| 9 | | === NERC ARF Sit Rep 16.06.17 === |
| | 9 | === 21.06.17 === |
| | 10 | |
| | 11 | ''Today’s long flight concluded the series of surveys over the Alto Tajo region of Spain, just to the east of Madrid. This three day sequence of work was in support of a NERC NC funded project that attained our highest peer review grade (a grade 10; only the second that our panel have awarded). It seeks to investigate the succession and densification following the abandonment of traditional forest management in those woodlands present in Mediterranean mountains. We conducted aerial surveys of this area in 2006 and 2011 so this will be a particularly useful data set. Tomorrow (22.06.17) we plan to transit back to the UK and after a brief consolidation of data we will resume our programme of surveys in the UK.'' |
| | 12 | |
| | 13 | |
| | 14 | === 18.06.17 === |
| | 15 | |
| | 16 | ''The sequence of flights conducted on Friday (16.06.17) to investigate land surface temperature (LST) started in the morning and ended in the evening. Conditions were hot both for people and instruments but both the flight crew and field team reconvened at the same hotel in Albacete. Despite the heat, the Specim Owl and Fenix and the digital camera worked well. The following day (Saturday, 17.06.17) we flew a survey just to the west of Valencia to collect data for the validation of the operational and user-generated vegetation products derived from the optical instruments on-board ESA’s Sentinel-2 and -3. This was to support another project in this area (and supported work by a research team led by Jadu Dash). Most of the instruments performed well by we had suspicions concerning some of the LiDAR data returns. After the survey, the flight team relocated to Madrid from where, on the following day, we transferred selected flight lines to our data processing team in the UK to check. Sunday (18.06.17) was a crew rest day.'' |
| | 17 | |
| | 18 | ''The first of the Alto Tajo sites to the east of Madrid was flow today (18.06.17). This was in support of one of two remaining projects in this campaign, both with sites in this area. We had concerns with regard to the LiDAR instrument so a study area where other data were important was selected (rather than a site that was completely LiDAR focused). During today’s flight the LiDAR was not able to collect data. However, pre-season modifications to the on-board systems allowed (and will allow) the flying of other instruments in the remote sensing suite despite this. Later discussions with the manufacturer indicate that the LiDAR will not be available for the rest of the campaign. Nevertheless, useful data can still be collected to support one of the projects and we anticipate doing so for the next two days. '' |
| | 19 | |
| | 20 | === 16.06.17 === |