Vegetation Imaging For Public Outreach
Public outreach is critical to increasing interest in contemporary science and engineering. In particular, mechanisms that can provide hands-on experience with engineering principals and devices are invaluable in inspiring interest for the engineering field and education of the public.
In 2012, the Optical Remote Sensing Laboratory and MSGC partnered to design and produce balloon-mounted, multispectral imaging systems for use in optical remote sensing education and public outreach. Each of the seven tribal colleges in Montana received one of these imaging systems. The systems focused primarily on vegetation monitoring. In particular, these systems calculated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which can be used as an indicator of vegetation health.
The primary intention for the new design is to reduce cost and implement a simplified image processor while maintaining the capabilities of the previous system. A lower cost will benefit the tribal colleges and potentially arouse interest in other educational institutions. The simplified image processor would facilitate a prolonged battery life and a more robust system. Ideally, the new design would use a single camera, facilitating both of these goals, and reducing overall system size. In short, the new design seeks to improve on the 2012 design.
Completed design from 2012.
The Design Team
Project Information
