Obtaining the Thermal Structure of Lakes from the Air
1
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Davis Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-5800, USA
2
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 220 Schorr Center, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
3
Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, Director, University of California, 23100 Alum Rock Falls Road, San Jose, CA 95127, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Keith Smettem, Scott W. Tyler and Josie Geris
Water 2015, 7(11), 6467-6482; https://doi.org/10.3390/w7116467
Received: 1 September 2015 / Revised: 4 November 2015 / Accepted: 5 November 2015 / Published: 13 November 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Developments in Methods for Hydrological Process Understanding)
The significance of thermal heterogeneities in small surface water bodies as drivers of mixing and for habitat provision is increasingly recognized, yet obtaining three-dimensionally-resolved observations of the thermal structure of lakes and rivers remains challenging. Remote observations of water temperature from aerial platforms are attractive: such platforms do not require shoreline access; they can be quickly and easily deployed and redeployed to facilitate repeated sampling and can rapidly move between target locations, allowing multiple measurements to be made during a single flight. However, they are also subject to well-known limitations, including payload, operability and a tradeoff between the extent and density over which measurements can be made within restricted flight times. This paper introduces a novel aerial thermal sensing platform that lowers a temperature sensor into the water to record temperature measurements throughout a shallow water column and presents results from initial field experiments comparing \emph{in situ} temperature observations to those made from the UAS platform. These experiments show that with minor improvements, UASs have the potential to enable high-resolution 3D thermal mapping of a \(\sim\)1-ha lake in 2–3 flights (\textit{circa} 2 h), sufficient to resolve diurnal variations. This paper identifies operational constraints and key areas for further development, including the need for the integration of a faster temperature sensor with the aerial vehicle and better control of the sensor depth, especially when near the water surface.
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Keywords:
unmanned aerial systems (UAS); unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); robotics; thermal structure; aquatic ecosystems
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MDPI and ACS Style
Chung, M.; Detweiler, C.; Hamilton, M.; Higgins, J.; Ore, J.-P.; Thompson, S. Obtaining the Thermal Structure of Lakes from the Air. Water 2015, 7, 6467-6482. https://doi.org/10.3390/w7116467
AMA Style
Chung M, Detweiler C, Hamilton M, Higgins J, Ore J-P, Thompson S. Obtaining the Thermal Structure of Lakes from the Air. Water. 2015; 7(11):6467-6482. https://doi.org/10.3390/w7116467
Chicago/Turabian StyleChung, Michaella; Detweiler, Carrick; Hamilton, Michael; Higgins, James; Ore, John-Paul; Thompson, Sally. 2015. "Obtaining the Thermal Structure of Lakes from the Air" Water 7, no. 11: 6467-6482. https://doi.org/10.3390/w7116467
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