Drone Data in Climate Studies

High School (Advanced)

34. Drone Data in Climate Studies

Eyes on a Changing Planet: Drones Tracking Climate Change from Above!

The Earth's climate is changing at an unprecedented rate, and understanding these shifts requires vast amounts of precise data. While satellites provide global perspectives, drones are emerging as indispensable tools for collecting highly detailed, localized data crucial for climate studies, helping scientists monitor phenomena like melting glaciers and deforestation.

Drones offer a unique advantage: they can fly lower than satellites, operate more flexibly than manned aircraft, and reach remote or dangerous areas that are difficult for humans to access.

Here's how drone data contributes to our understanding of climate change:

• Monitoring Glaciers and Ice Sheets: 

  • Volume Change: Drones equipped with high-resolution cameras and Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors can fly over glaciers to create highly accurate 3D models of their surface. By comparing models taken over time, scientists can precisely measure how much ice has been lost or gained, indicating the rate of glacial melt.

  • Crevasse Mapping: Drones can identify and map dangerous crevasses (cracks in the ice) that are critical for ground expeditions and understanding ice dynamics.

  • Surface Melt Ponds: They can detect and track the formation and disappearance of meltwater ponds on ice surfaces, which contribute to further melting.

• Tracking Deforestation and Forest Health: 

  • High-Resolution Mapping: Drones capture extremely detailed imagery of forest areas, allowing scientists to identify individual trees, assess canopy cover, and pinpoint exact locations of illegal logging or forest fires.

  • Biomass Estimation: Using advanced sensors and algorithms, drones can estimate the biomass (total organic matter, often related to carbon stored) of forests. Changes in biomass directly impact atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

  • Disease and Pest Outbreaks: Multispectral cameras on drones (as discussed earlier) can detect early signs of tree stress due to disease or insect infestations, allowing for targeted intervention to protect forest ecosystems.

  • Reforestation Monitoring: Drones can track the success rates of new tree plantings, ensuring efforts to combat deforestation are effective.

• Other Climate Applications: 

  • Coastal Erosion: Mapping shorelines to track changes due to rising sea levels or storms.

  • Permafrost Thaw: Monitoring changes in ground elevation and vegetation in Arctic regions.

  • Greenhouse Gas Leak Detection: Some specialized drones can carry sensors to detect leaks of methane or other potent greenhouse gases from industrial sites.

By providing unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution, drone data empowers climate scientists to build more accurate models, assess environmental impacts in real-time, and inform critical conservation and policy decisions to address our planet's changing climate.

Teacher's Corner: Eyes on a Changing Planet: Drones Tracking Climate Change from Above!

Learning Objectives: Students will understand how drones collect specific data relevant to climate studies, identify practical applications like monitoring glacier melt and deforestation, and appreciate the drone's role in providing high-resolution, localized environmental information.

Engagement Ideas:

1. Image Analysis: Show students paired "before and after" drone (or aerial) images of areas experiencing climate change impacts (e.g., retreating glaciers, areas of deforestation, coastal erosion). Have them analyze the visual changes and discuss what insights a drone could provide.

2. "Data Collection Mission" Design: Present a specific climate study challenge (e.g., "Monitor snow depth in a remote mountain range," "Track the health of mangrove forests after a storm"). Students design a drone mission, specifying what sensors they would need, how they would fly, and what data they would collect.

3. Lidar vs. Photogrammetry (Briefly): Introduce the concepts of Lidar (active sensor, measures distance with laser pulses, good for 3D elevation) and Photogrammetry (creating 3D from overlapping photos). Discuss which might be better for different climate applications (e.g., Lidar for accurate ice volume, photogrammetry for detailed forest imagery).

4. "Climate Data Stories": Have students research a specific climate change impact and find an example of how drones are being used to study it. They can then present a short "data story" about it.

5. Discussion: Local Climate Impacts: Discuss how drone monitoring could be applied to local environmental issues, even if not directly "climate change" related (e.g., monitoring local water quality, invasive species).

Key Takeaway Reinforcement: "Drones are vital tools in climate studies, collecting high-resolution data to monitor critical changes like glacier melt and deforestation. They give scientists 'eyes on the ground' (or just above it!) to understand our changing planet and inform solutions."