Aviation and Remote Sensing
CITRIS Aviation specializes in gathering scientific data using unmanned aerial vehicles and satellites, especially in the fields of landscape ecology and agriculture. We emphasize through research, consultation and courses developing practical solutions, promoting the use of timely aerial data, and understanding information.
KelpFire
KelpFire studies how coastal wildfires deliver sediments and carbon into ocean ecosystems, including National Marine Sanctuaries and the unique kelp-based ecosystems. Over four years a team of geospatial experts at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, UCLA and led by Dr. Erin Hestir and colleagues at UC Merced will train the next generation of diverse NASA innovators and advance understanding and forecasting of wildfire on the California coast. The multidisciplinary research focuses on several wildfire impacted watersheds along the California coast.
Learn MoreBioSCape: Biodiversity Survey of the Cape
Through cross-disciplinary research, NASA is conducting its first biodiversity field campaign by assembling airborne imageing spectroscopy, LIDAR, and field observations of a critical and highly diverse area of the world, the South African Greater Cape Floristic Region’s coastal and marine environments. Dr. Erin Hestir co-directs the program that is designed to engage scholars from South Africa and to improve understanding of the distribution and abundance of biodiversity, the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function, and the impacts of biodiversity change on ecosystem services.
Learn MoreAquaWatch
The quality of freshwater resources is a concern shared by humanity across the world, vital to preserving agriculture, ecosystems, and our communities. UC Merced and UC Davis have teamed up with CSIRO Australia to join an international constellation of space and ground sensor systems integrated into a near-real time space-based IoT system to deliver timely water information to those that need it most. Using California as a key pilot site for development, UC Merced is leading research that will inform sensor development and data integration from ground-based sensors, space-based sensors, advanced analytics, and predictive modeling to delivery decision-ready information to end-users.
Learn MoreCenter of Excellence
The UC Merced campus is distinguished as the UC Center of Excellence on Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Safety, offering expertise and ensuring regulatory compliance for UAS operations across the entire University of California system. The Center is authorized to grant certain forms of approval for UAS operations in the US via the Federal Aviation Administration. The UC Center of Excellence on UAS Safety specializes in dedicated training for operators, researchers and technical users.
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