National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NRP 

A Publication of NASA Research Park

POST

THE

2021 Issue 3
NRP Post

2 www.nasa.gov

IN THIS ISSUE

3 | Autonomous Systems and Robotics

Intelligent Robotics Group, USGS, and NOAA team 

demonstrate UAS streamflow mapping over the 

Sacramento River

4 | Iris Lunar Rover Meets Milestone for Flight

Ribbon cutting for new facility on the Center

6 | Innovatus Capital Partners teams with

Verdigris Technologies

Verdigris teams with Capital Partners to reduce energy 

costs by bringing energy intelligence to its buildings

9 | USGS-Black Swift-NASA Partnership

USGS-Black Swift-NASA partnership to reduce 

volcanic hazards

12 | RMV Coming to you Virtually

Vermillion innovates a unique virtual platform in place of 

traditional “hands-on” learning

14 | NASA and USGS Partner to Measure

Stream Flow Remotely with UAS

NASA and USGS are developing an autonomous UAS to 

map stream flow

COVER

From right to left, Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy, 

Administrator Bill Nelson, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Ames 

Center Director Dr. Eugene Tu during a visit to Ames and NASA 

Research Park on October 12, 2021.

LOWER LEFT 

From right to left, Administrator Bill Nelson, NRP Director 

Mejghan Haider, Ames Center Director Dr. Eugene Tu, Deputy 

Administrator Pamela Melroy
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 3

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Autonomous Systems & Robotics

Intelligent Robotics Group

Members of the Intelligent Systems 

Division’s Intelligent Robotics Group 

(IRG) and the United States Geological 

Survey (USGS) are developing an autonomous Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to 

map streamflow aerially. This technology 

will provide measurements for the national stream gage network for areas that lack 

gages. Over the course of a week in September, the team demonstrated the aerial 

streamflow mapping capability successfully over the Sacramento River, California, for the first time. IRG and USGS team 

members integrated a natural color video 

camera, a thermal camera, a laser range 

finder, and an embedded Central Processing Unit (CPU) into a platform-independent 

payload that will enable usage with various 

UAS. The team also worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who found a suitable field 

site and took field measurements used for 

calibration and assessing accuracy of the 

image-derived estimates. 

The team flew a hexacopter equipped with 

the NASA/USGS payload of visible and 

thermal imagers, obtaining high-resolution 

video across a Hartley Island stretch of the 

Sacramento River. Water depth was estimated with the images using Optimal Band 

Ratio Analysis (OBRA), and surface flow 

velocities using Particle Image Velocimetry 

(PIV). Data was gathered over the course 

of two days and the three test flights. The 

streamflow results are close to those taken 

by an independent NOAA team field-based 

measurement. The similarity of the results 

between the aerial mapping and traditional 

river flow estimates shows that the aerial 

mapping system can provide hydrographers with a cost-effective, user-friendly 

means for taking regular and as-needed 

river and stream flow measurements, as 

well as measurements under hazardous 

high-flow conditions that pose a risk to 

staff and equipment. This platform allows 

a larger number of USGS streamflow measurements in a larger number of places and 

in locations that are difficult to access, and 

additionally provides greater safety for staff 

in dangerous conditions.

Background: This first aerial streamflow 

mapping test is the latest collaboration in a 

long-standing partnership between NASA 

and the USGS. This UAS streamflow mapping platform and its ability to take a greater number of measurements will enable 

the USGS to extend its water observation 

capability across the nation’s rivers and 

streams, leading to better flood resilience 

and drought monitoring. The Intelligent Robotics Group partners with the USGS and 

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

(NGA) to develop Earth-monitoring and 

analysis capabilities for scientists with both 

aerial and satellite imagery.

Program Funding: USGS National Innovation Center 

Team: Michael Dille, Ted Morse, Antoine 

Tardy, and Uland Wong; USGS: Isaac 

Anderson, Cian Dawson, Liz Hyde, Paul 

Kinzel, and Carl Legleiter; NOAA: Lee Harrison

Point of Contact: Uland Wong, 

uland.wong@nasa.gov

Intelligent Robotics Group, USGS, and NOAA team demonstrate 

UAS streamflow mapping over the Sacramento River.
NRP Post

4 www.nasa.gov

Carnegie Mellon University students who 

designed and built a small, boxy robot, 

named Iris, have achieved a major milestone: their robot passed its critical design review 

by NASA and is on track to land on the moon in 

the fall of 2021.

“We are moving forward...we’re going to the 

moon,” a triumphant project manager, Raewyn 

Duvall, told Iris team members during a Zoom 

meeting following the review.

Officials at NASA and Astrobotic Inc., whose Peregrine lander will deliver the robot to the lunar 

surface, performed the review. Duvall, a Ph.D. student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering 

department, said the process resulted in a few 

small design revisions, which the team is now incorporating.

The team will replace prototype parts with flight 

components this summer, as they test the robot 

to prove that it can withstand the trip to the moon 

without causing problems for Peregrine or for other payloads aboard the lunar lander.

The Moon Ark, an integrative art and design project spanning a decade of student, faculty and 

partner collaborations, is hitching a ride to the 

moon along with Iris. The 8-ounce museum is intended to spark wonderment for future humans 

through poetically entangled visual narratives of 

the arts, humanities, sciences and technologies.

Iris, a small, boxy robot designed by CMU students, has passed its critical design review by 

NASA and is on track to land on the moon in the 

fall of 2021.

“This is going to be an exciting summer,” said William “Red” Whittaker, professor in the Robotics 

Institute and director of the Field Robotics Center.

Once the robot passes the payload acceptance 

review this fall, the team will deliver the fully flightready Iris to the company by the end of the year 

so it can be integrated with Peregrine.

“The vision, design and implementation for this 

robot are driven by amazing student power — unprecedented for a space venture of this ambition 

and technical challenge,” Whittaker said. “It requires the highest standards of commitment, collaboration and cross-disciplinary skill, as well as 

incredible resourcefulness.” 

The four-wheeled Iris, which weighs about four 

pounds, will be America’s first robotic rover to explore the moon’s surface. Although NASA landed 

the first humans on the moon and has explored 

Mars with rovers, it has yet to launch a lunar rover. 

Russia and China have both operated unmanned 

rovers on the moon.

Last year, NASA awarded a contract to Pittsburgh’s Astrobotic to deliver 14 scientific payloads 

to the vicinity of Lacus Mortis, or Lake of Death, 

a large pit the size of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field. In 

a separate agreement with CMU, Astrobotic has 

agreed to deliver Iris and a CMU arts package 

called MoonArk on that mission.

Whittaker and his students began developing the 

robot in 2017, with support from NASA. They envision it as the prototype for a new family of affordable robots that might be used by small research 

groups without the resources of a space agency. 

Astrobotic plans to offer these “CubeRovers” as 

a product line.

Iris Lunar Rover Meets Milestone 

for Flight

CMU’s student-designed robot will land on the moon in 2021

By Byron Spice 
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CMU’s robot has recently been named Iris, in part 

to honor Siri Maley, a former master’s student in 

mechanical engineering who was a leader and an 

early champion of the robot’s development (Iris 

is Siri spelled backwards). Also, the robot’s main 

sensors are two video cameras and, in cameras, 

an iris is a diaphragm that controls the amount 

of light that enters the lens. Finally, Duvall noted, 

an iris is a flower known for withstanding extreme 

environments, just as the robot will on the moon.

Duvall said usually about 40 students — primarily 

undergraduates — were involved each semester, 

though the ranks swelled to more than 70 this semester.

“The fact that it’s going into space has been a 

strong pull for student involvement,” she explained.

As a student project, the robot went through many 

design changes, in part because each succeeding 

group was eager to put their own twist on it, Duvall 

said. But building a light robot also required some 

difficult design choices.

One major change was the number of wheels. Iris 

began as a two-wheeled robot supported in the 

rear by a tail that dragged along the surface. The 

idea was that the lightweight tail replaced heavier wheels. But the tail caused so much drag that 

the team decided to add two wheels, foregoing 

the weight advantage in favor of saving energy, 

Duvall said.

Nick Acuna, a sophomore mechanical engineering 

major, joined the project as a first-year student, 

though he doubted he could contribute much that 

was useful. Assigned to the wheel design group, 

he discovered a way to make carbon composite 

wheels that “worked really, really well.” It enabled 

the wheels, which resemble bottle caps, to be 

both lighter and stiffer. By the end of last summer, 

he had been elevated to mechanical lead.

“This project is pretty important to me,””Acuna 

said, explaining that he enjoys going “all in,” focusing his drive on a single thing. In high school, 

wrestling was his focus. Now, with Iris, “I’ve slowly 

gotten to that same mindset.” Working on CMU’s 

first space program is nothing short of inspiring, 

but also humbling, he added.

“It lets you dream about what you can accomplish 

in the future, if you’re already doing this as a student,” he explained. “I know a lot of great people 

have come through this project. We have the privilege of being the team in the semester when we 

bring it all to fruition.

“All these giants have touched it and we’re the 

ones who get to see it through to the end.”

More than 70 students, primarily undergraduates, have 

worked to develop the Iris robot over several years. Pictured, 

prior to social distancing precautions, is the spring 2020 

team.
NRP Post

6 www.nasa.govFor media inquiries: 

New York based Innovatus Capital Partners 

(“Innovatus”) a boutique specialty finance 

firm with over $1.5 billion in assets under 

management, is deploying Verdigris’ artificial 

intelligence (AI) technology across its national 

commercial building portfolio. With a diversified 

portfolio of U.S. commercial office properties 

located in emergent top-tier markets, Innovatus 

is focused on creating value in special situations, 

emergent asset classes and asset-based 

investments.

Verdigris, a global leader in real-time responsive 

energy intelligence, combines its IoT energy 

sensors and adaptive and autonomous building 

solutions to cost-effectively manage energy 

consumption and optimize operations in smart 

buildings.

“Innovatus has seen tangible reductions in our 

energy costs, along with other unexpected 

benefits such as identifying equipment scheduling 

issues at several of our buildings. The Verdigris 

deployment model, analytics and automation are 

extremely valuable to our investment strategy for 

identifying disruptive growth opportunities,” said 

Bradley Seiden, Managing Director at Innovatus 

Capital Partners. “Verdigris is a tested and proven 

energy management solution, delivering realtime insights and automatic optimization that 

are ahead of other solutions in the marketplace 

and are adaptive to the needs of our buildings in 

each market.”

In the first phase of energy-saving automation, 

Innovatus has deployed Verdigris’ Adaptive AutomationTM at the Westwood Corporate Center, 

a premier five-story, 120,000 square foot, Class 

A office building on Forum Drive in south Orlando. 

During this phase, Verdigris AI has already identified measurable annual savings in both baseload 

and peak demand optimization. These savings 

are achieved automatically, with no additional effort or attention by the facility engineering team, 

freeing them up to focus on other projects. To 

expand on the success of this first phase, savings can be further enhanced by automating additional HVAC equipment. Innovatus and Verdigris look forward to creating a truly “self-driving” 

building. Westwood Corporate Center is managed by Lincoln Property Company.

“Lincoln Property Company is very excited to be 

working with Innovatus Capital Partners and VerInnovatus Capital Partners teams with Verdigris 

Technologies to reduce energy costs by bringing 

energy intelligence to its buildings
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 7

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digris on these very unique AI enhanced energy 

initiatives that we truly believe sets on a unique 

path to maximizing energy conservation while 

effectively maintaining tenant comfort within our 

office building,” said Edward J. Price, Senior 

Vice President for Lincoln Property Company 

Southeast.

By applying AI and machine learning in real-time 

to the precision data that Verdigris sensors 

capture, Verdigris delivers insights on granular 

energy issues that other systems miss. Facility and property managers can act at optimal 

times or implement automated responses to 

improve energy efficiency, address potentially 

critical issues, and reduce downtime.

Commercial real estate owners increase 

net operating income by cutting energy costs. 

Meanwhile, occupants enjoy an optimized environment enabled by AI-enhanced building 

controls. Verdigris’ non-intrusive IoT sensors 

work alone or in synergy with building management systems. Customers have achieved fast 

ROI, often within months, by decreasing energy 

costs 20 percent or more.

“We’re helping companies survive and thrive in 

a dynamic period of digital transformation while 

navigating Covid, economic turbulence, the 

increasing impact of climate change, and sustainability legislation. To do that, buildings and 

industry need cost-effective and scalable data 

and AI solutions that enable intelligent environments to align the interests of building owners, operators and occupants,” said Thomas 

Chung, Head of Growth at Verdigris.

Verdigris’ patented technology monitors granular energy consumption and power quality details for individual devices at thousands of times 

per second, detecting hidden issues that most 

other systems miss and automating responses 

for optimized “driverless” buildings.

About Innovatus - Innovatus Capital Partners, 

LLC is a boutique specialty finance firm focused 

on creating value for investors in emergent asset classes, private credit and asset-based investments, based in New York. Innovatus has 

assets under management in excess of $1.5 

billion. Innovatus has a dedicated team of real 

estate investment professionals with deep experience in commercial real estate acquisitions, recapitalizations and asset management 

across core-plus and opportunistic real estate 

investments amongst all property types including office, retail, hotel, medical, industrial and 

warehouse. Innovatus and its principals have 

significant real estate experience with ventures 

that range from the creation of a CMBS lending 

group and servicing platform to making equity 

investments in developments and single asset 

purchases. Further information can be found at 

www.innovatuscp.com

About Verdigris - Verdigris Technologies is 

a leading AI company that empowers the 

world’s smartest buildings with data, insights 

and automation. Through artificial intelligence 

and IoT-enabled sensors, Verdigris ‘learns’ 

and distinguishes the equipment components 

of commercial buildings, providing rich data 

streams about critical equipment. Powerful 

analytics constantly scan this data to find hidden 

inefficiencies, produce actionable reports and 

empower building managers to optimize facilities 

management. Among other honors, Verdigris 

was named one of the top ten Most Innovative 

Companies in Energy by Fast Company and 
8 www.nasa.gov

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selected as the Frost and Sullivan Technology 

Innovation Leader in the North American AIbased Energy Management and Automation 

Industry. Verdigris is headquartered at the NASA 

Ames Research Park in Silicon Valley, California 

with offices in the US and Taiwan. See verdigris.

co for recent press and testimonials. For more 

information, please contact Media Relations at 

press@verdigris.co.

About Lincoln Property Company - Lincoln 

Property Company is one of the largest and 

most diversified real estate services firm in the 

United States and is the only national real estate 

company to rank concurrently in the top 10 of 

Management/Ownership of Office, Industrial, 

Multi-family, and Retail. With an international 

footprint that includes offices in 45 cities across 

the United States and 6 cities in Europe and 

South America, LPC remains a privately and 

closely held company. As a matter of corporate 

intention and philosophy, the company has 

operated virtually debt-free since the early 

1990’s, uniquely positioning itself to provide 

focus and performance as well as consistency 

and stability to its clients and employees in the 

economically challenging times of today. This 

corporate philosophy combined with over 50 

years of global real estate is what differentiates 

LPC from other service providers and real estate 

companies.

For more information, media contacts:

Bradley Seiden, Managing Director, Innovatus Capital Partners, LLC; 

917-873-0332 or bseiden@innovatuscp.com

Edward J. Price, Senior Vice President, Lincoln Property Company 

Southeast, 407-872-3500 or eprice@lpc.com

Media Relations, Verdigris Technologies, press@verdigris.co and

www.verdigris.co

Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications Inc. 407-461-3781 or 

beth@LarryVershel.com
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 9

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USGS-Black Swift, NASA 

partnership to reduce 

volcanic hazards

Last week, a team of Federal scientists and 

industry engineers pushed back the frontiers of monitoring hazardous volcanoes, 

flying a small unoccupied aircraft system (UAS) 

over an active Alaskan volcano. This public-private partnership between USGS, NASA 

and Black Swift Technologies LLC showed that 

cost-effective UAS equipped with state-ofthe-art gas sensors and imaging systems can 

fly safely beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS), 

opening the door to routine autonomous missions over hazardous volcanoes around the 

world. With this new tool, scientists can alert 

local and aviation communities to oncoming 

signs of danger. The team flew four missions, 

acquiring high-resolution imagery to map possible changes from recent volcanic activity, 

and demonstrated the capacity of gas sensors 

to detect hallmark volcanic gases that may 

signal onset of activity. The experience collected on these safe flights pave the way for 

future BVLOS UAS operations for monitoring 

potentially hazardous volcanoes from a safe 

distance. This partnership represents a Federal-Industry effort that could provide USGS 

and NASA with routine use of BVLOS UAS for a 

diverse suite of hazards, including volcanoes, 

drought, floods and many others. 

[ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES] This effort is 

the culmination of three years of collaboration 

between Black Swift Technologies LLC, USGS 

and NASA, funded by the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, the USGS National Land Imaging Program, NASA SBIR and NASA Earth 

Sciences, and coordinated by USGS National 

Innovation Center. USGS volcanologists Christoph Kern and Angie Diefenbach proposed the 

opportunity, and developed the imaging and 

gas payload. Supported by colleagues at both 

the Alaska and Cascades Volcano Observatories and Matt Fladeland at NASA Airborne Sciences, they worked with Black Swift Technologies LLC to integrate these sensors on Black 

Swift’s S2. The Black Swift team worked with 

NASA on airworthiness and flight readiness, an 

exhaustive process that validates safety and 

readiness for the team’s flight. With the assistance of partners in Alaska (Dan Morgan, USGS 

Alaska Regional Safety Officer, Andy Dietrick, 

Aleutian Aerial) and the USGS National UAS 

Projects Office, the team received final perOctober 19, 2021
10 www.nasa.gov

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missions for these path-finding 

flights from FAA and NASA a 

few days before they launched. 

During the 2nd week of September 2021, a team of scientists 

and UAS engineers deployed 

to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian 

Islands of Alaska, to fly the first 

USGS beyond visual line-ofsight (BVLOS) UAS missions. 

This capacity provides scientists with potentially routine, 

semi-autonomous UAS flights 

that can fly dull, dirty or dangerous missions, like systematically collecting volcanic gas 

emissions to detect changes 

that signal volcanic unrest. This capacity alleviates some need for sending personnel by 

helicopter, fixed wing, or on the ground, into 

dangerous or difficult to access areas.

The team first launched Black Swift’s S2 UAS 

from the Dutch Harbor airport Friday September 

10, 2021, proving safe BVLOS flights over the 

active Alaskan volcano Makushin. The Black 

Swift S2 is a fixed-wing, electric UAS with 3-m 

wingspan, propelled into the air by means of a 

pneumatic launcher. From the apron of Dutch 

Harbor airport, the S2 launched and travelled 

2 miles westward at 400 ft above ground level, 

with the team deconflicting airspace via visual 

line-of-sight observations. After the initial 

2-mile traverse, the aircraft entered an area 

in which other aircraft are prohibited from flying by a temporary flight restriction (TFR) filed 

with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

At this point, the aircraft began climbing to the 

6,000 ft summit of Makushin Volcano, located 

approximately 15 miles to the west. Traveling 

BVLOS now, the team kept track of the aircraft 

via visualizations of the flight track and profile 

provided on monitors at the base station. 

Photo Credits: Black Swift Technologies

Photo Caption: Aerial photograph of the 

crater lake and degassing fumaroles 

at the summit of Makushin Volcano, 

Unalaska Island, AK

Credit: USGS (Christoph Kern)

Caption: Jack Elston (Black Swift Technologies) and Andy Dietrick (Aleutian 

Aerial) retrieving the S2 from the Dutch 

Harbor airport apron after a successful 

landing. 
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Photo Credits: Black Swift Technologies

Photo Caption: Aerial photograph of the 

crater lake and degassing fumaroles 

at the summit of Makushin Volcano, 

Unalaska Island, AK

Improved weather conditions the week of September 13 allowed them to launch multiple successive flights with science payloads, including visible and IR photogrammetry cameras. 

Despite headwinds of approximately 30 kts, the 

aircraft was able to map the summit area with 

the nadir-facing high-resolution visible and 

thermal cameras. The imagery shows the summit crater lake and vigorous degassing from 

fumaroles on either side, as well as several 

other snow-free areas with fumarolic activity. 

The aircraft then safely returned, passing over 

and successfully mapping the active hydrothermal area at Upper Makushin Valley before landing at Dutch Harbor airport. A second mission 

was flown with the gas sensing payload. While 

approaching the volcano, the UAS encountered 

strong headwinds and downdrafts (2000 ft per 

minute) and the aircraft autonomously turned 

back and landed safely at the base station.

While in Dutch Harbor, the team conducted 

outreach events in the adjacent community of 

Unalaska, including a radio interview and interaction with approximately 200 local elementary, 

middle, and high school students.
12 www.nasa.gov

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Coming to You “Live” Virtually 

From RMV Technology Group

Vermillion Innovates a Unique Virtual Platform In Place 

of Traditional “Hands-On” Learning

By Renee Mitchell, Moffett Field, California

Since 2014, the NASA ESD Program 

Manager training developed by Bob 

Vermillion, CEO/Founder of RMV 

Technology Group LLC, a NASA Industry 

partner, has held the 5-day “Hands-On” 

Instrument driven program at NASA Ames 

Research Center. Participants come from 

almost all NASA centers from LaRC to 

AFRC, plus support contractors.

Held once every two years in early Spring, 

the 2020 training was cancelled repeatedly during the pandemic. One delay after 

another and the decision was finally made 

among the NASA Interagency Working 

Group on ESD (IAWG) to go “Virtual” over 

a year later. Because the “Hands-On” program has been so successful, the group did 

not feel that Virtual could replace previous 

RMV training. Other organizations claim to 

teach “Virtual”, however, these presentations are merely PowerPoints embedded 

into a webinar platform.

The challenge for RMV was real. We had to 

overhaul and modify the training to “focus 

in” on the most critical elements to ensure 

effective remote learning. RMV had only a 

3-month window to redevelop and get the 

job done. During that time, we produced 

over 50 videos reinforcing NASA-STD8739.6B and conducted several “shakedown” training sessions. In addition, 

RMV developed a list of “Live” demos to 

encourage deeper engagement during the 

remote training in the RMV lab throughout the course. With implementation of a 

NASA ESD Interagency Working Group for ESD 

(IAWG) Awards Certificate of Excellence to Bob 

Vermillion, NASA ESD Technical Authority.

During the monthly TEAMS Virtual Meeting, 

Gene Monroe, NASA IAWG Chair, made a special announcement to award Bob Vermillion 

with a Certificate of Excellence for the RMV development of the NASA ESD Program Manager 

program, presented on 18 August 2021. 

In attendance were a few invited guests that 

included Glenn Delgado, Associate Administraitor for the NASA Office of Small Business 

(OSBP), Greg Josselyn, NASA Ames Research 

Center (ARC) Associate Director of Engineering 

and Coreena Conley, Executive Director, Veteran Business Outreach Center (VBOC) SBA Region IX, Sacramento, California. 
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 13

NRP Post

“whitelisted” software licensed by RMV, the training 

materials were made available in a secure format. 

Finally, and equally important, the Hands-On Training Session gave each student the opportunity to 

demonstrate their proficiency utilizing equipment in 

the comfort of their office, home or laboratory. The 

excellent reviews attest to the innovation and hard 

work by RMV in developing a unique and effective 

ESD “Hands-On” Training Program. Remote Training specific to Agency need that is done right can 

be very effective for future NASA training in a “Live” 

Virtual platform.

Above all, the most important “take away” is that 

ESD Integrity for Space & Defense must be compliant and traceable to NASA-STD-8739.6B which the 

contracting community uses as an ESD roadmap 

for compliance. ESD integrity requires following 

NASA guidelines down to the board level to manage, handle, assemble, store and transport devices 

for safety, security and, ultimately, Mission Success. 

The Latest News from RMV Technology Group 

Learn more about the NEW and Upcoming 

iNARTE® ESD International Certification 

courses exclusively developed and conducted by 

the Subject Matter Experts of RMV Technology 

Group. Please contact Renee Mitchell, President, 

RMV Technology Group LLC at 650-964-4792 or 

email Renee at renee@esdrmv.com.

www.esdaerospacetraining.org www.esdrmv.com
14 www.nasa.gov

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NASA and USGS Partner to 

Measure Stream Flow Remotely with 

UAS

Last month, USGS engineers and scientists conducted the first operational flight 

of a new intelligent system for measuring 

stream discharge from a UAS (Uncrewed Aircraft System). This capability complements our 

current national stream gage network, extending measurements to reaches where we lack 

gages. The team flew a UAS equipped with 

thermal infrared and visible imagers and collected high-resolution video across a test section of the Sacramento River in California. They 

estimated water depth by applying a technique called optimal band ratio analysis (OBRA) 

to images and inferred surface flow velocities via particle image velocimetry (PIV). The 

resulting estimate of stream discharge is close 

to an independent field-based measurement 

from a NOAA team. This initial test represents 

the latest step in a long-standing partnership between NASA Ames Intelligent System 

Division and USGS elements, including scientists from the Water Mission Area, engineers 

from the UAS Research Center, and coordination and funding from National Land Imaging and National Innovation Center. Accurate, 

remote measurements of stream discharge from 

UAS could play a role in extending our water 

observations across the Nation’s many ungaged 

streams, improving flood resilience and drought 

awareness.

USGS hydrologists Carl Legleiter and Paul 

Kinzel have been exploring the use of different 

methods to estimate surface flow velocities 

remotely, including PIV, a technique that infers 

velocities by measuring the displacement 

of distinctive pixel structures in sequential 

images. They proposed mounting a thermal 

imager on a UAS, and then taking images over 

a stream until the error budget for the velocity 

field meets a threshold value. Combined with 

the OBRA method of mapping bathymetry and, 

the resulting surface velocity fields can be used 

to calculate the volume of water flowing through 

a stream cross-section per unit time. They partnered with Uland Wong, Michael Dille, Antoine 

Tardy, and Ted Morse of the NASA Ames Research 

Center’s Intelligent Systems Division to integrate a thermal camera, a natural color video 

camera, a laser range finder, and an embedded 

CPU into a platform-independent payload. 

USGS National Innovation Center UAS Research 

Center engineers Elizabeth Hyde and Isaac 

Anderson developed the custom payload enclosure, mounting hardware, and ground station for 

in-flight communication. USGS hydrogeophysicist Cian Dawson coordinated and piloted the 

test flights. The team collaborated with hydrologist Lee Harrison of NOAA, who identified the 

field site, secured permissions, and collected 

field measurements of depth and velocity for 

calibration and accuracy assessment of the 

image-derived estimates. These in-situ observations were obtained within two days of the 

USGS-NASA test flight.

Results 

During the third week of September 2021, 

the team of scientists and UAS engineers 

deployed to the Hartley Island reach of the 

Sacramento River and launched the USGS-NASA payload. This site provided an opportunity to test the system’s performance over an 

important California waterway. The reach had a 

By Chad Wagner, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program & Tim 

Newman, National Land Imaging Program - October 19, 2021

NASA and USGS are developing an autonomous UAS to map 

stream flow from the air and demonstrated it successfully for the 

first time over the Sacramento River, California. 
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 15

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mean channel width of 97 m, a mean depth of 

1.7 m, a mean depth-averaged flow velocity of 

0.99 m/s, and a water surface slope of 0.00018. 

The instrumentation was deployed from a hexacopter UAS, but the payload design is platform-independent, providing

During three test flights, sensors acquired video while the UAS hovered above the channel 

at locations coinciding with the NOAA field 

surveys. The natural color video data was collected high enough above the center of the 

channel to include both banks within each 

video frame, with a 6.1 cm pixel size. Due to 

differences in resolution and field of view 

between the two cameras, separate flights at 

lower altitudes were performed to ensure that 

at least one bank was visible in the thermal infrared images. Altitudes during data collection 

ranged from approximately 430 ft (~121 m) to 

775 ft (~236 m) above the water surface. The 

natural color video frames were geo-referenced 

to an orthophoto acquired earlier in the week 

by NOAA colleagues using a Quantum-Systems 

Trinity F90+ fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAS.

The team used Wi-Fi to control the sensors 

during the flight and position the UAS to optimize 

acquisition over the river. Live-streamed images 

helped the flight team guide the UAS pilot to the 

desired sample location where both stream banks 

were visible. Both optical and thermal cameras 

recorded video and an on-board laser measured 

flying height to calculate image scale. Due to a 

preexisting condition with the cooling mechanism for the thermal camera, this sensor did not 

provide usable data, but the natural color video 

encompassed the full 97-m width of the Sacramento River at the sample location, capturing 

both variations in color related to water depth 

and features at the water surface being advected by the flow.

The team processed the optical video using image stabilization and PIV algorithms 

and then geo-referenced the remotely sensed 

data. There is very strong agreement between image-derived estimates of surface flow 

velocity and in-situ observations of depth-averaged flow velocity collected with an acoustic 

Doppler current profiler (ADCP) deployed from 

a NOAA boat.

The close correspondence between traditional and UAS-derived river discharge estimates 

demonstrates that this system could provide 

hydrographers with an efficient, cost-effective 

means of performing both routine and as-needed discharge measurements, including under 

hazardous high-flow conditions which pose a 

safety risk to both personnel and instrumentation. Such a capacity could enable the USGS 

to collect a greater number of streamflow measurements at a greater number of monitoring 

locations, with reduced demands on staff, particularly in dangerous or difficult to access locations. 

For more information on stream gaging, contact PIs Carl Legleiter or Paul Kinzel. For more 

information on the partnership with NASA, 

please contact Jonathan Stock or Bruce Quirk.

Chad Wagner

Program Coordinator, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program

Water Mission Area

Tim Newman

Program Coordinator, National Land Imaging 

Core Science Systems Mission Area
16 www.nasa.gov

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