Drone-based Tree monitoring for Dam Safety

USC College of A&S Faculty Research Initiatives – undergraduate research

PI: Cuizhen (Susan) Wang (supervisee  – Cole Weber)

1/1/2018-8/31/2018

Summary: This undergraduate research project aims to test the feasibility of mapping tree cover and species at pre-selected dams in Columbia with drone technology. The team will visit these dams to collect the true-color, high-resolution images from a drone operated at 100-150 ft high. The drone is DJI Phantom 3. Drone images will be mosaiced and ortho-rectified to extract the 3D tree canopies and map species distributions at each dam, which is useful information to assess the dam’s safety during a flood event.