to be accomplished cost-and time-effectively in a single mobilization..." I systems. n late summer 2011 the Susquehanna River Basin region in eastern New York was hit hard by the remnants of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. On August 28 and 29, Irene caused rainfalls of up to 13" in the region, resulting in flooding of numerous small towns and thousands of acres of cropland along with major damage to roads, railroads, bridges, dams, locks, and other infrastructure. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded historical flood peaks on virtually all rivers. While still recovering from this event, on September 7, the region received another 9" of rainfall from Tropical Storm Lee, causing rivers to again reach record flood levels and wreak even greater destruction. Aerial remote sensing can provide valuable data for responders to such disasters, although it is a support service susceptible to being overlooked due to more pressing priorities, uncertainty of jurisdiction, and lack of understanding of the types and characteristics of remotely acquired aerial data. Those who regularly use aerial data know its potential for documenting and aiding recovery from large and even small area disasters, while those less familiar often quickly recognize its varied applicability once they have access to the data. The timing of emergency response/post-disaster aerial surveys, extent of area covered, type of remote sensing technologies used, and expediency of data availability are some determinants of how well the remotely sensed data can be put to use. Anticipating a need for remotely-sensed aerial data in eastern New York as Irene moved up through the eastern U.S., Kucera International Inc., in collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology, Information Products Laboratory for Emergency Response (RIT IPLER), mobilized a Kucera twin-engine aircraft having two sensor ports. In one port was installed RIT's WASP multispectral aerial camera system and in the second port was placed Kucera's Leica ALS70 aerial lidar system. The multispectral camera system can acquire good resolution imagery under marginal lighting conditions (e.g., overhead clouds, low sun heights), while the lidar technology can capture high density feature surface return independent of lighting conditions. All captured data is georeferenced to within a few meters accuracy through sensor-integrated airborne GPS/IMU Bare earth terrain model with draped orthoimagery showing Lock 9 on Mohawk River, Rotterdam Junction, New York — aerial imagery captured by Kucera on October 16, 2011 for Section). Through contact with the New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (NY DHSES), a critical flood area along the Schoharie Creek between the Mohawk River and the Schoharie Reservoir was identified for demonstration aerial acquisition. A simultaneous capture of 15 cm color aerial imagery, 2.2 m short-, mid-, and long-wave infrared imagery, and 2 pt/sq meter density lidar return was performed on the late afternoon and evening of August 30, with the mosaiced and georeferenced imagery being posted to the DHSES later that evening. The aerial data was very well received and nearly immediately Cover Image Captions — Top Image: Multispectral image mosaic of high water over the Gilboa, New York Dam on Schoharie Reservoir --imagery taken by Kucera on August 30, 2011 with RIT WASP aerial camera (image courtesy of Rochester Institute of Technology, Information Products Laboratory for Emergency Response). Bottom Image: See Cover Description on page 1183. 1186 December 2011 Photogrammetric engineering & remote SenSing Publication List Using a screen reader? Click Here |
