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Michael Crane

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Crane.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Report of the U.S. Geological Survey Lidar Workshop sponsored by the Land Remote Sensing Program and held in St. Petersburg, FL, November 2002

The first United States Geological Survey (USGS) Light Detection And Ranging (lidar) Workshop was held November 20-22, 2002 in St. Petersburg, Florida to bring together scientists and managers from across the agency. The workshop agenda focused on six themes: 1) current and future lidar technologies, 2) lidar applications within USGS science and disciplines, 3) calibration and accuracy assessment, 4) tools for processing and evaluating lidar data sets, 5) lidar data management, and 6) commercial and contracting issues. These six themes served as the topics for workshop plenary sessions as well as the general focus for associated breakout sessions. A number of recommendations are presented regarding the role the USGS should play in the future application and development of lidar technology.

Open-File Report↗

Initial results from a test of the NASA EAARL lidar in the Tampa Bay region

An initial test of the performance of the NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar ( EAARL ) over coastal environments around the margins of an urbanized Gulf of Mexico estuary was performed over Tampa Bay in January 2002 . The EAARL is a raster-scanning, water-penetrating, full-waveform adaptive lidar that is coupled to aircraft positioning systems and a downlooking color digital camera. The EAARL has unique capabilities for simultaneously mapping topography, shallow bathymetry, and vegetation. Initial analysis within 2 Tampa Bay subregions traversed by the survey flightlines has revealed that the EAARL can survey shallow bathymetry and variables associated with benthic cover in remarkable detail. The results of this ongoing study will aid in developing recommendations on the appropriate use of NASA EAARL surveys for mapping bathymetry and benthic habitats in estuaries around the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida↗

A parallel-processing approach to computing for the geographic sciences

The overarching goal of this project is to build a spatially distributed infrastructure for information science research by forming a team of information science researchers and providing them with similar hardware and software tools to perform collaborative research. Four geographically distributed Centers of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are developing their own clusters of low-cost personal computers into parallel computing environments that provide a costeffective way for the USGS to increase participation in the high-performance computing community. Referred to as Beowulf clusters, these hybrid systems provide the robust computing power required for conducting research into various areas, such as advanced computer architecture, algorithms to meet the processing needs for real-time image and data processing, the creation of custom datasets from seamless source data, rapid turn-around of products for emergency response, and support for computationally intense spatial and temporal modeling.

Open-File Report↗

Tampa Bay Integrated Science Pilot Study: Baseline mapping, land surface dynamics and predictive modeling, and hazards vulnerability studies

Tampa Bay and its environs have experienced phenomenal urban growth and significant changes in land cover and land-use practices over the past 50 years. This trend is expected to continue, with the impact of human activity broadening geographically and intensifying throughout the region. One of the immediate impacts of urban growth is the creation of additional impervious surfaces, which in turn, generate increased urban runoff that contributes to higher levels of nutrient loading in water bodies throughout the area. To better understand these and other anthropogenic affects on the ecology of the natural environment of the region, this component of the Tampa Bay Pilot Study took a broad basin-wide view. This regional view was intended to provide geographic and temporal context for the smaller intensely studied sample field site locations within the estuarine environment.

Open-File Report↗

A parallel-processing approach to computing for the geographic sciences; applications and systems enhancements

The overarching goal of this project is to build a spatially distributed infrastructure for information science research by forming a team of information science researchers and providing them with similar hardware and software tools to perform collaborative research. Four geographically distributed Centers of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are developing their own clusters of low-cost, personal computers into parallel computing environments that provide a costeffective way for the USGS to increase participation in the high-performance computing community. Referred to as Beowulf clusters, these hybrid systems provide the robust computing power required for conducting information science research into parallel computing systems and applications.

Open-File Report↗