A USGS crew used new drone technology to test and evaluate new technology to measure water speed from the air without touching the water. This drone footage was taken on the Missouri River at Hermann, Missouri on March 27, 2019. Scientists compared these new method results to the conventional way of taking measurements from a boat.
Frank L Engel, Ph.D.
A process-oriented field scientist focused on finding applied and practical solutions to water resources and hydrodynamic related issues.
Frank Engel is a Geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specializing in fluvial geomorphology and the implementation of cutting-edge research applications into operational science. He focuses his research on process-oriented field studies of fluvial environments, with a heavy emphasis on the applications of his findings on river management decisions. Of particular interest to him is how current research advances in non-contact measurements of riverine hydraulic parameters can be operationalized in the USGS for day to day gaging and project applications. Dr. Engel is advocating for the use of camera and radar sensors to measure hydraulic parameters at USGS streamgages or elsewhere to enable increased observation of our surface water networks. Moreover, with the growing adoption of cloud infrastructure and Internet of Things (IoT) architecture, Dr. Engel is working toward the development of cloud-based imagery and remote sensing data processing and persistence frameworks. Using IoT and "at the edge" computing power is a new frontier in the USGS, and shows great potential to bring our water observation approach into the next generation.
As chair of the USGS Water Mission Area (WMA) Surface Velocity Workgroup, Dr. Engel and his colleagues aim to coordinate the national USGS effort at implementing novel non-contact flow measurement techniques including Image Velocimetry and Surface Velocity Radar (SVR) for stream gaging and research purposes. Dr. Engel's goal is to inform planning and decision making in watershed management, stream restoration, and naturalization projects through applied research.
Frank is also working to pioneer use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for response to water emergencies, including the application of UAS to measure flood inundation in near real-time, as well as deriving flow velocities and other hydraulic parameters with Image Velocimetry and other computer vision techniques for use in flood event and emergency response.
By leveraging a full and increasing suite of non-contact tools & capabilities, Dr. Engel wants to enable the USGS to increase process understanding from water source to sink, provide better situational awareness during emergency response to floods, and advance the cutting edge of water science.
Science and Products
ZenRiver game concept: accelerating creation of machine learning imagery training datasets using citizen science
We aim to develop a web-based game where players use human-assisted image segmentation to produce annotated “meditation drawing” images of surface water sites to accelerate the creation of machine learning imagery training datasets. The game will also public education and outreach opportunities.
Develop Cloud Computing Capability at Streamgages using Amazon Web Services GreenGrass IoT Framework for Camera Image Velocity Gaging
We developed an Internet of Things (IoT) prototype and associated cloud infrastructure for camera-based data collection and initial processing of river streamflow using the cloud (fig. 1). This pilot successfully created a hardware and cloud infrastructure to collect and upload video from a camera gage at San Pedro Creek in San Antonio, Texas. Using a ThingLogix Foundry instance in the...
Testing New Drone Technology to Measure Floodwaters
A USGS crew used new drone technology to test and evaluate new technology to measure water speed from the air without touching the water. This drone footage was taken on the Missouri River at Hermann, Missouri on March 27, 2019. Scientists compared these new method results to the conventional way of taking measurements from a boat.
Timelapse of Brandon Road Lock during USGS Dye Study
This is a timelapse video of a dye tracer study at Brandon Road Lock, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) facility in Joliet, IL, on the Des Plaines River on October 20, 2015.
This is a timelapse video of a dye tracer study at Brandon Road Lock, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) facility in Joliet, IL, on the Des Plaines River on October 20, 2015.
Visualizing Flow Through the Brandon Road Lock & Dam
This video portrays two areas near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, a US Army Corps of Engineers facility in Joliet, IL. This video was collected as the lock was emptied through the downstream valves, refilled with water, and then emptied again. This data collection is supporting efforts to combat the spread of invasive Asian carp into the Great Lakes Basin.
This video portrays two areas near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, a US Army Corps of Engineers facility in Joliet, IL. This video was collected as the lock was emptied through the downstream valves, refilled with water, and then emptied again. This data collection is supporting efforts to combat the spread of invasive Asian carp into the Great Lakes Basin.
Science and Products
ZenRiver game concept: accelerating creation of machine learning imagery training datasets using citizen science
We aim to develop a web-based game where players use human-assisted image segmentation to produce annotated “meditation drawing” images of surface water sites to accelerate the creation of machine learning imagery training datasets. The game will also public education and outreach opportunities.
Develop Cloud Computing Capability at Streamgages using Amazon Web Services GreenGrass IoT Framework for Camera Image Velocity Gaging
We developed an Internet of Things (IoT) prototype and associated cloud infrastructure for camera-based data collection and initial processing of river streamflow using the cloud (fig. 1). This pilot successfully created a hardware and cloud infrastructure to collect and upload video from a camera gage at San Pedro Creek in San Antonio, Texas. Using a ThingLogix Foundry instance in the...
Testing New Drone Technology to Measure Floodwaters
A USGS crew used new drone technology to test and evaluate new technology to measure water speed from the air without touching the water. This drone footage was taken on the Missouri River at Hermann, Missouri on March 27, 2019. Scientists compared these new method results to the conventional way of taking measurements from a boat.
A USGS crew used new drone technology to test and evaluate new technology to measure water speed from the air without touching the water. This drone footage was taken on the Missouri River at Hermann, Missouri on March 27, 2019. Scientists compared these new method results to the conventional way of taking measurements from a boat.
Timelapse of Brandon Road Lock during USGS Dye Study
This is a timelapse video of a dye tracer study at Brandon Road Lock, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) facility in Joliet, IL, on the Des Plaines River on October 20, 2015.
This is a timelapse video of a dye tracer study at Brandon Road Lock, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) facility in Joliet, IL, on the Des Plaines River on October 20, 2015.
Visualizing Flow Through the Brandon Road Lock & Dam
This video portrays two areas near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, a US Army Corps of Engineers facility in Joliet, IL. This video was collected as the lock was emptied through the downstream valves, refilled with water, and then emptied again. This data collection is supporting efforts to combat the spread of invasive Asian carp into the Great Lakes Basin.
This video portrays two areas near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, a US Army Corps of Engineers facility in Joliet, IL. This video was collected as the lock was emptied through the downstream valves, refilled with water, and then emptied again. This data collection is supporting efforts to combat the spread of invasive Asian carp into the Great Lakes Basin.