Vegetation Survey Using Air Video Technology Course #TEC7138 offered by the National Conservation Training Center  and the National Wetland Research Center

  Description Aerial videography is a method of acquiring data quickly and cost-effectively using analog or digital cameras connected to a GPS unit and flying at low altitudes.  Thousands of high-resolution spatial data points are collected and interpreted or evaluated in a lab.  Data are used for generation and accuracy assessment of vegetation maps.  Aerial videography is a technique utilized by many state Gap Analysis Projects.  We will examine equipment and software setup options and discuss issues of  timing, level of detail, and accuracy.

  We will focus on application of aerial videography in vegetation mapping, but other uses include:
 

Land use/land cover change mapping Fragmentation analysis Watershed delineation Wetland mapping Water quality monitoring Wildlife surveys (colonial bird or species counts) Feature mapping (snags, forest openings, powerlines)  Monitoring inaccessible sites

click on image to go to air video description

Who should attend  Employees of federal, state, local, and foreign natural resource agencies, NGOs, universities, and private businesses interested in aerial videography applications.  Knowledge of GIS and remote sensing principles is helpful but not necessary.  The class includes both instructor-led sessions and hands-on exercises.  Handouts and other materials are provided to participants.

Registration  Tuition is $570.00 USD and does not include travel, room or board.  NCTC training is provided without charge to employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Participants make their own lodging and transportation arrangements.    Information about travel to and accomodations near NWRC is available at http://www.nwrc.gov/maps/nwrcmaps.html.
Register online at TEC7138

Syllabus (subject to change)

Day 1
Overview/history of air video
GIS/GPS/remote sensing concepts & review
Sampling Design I: data needs, available data
Sampling Design II: transect layout, survey problems
Equipment I: analog video
Equipment II: lab setup
Equipment III: flight setup, plane demo

Day 2
Data collection I: flight details
Post-processing flight data
Setup of interpreted data library
Data collection II:  ground truth data
Creation of a land cover key
Interpretation of land cover

Day 3
Accuracy assessment
Review: analog video
Introduction: digital video
Mosaicking: manual and automatic
Stereo interpretation
Review: digital air video applications, pros/cons
Synthesis and analysis of data - GIS and beyond
 

For more information

To apply, USFWS employees should contact
Dan Everson, NCTC
dan_everson@fws.gov
304-876-7453

For course content information, contact

Stacy McNulty Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange 203 W. Roanoke Street Blacksburg, Virginia 24060 540-231-7348 voice 540-231-7019 fax smcnulty@vt.edu email http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/WWW/video/index.htm web

Back to Training - Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange

Last modified 11/16/99 by sm