Mapping the last frontier

Author: Kutalmis Saylam, June 2016

阿拉斯加是美国人口稠密但最大的州。以各种风景和寒冷的天气而闻名，在冬季，旅行可能很困难。在该州的北部，苔原很广泛，冬季气候恶劣，使用冰路是受欢迎的，并且对于运输资源是必不可少的。由于该州的规模大于20英亩，因此拥有超过20英亩的湖泊，因此需要对景观有清晰的了解，以最好地确定这些道路可以安全和可持续地建造。德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的研究部门的经济地质局（The Bureau）着手使用Leica Chiroptera空中激光雷达（Leica Chiroptera Airmorne Lidar System阿拉斯加北部斜坡。

独特的风景

The Alaskan North Slope micro-topography supports various potential fish habitat water bodies and wetland areas within the arctic tundra environment. Shallow thaw lakes, less than 2 metres deep, in general, are a major component of the tundra landscape of the area, where they compose approximately 20 percent of the total area. They are completely ice-free only a few weeks in a calendar year, so we scheduled our field trip accordingly, beginning in mid-July and ending in early August.

湖泊的深度，冰的生长和衰减决定了它们是否适合野生动植物和水生动物群以及工业发展。假设在该区域中，假定冰的积聚为1.5至2 m，如果水的深度大于2 m，则液态水很可能位于这些湖泊的中部盆地下方。调查结果尤其重要，因为它们会发现湖泊深度超过2 m，适合于建造冰路，但具有潜在的鱼类栖息地。还期望发现该地区的其他环境和水文评估。

“With thousands of lakes – with varying turbidity levels – scattered throughout the survey area and challenging weather conditions that limited the airborne survey activities, this was certainly not an easy task,” said John Andrews, a research scientist from the Bureau, who was responsible for ground truthing and overall logistical support. “With airborne LiDAR surveying, though, we were able to obtain very detailed and precise topographic and bathymetric data in areas where traditional survey methods would not be feasible.”

Explore next chapter:用扫描能力加倍飞行

故事：映射最后一个边界
第1章：独特的风景
Chapter 2:用扫描能力加倍飞行
Chapter 3:Faster, more accurate data analysis