Multispectral Drone Data Analytics

Estimating the Carbon Stock of a Designed Meadow
Through Time Series Analysis

Brendan Harmon

Cajun Prairie Wildflower Meadow Surveys

LSU Hilltop Arboretum

Research Questions

• What is the carbon pool of the meadow?
• How will the carbon pool change as the meadow matures?
• Can designed meadows be effective stores of carbon?
• How can drone data analytics inform management?

Coastal Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem

Drone with Multispectral Sensor

Ground Control Station

Ground Control Points

Biomass Survey

Soil Cores

Photogrammetry in Metashape

Time Series Analysis in GRASS GIS

Data Science with Python

Multispectral Imagery Time Series

2020-03-19

2020-04-25

2020-06-01

2020-06-30

2020-08-03

2020-08-29

2020-09-27

2020-10-25

2021-01-24

Volume Time Series

$$ V = x y (z - z_0) $$

• $V$ = volume $(m^3)$
• $x$ = east-west resolution $(m)$
• $y$ = north-south resolution $(m)$
• $z$ = elevation $(m)$
• $z_0$ = bare ground elevation $(m)$

2020-03-19

2020-04-25

2020-06-01

2020-06-30

2020-08-03

2020-08-29

2020-09-27

2020-10-25

2021-01-24

Annual Statistics

Maximum Volume 2020

Biomass

$$ B = \frac{V \rho_s + V \rho_r}{x y} $$

• $B$ = biomass density $(kg / m^{2})$
• $V$ = volume $(m^3)$
• $\rho_s$ = shoot bulk density $(kg / m^{3})$
• $\rho_r$ = root bulk density $(kg / m^{3})$
• $x$ = east-west resolution $(m)$
• $y$ = north-south resolution $(m)$

Biomass 2020

Carbon

$$ C = B C_f x y $$

• $C$ = carbon $(kg C)$
• $B$ = biomass density $(kg / m^{2})$
• $Cf$ = carbon fraction $(C$%$)$
• $x$ = east-west resolution $(m)$
• $y$ = north-south resolution $(m)$

Carbon 2020

Volume 2020-2021

Maximum Volume 2020

• Maximum volume: 4,033 $m^3$

Biomass 2020

• Biomass density: 15 $kg/m^{2}$
• Total biomass: 69,619 $kg$

Carbon 2020

• Aboveground carbon stock: 2,900 $kgC$
• Belowground carbon stock: 29,820 $kgC$
• Carbon stock: 32,721 $kgC$
• Carbon pool: 7,047 $gC/m^{2}$

Future Work

• 5 years of drone surveys
• Maps for seeding & management
• Analysis of rainfall & temperature
• New ground control points
• New drone
• New sensors