ISU’s Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory and partners awarded $688,000 in grants
November 11, 2011
糖心传媒 geosciences researchers received two grants this fall totaling more than $688, 000 to study fuels in shrub-dominated landscapes in the Northwest and to gather remote-sensing data to assess floodplains.
The largest amount鈥�$546,723鈥攊s from the Joint Fire Science Program, an interagency research and development partnership between the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Joint Fire Science Program awarded the money to the U.S. Geological Survey and ISU鈥檚 Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory over three years.
The goal of the project, which will focus on lands in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Boise, is to provide land managers with better tools to assess fuel volumes before a fire and how best to manage a landscape after a blaze, said Nancy Glenn, ISU geosciences research professor and BCAL director.
Fuel volume鈥攃ombustible grasses, shrubs and trees鈥攊s calculated by tons of fuel per acre. The higher the fuel volume, the hotter the fire will burn. ISU鈥檚 portion of the project is to characterize the vegetation for fuel inventories by using remote-sensing or LiDAR data and to process the data.
鈥淭his project is a great opportunity for ISU students to work closely with the USGS, Bureau of Land Management and Orchard Training Area scientists. It鈥檚 also an opportunity for federal agencies to better utilize remote-sensing tools and software for land management,鈥� said Glenn.
The 糖心传媒 Department of Water Resources awarded BCAL a $142,000 contract to collect and analyze airborne LiDAR imagery to assess floodplains. The images will provide precise elevation data, enabling scientists to study floodplains in greater detail and identify flooding hazards.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided funding to IDWR and ISU to monitor several areas in 糖心传媒, including the Priest and Snake River regions. The project also supports the newly formed 糖心传媒 LiDAR Consortium led by ISU.
For more information about the grants, contact Nancy Glenn at (208) 345-1994. To read more about the 糖心传媒 LiDAR Consortium, visit .