Zion Canyon’s beauty and scale wouldn’t be possible without countless rockfall events that hastened its carving. But now that human infrastructure exists in the park—carrying millions of visitors each year—rockfall presents a significant risk that has to be managed. UNAVCO recently supported a project assessing that risk in two locations in the park.
The amount of water that becomes available as snowpack melts is of critical importance in many regions where melting snow feeds rivers throughout the summer. But it’s not as easy to measure as you might think. Snow density varies, so accurately estimating the snow water equivalent (SWE) in an area can be quite labor-intensive. NASA’s … Continued
Project Overview Researchers at Montana State University’s Subzero Research Laboratory (SRL) are exploring the potential for terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) to detect avalanche risk in real-time. An avalanche early warning system could significantly reduce the costs associated with shutting down mountain roadways and ski areas as well as save lives. In early December 2019, UNAVCO … Continued
Project Overview The Lake Agnes rock glacier dominates the Lake Agnes cirque, near Cameron Pass in northern Colorado, however, little is known about its kinematics or dynamics. To determine the motion of the rock glacier, UNAVCO supported Colorado State University researchers with two sets of tools that were used simultaneously: terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and … Continued
Overview Slumgullion landslide, in southwest Colorado near Lake City, is an ideal outdoor laboratory for comparing a variety of techniques used to measure slope displacements and understand landslide kinematics. The “slow” landslide is nearly constantly active, with surface displacements of several centimeters per day measured on some areas of the slide surface. The goal of … Continued
Overview Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) was used in project support of researchers from the University of Oregon refining sediment transport models in steep terrain. TLS yielded measurement densities of greater than one point per centimeter, enabling researchers to image tree throws, or the cavities left behind by a tree’s roots when the tree is upended. … Continued
Project Overview Mauna Kea, a dormant 13,800-foot-tall volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, is experiencing substantial natural and human-caused erosion at its summit. The goal of this project is to monitor these erosion rates by providing a baseline high-resolution topographic map of the summit area to quantify natural and anthropomorphic influences. The project will … Continued
Project Overview Dartmouth-University of Maine-University of New Hampshire project is to reconstruct the history of precipitation and atmospheric circulation in Alaska during the last thousand years using ice core records of snow accumulation. The project centers around two new ice cores collected to bedrock (208 m) from the Mount Hunter Plateau in the Alaska Range of Denali … Continued
Scanning Weddell Seals PI: Robert Garrott, Montana State UniversityEvent: B-009 UNAVCO supported ongoing research of Weddell seal populations of McMurdo Sound with TLS data and engineering in November 2013. Two UNAVCO TLS instruments were used in unison to instantaneously collect a high-resolution scan of Weddell seals lying on sea ice. A novel methodology is being … Continued
Project Overview In April of 2013, UNAVCO supported the first half of a two-part terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) project undertaken by scientists at the University of Montana. The April survey took place on the Santa Maria River in arid northwestern Arizona. The second half will be conducted on the Bitterroot River in Montana in the … Continued