2017 OCM Unmanned Aerial Systems Lidar: San Francisco Bay NERR

Quantum Spatial (QSI) and PrecisionHawk (PH) collected lidar for a test site within the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (SFBNERR) Rush Ranch location using an unmanned aerial system (UAS). The target area covered approximately two square miles, although approximately three square miles of data were collected. A DJI Matrice 600 hexacopter platform was used, carrying a YellowScan lidar system. The system provides 2 returns (strongest and last) with a pulse rate of 300 kHz using a 903 nm wavelength laser. Flights were conducted from September 5-7, 2017 and were flown at 50 meters above ground level.

Specifications for the collection included 30 pulses per square meter and 0.10 meter RMSE vertical accuracy in non-vegetated areas. The average first return density was over 400 points per square meter. Classified ground point density varied spatially depending on vegetation with areas of no penetration and areas with over 60 ground points per square meter.

Deliverables included the lidar point cloud in LAS/LAZ format. Data were delivered in UTM zone 10 NAD83(2011) horizontally and NAVD88 (Geoid12b) meters vertically.
Lidar point clouds were projected back to geographic coordinates for storage in the Digital Coast Data Access Viewer and the vertical datum was converted to the ellipsoid.