A Drone Based Approach to Collecting Sunlit Canopy Samples
Channel: NEON Science
Date: 2024-02-08

NEON is exploring ways to integrate drones into ongoing ecological research—In this example, using drones to collect sunlit canopy samples at NEON Field Sites. One of the head scientists for this work, Dave Durden, teamed up with Samantha Weintraub, the lead NEON terrestrial biogeochemist, to investigate drone-based methods to improve foliar sampling. Samantha explains, “In the past, we've used traditional arborist tools or line launchers—which are like giant air guns—to collect foliar samples. But these methods tend to be slow and not very precise; it's hard to target the sunlit samples we want from the very top of the canopy. Sending a climber up is slow, dangerous and expensive. Using drones would allow us to get very targeted samples from the canopy top and could really speed up the process.”

Suggested citation for this video: National Ecological Observatory Network. February 8, 2024. A Drone Based Approach to Collecting Sunlit Canopy Samples [Video file]. Courtesy: Battelle. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Zp9Mqz0WibU