B-Roll: Field and drone remote sensing operations near Moab, Utah – May 2025

00:05 A microbial layer on the soil surface called biological soil crust (biocrust). It's a complex community of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, mosses, fungi, and other microbes that bind soil particles together, creating a thin, cohesive layer.  

00:22 Vast dryland landscape with undulating terrain, sparsely vegetated by shrubs and grasses. The drone zooms in on a field crew of USGS personnel and collaborators.  

00:38 Miguel Villarreal collects a Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reading to record the location of plants and soil plots. 

00:54 Teams of researchers working together to collect field-based measurements of vegetation and soil. Small plastic flags temporarily mark sampling locations. Personnel carefully minimize their impact on the biocrust by walking in narrow paths across the site. 

01:20 Cara Lauria (SBSC) collects data about the biocrust cover of the soil with a gridded frame. 

01:30 Zooming out from the field sampling, the camera pans up to reveal the distant horizon.  

01:49 We move now to another study site featuring taller vegetation. The takeoff and landing areas for drone operations are marked by orange landing pads.  

02:03 An orange fixed-wing drone piloted by Josh von Nonn (WGSC) takes flight and slowly climbs up to a higher flight altitude before transitioning to horizontal flight, characteristic of a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. 

 02:13 Detailed aerial views of vegetation, soil, biocrust, and rock at this dryland site as seen by a low-flying drone.  

02:49 A rotocopter piloted by Matt Burgess (NUSO) spins its propellers to take flight and collect hyperspectral data. The sensor is flown on a gimbal for stabilization. 

03:34 The rotocopter descends back to the landing pad after data collection is complete. Victoria Scholl (NUSO) notes the time for flight reporting and documentation.