Larry Robinson (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Aerial orthoimagery development of Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms Preserves on the Illinois River for the Nature Conservancy
The Illinois River's Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms Preserves are collaborative floodplain restoration projects involving The Nature Conservancy (TNC), The US Army Corps of Engineers, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), with restoration efforts guided by a team of over forty science advisers. Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms were historic wetlands prior to conversion to farmland. This project is...
Feral hog survey over Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve using high-resolution thermal infrared imagery
The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (JELA) in southeastern Louisiana is being invaded by feral hogs ( Sus scrofa ) and in need a systemic survey to determine where and how many hogs exist within the park boundary. Feral hogs are able to reproduce and increase their range rapidly, they are highly destructive to streams, wetlands, native plants and farm fields, and can spread...
2020 Systemic Land Cover/Land Use Aerial Imagery Acquisition, Image Interpretation, and Spatial Data Products for the Upper Mississippi River System
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) program, through its Long Term Resource Monitoring (UMRR-LTRM) element, is completing the 2020 decadal update of Land Cover/Land Use (LCU) for the entire Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). Dissemination of the 2020 LCU database will provide a fourth systemic dataset to compare to the 1989, 2000, and 2010/11...
Pre- and Post-Maintenance Aerial Imagery for Illinois River's Alton through Brandon Lock and Dams, 2019-2021
Most of the locks and dams on the Illinois River are scheduled for closure for repair during the summer of 2020. This project will use 4-band (natural color and color infrared) aerial imagery to document baseline aquatic vegetation and river conditions prior to the closures in the late summer of 2019, and once again in the later summer of 2021 after the locks are reopened.
Remote Sensing in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Surveys Branch
The Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center and the USFWS Migratory Bird Surveys Branch continue to partner on remote sensing projects that document and describe our natural resources, including flight planning, image acquisition, and image processing support for both waterfowl and wildlife surveys and for vegetation mapping projects.
Small Unmanned Aircraft System Assets
This web page describes small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) assets available at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC), current to May 1, 2020. These sUAS assets will change with project requirements and advancements in sUAS technology, in accordance with the Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Aircraft Services (OAS) policy. In accordance to DOI Secretarial Order 3379,...
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Comprehensive Conservation Plan
The Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been entrusted to manage our nation’s critical wetland resources. Due to conversion in industrial, residential, and agricultural uses, these wetlands have been disappearing at an alarming rate over the last one-hundred years. In order to better care for these resources, all of the refuges are developing long-term Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCP).
Work with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Reed Canary Grass
Impact of UMESC Science To generate decision-making information needed for refuge managers on how to treat reed canary grass in order to maintain or restore target communities and the wildlife they support.
Code, imagery, and annotations for training a deep learning model to detect wildlife in aerial imagery
There are 3 child zip files included in this data release. 01_Codebase.zip contains a codebase for using deep learning to filter images based on the probability of any bird occurrence. It includes instructions and files necessary for training, validating, and testing a machine learning detection algorithm. 02_Imagery.zip contains imagery that were collected using a Partenavia P68 fixed-wing airpla
Images and annotations to automate the classification of avian species
This dataset is a collection of cropped avian images that pair with species identification annotation values.
Aerial thermal imagery of the Central Platte River Valley and bounding box annotations of sandhill cranes
Aerial thermal imagery was collected over the Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska, USA. Bounding box annotations were manually created for the purpose of machine learning tasks to automate the detection of sandhill cranes. Mosaicking of the thermal imagery was complete to assemble the individual images into a single, geo-referenced image.
Illinois River: Emiquon and surrounding area aerial imagery
Located in floodplain of the Illinois River near Havana, IL, Emiquon is one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the Midwest. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manage a TNC preserve and FWS Naitonal Wildlife Refuge in this area. In 2012, the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge was designated a "Ramsar Wetland of International Importance."
2018 Eastern Lake Erie Shoreline 4-band orthophotos and mosaics
High-resolution digital aerial imagery was collected on August 24, 2018, with an 80-megapixel Phase One iXU-R 180 natural color aerial camera co-mounted with a Phase One iXU-RS 160 achromatic aerial camera. Software co-registers the simultaneously collected images to create 4-band imagery that can be displayed in either true color (RGB) or color-infrared (CIR) format. The camera system is connecte
2019 Illinois Waterway Aerial Image Mosaics
The Corps of Engineers' Rock Island District is planning an unprecedented closure of the Illinois Waterway in 2020 in order to perform required maintenance on locks. Aerial imagery will document river conditions prior to the closure (2019) and after the locks are reopened (2021). Under a separate but related effort, aerial imagery of the entire Illinois Waterway will be collected in 2020 as part o
2018 Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms Preserves, 4-Band Mosaics
This mosaic was created using high-resolution aerial imagery collected on September 14, 2018 with a Phase One iXU-R 180 aerial camera co-mounted with a Phase One iXU-RS 160 Achromatic camera. The raw image files from the two cameras are combined to create 4-band imagery. The mission was flown at approximately 1,2000 meters above ground level resulting in a ground sample distance of 0.15 meters/pix
2017 True Color Mosaic, Emiquon Preserve and Spunky Bottoms
The true color aerial imagery contained in this mosaic was collected on September 19, 2017 with a Phase One iXU-R 180 aerial camera system. The mission was flown at approximately 1,200 meters above ground level resulting in a ground sample distance of 0.15 meters/pixel (6"/pixel). The area of interest is the Emiquon Preserve and the mosaic is for the purpose of habitat monitoring.
2016 True Color Mosaic, Emiquon Preserve and Surrounding Areas
The true color aerial imagery contained in this mosaic was collected on September 19, 2016 with a Phase One iXU-R 180 aerial camera system. The mission was flown at approximately 1,200 meters above ground level resulting in a ground sample distance of 0.15 meters/pixel (6"/pixel). The area of interest is the Emiquon Preserve and surrounding areas and the mosaic is for the purpose of habitat monito
2020 Four-band aerial imagery testing and acquisition for 2020 land cover/land use mission
The aerial camera testing project lays the groundwork for the collection of aerial imagery that will be used in the creation of the next iteration of systemic land cover/land use data for the Upper Mississippi River System. Prior to acquisition in the summer of 2020, the new 4-band aerial camera will be assessed for image quality at various resolutions and be compared to the camera used for the 20
Authors
Larry R. Robinson
Mapping the thermal landscape of the Upper Mississippi River
Temperature has a fundamental influence on physical, chemical and biological processing in aquatic ecosystems. River temperatures respond to a diverse array of drivers including air temperature, streamflow, and thermal inputs, but the physical template has been shown to play a significant role in structuring spatial and temporal variation in water temperature. How these factors interact to affect
Authors
Kathi Jo Jankowski, Larry R. Robinson, John Kalas, Alicia Carhart, Brian R. Lubinski, Janis Ruhser
General classification handbook for floodplain vegetation in large river systems
This handbook describes the General Wetland Vegetation Classification System developed as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program, Long Term Resource Monitoring (LTRM) element. The UMRR is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the states of Illinois, Iowa, Minne
Authors
Jennifer J. Dieck, Janis Ruhser, Erin E. Hoy, Larry R. Robinson
Web GIS in practice VII: stereoscopic 3-D solutions for online maps and virtual globes
Because our pupils are about 6.5 cm apart, each eye views a scene from a different angle and sends a unique image to the visual cortex, which then merges the images from both eyes into a single picture. The slight difference between the right and left images allows the brain to properly perceive the 'third dimension' or depth in a scene (stereopsis). However, when a person views a conventional 2-D
Authors
Maged N.K. Boulos, Larry R. Robinson
Changes in backwater plant communities from 1975 to 1995 in Navigation Pool 8, Upper Mississippi River
Water elevation in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) is highly regulated by an extensive system of locks and dams. Completion of this system in the 1930s created productive, biologically diverse backwater habitats. The status of plant communities in these backwater areas may now be threatened by several factors, including sediment accumulation, recreational use, and navigation traffic. Aerial phot
Authors
Robin W. Tyser, Sara J. Rogers, Thomas W. Owens, Larry R. Robinson
Science and Products
Aerial orthoimagery development of Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms Preserves on the Illinois River for the Nature Conservancy
The Illinois River's Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms Preserves are collaborative floodplain restoration projects involving The Nature Conservancy (TNC), The US Army Corps of Engineers, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), with restoration efforts guided by a team of over forty science advisers. Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms were historic wetlands prior to conversion to farmland. This project is...
Feral hog survey over Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve using high-resolution thermal infrared imagery
The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (JELA) in southeastern Louisiana is being invaded by feral hogs ( Sus scrofa ) and in need a systemic survey to determine where and how many hogs exist within the park boundary. Feral hogs are able to reproduce and increase their range rapidly, they are highly destructive to streams, wetlands, native plants and farm fields, and can spread...
2020 Systemic Land Cover/Land Use Aerial Imagery Acquisition, Image Interpretation, and Spatial Data Products for the Upper Mississippi River System
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) program, through its Long Term Resource Monitoring (UMRR-LTRM) element, is completing the 2020 decadal update of Land Cover/Land Use (LCU) for the entire Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). Dissemination of the 2020 LCU database will provide a fourth systemic dataset to compare to the 1989, 2000, and 2010/11...
Pre- and Post-Maintenance Aerial Imagery for Illinois River's Alton through Brandon Lock and Dams, 2019-2021
Most of the locks and dams on the Illinois River are scheduled for closure for repair during the summer of 2020. This project will use 4-band (natural color and color infrared) aerial imagery to document baseline aquatic vegetation and river conditions prior to the closures in the late summer of 2019, and once again in the later summer of 2021 after the locks are reopened.
Remote Sensing in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Surveys Branch
The Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center and the USFWS Migratory Bird Surveys Branch continue to partner on remote sensing projects that document and describe our natural resources, including flight planning, image acquisition, and image processing support for both waterfowl and wildlife surveys and for vegetation mapping projects.
Small Unmanned Aircraft System Assets
This web page describes small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) assets available at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC), current to May 1, 2020. These sUAS assets will change with project requirements and advancements in sUAS technology, in accordance with the Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of Aircraft Services (OAS) policy. In accordance to DOI Secretarial Order 3379,...
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Comprehensive Conservation Plan
The Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been entrusted to manage our nation’s critical wetland resources. Due to conversion in industrial, residential, and agricultural uses, these wetlands have been disappearing at an alarming rate over the last one-hundred years. In order to better care for these resources, all of the refuges are developing long-term Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCP).
Work with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Reed Canary Grass
Impact of UMESC Science To generate decision-making information needed for refuge managers on how to treat reed canary grass in order to maintain or restore target communities and the wildlife they support.
Code, imagery, and annotations for training a deep learning model to detect wildlife in aerial imagery
There are 3 child zip files included in this data release. 01_Codebase.zip contains a codebase for using deep learning to filter images based on the probability of any bird occurrence. It includes instructions and files necessary for training, validating, and testing a machine learning detection algorithm. 02_Imagery.zip contains imagery that were collected using a Partenavia P68 fixed-wing airpla
Images and annotations to automate the classification of avian species
This dataset is a collection of cropped avian images that pair with species identification annotation values.
Aerial thermal imagery of the Central Platte River Valley and bounding box annotations of sandhill cranes
Aerial thermal imagery was collected over the Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska, USA. Bounding box annotations were manually created for the purpose of machine learning tasks to automate the detection of sandhill cranes. Mosaicking of the thermal imagery was complete to assemble the individual images into a single, geo-referenced image.
Illinois River: Emiquon and surrounding area aerial imagery
Located in floodplain of the Illinois River near Havana, IL, Emiquon is one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the Midwest. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manage a TNC preserve and FWS Naitonal Wildlife Refuge in this area. In 2012, the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge was designated a "Ramsar Wetland of International Importance."
2018 Eastern Lake Erie Shoreline 4-band orthophotos and mosaics
High-resolution digital aerial imagery was collected on August 24, 2018, with an 80-megapixel Phase One iXU-R 180 natural color aerial camera co-mounted with a Phase One iXU-RS 160 achromatic aerial camera. Software co-registers the simultaneously collected images to create 4-band imagery that can be displayed in either true color (RGB) or color-infrared (CIR) format. The camera system is connecte
2019 Illinois Waterway Aerial Image Mosaics
The Corps of Engineers' Rock Island District is planning an unprecedented closure of the Illinois Waterway in 2020 in order to perform required maintenance on locks. Aerial imagery will document river conditions prior to the closure (2019) and after the locks are reopened (2021). Under a separate but related effort, aerial imagery of the entire Illinois Waterway will be collected in 2020 as part o
2018 Emiquon and Spunky Bottoms Preserves, 4-Band Mosaics
This mosaic was created using high-resolution aerial imagery collected on September 14, 2018 with a Phase One iXU-R 180 aerial camera co-mounted with a Phase One iXU-RS 160 Achromatic camera. The raw image files from the two cameras are combined to create 4-band imagery. The mission was flown at approximately 1,2000 meters above ground level resulting in a ground sample distance of 0.15 meters/pix
2017 True Color Mosaic, Emiquon Preserve and Spunky Bottoms
The true color aerial imagery contained in this mosaic was collected on September 19, 2017 with a Phase One iXU-R 180 aerial camera system. The mission was flown at approximately 1,200 meters above ground level resulting in a ground sample distance of 0.15 meters/pixel (6"/pixel). The area of interest is the Emiquon Preserve and the mosaic is for the purpose of habitat monitoring.
2016 True Color Mosaic, Emiquon Preserve and Surrounding Areas
The true color aerial imagery contained in this mosaic was collected on September 19, 2016 with a Phase One iXU-R 180 aerial camera system. The mission was flown at approximately 1,200 meters above ground level resulting in a ground sample distance of 0.15 meters/pixel (6"/pixel). The area of interest is the Emiquon Preserve and surrounding areas and the mosaic is for the purpose of habitat monito
2020 Four-band aerial imagery testing and acquisition for 2020 land cover/land use mission
The aerial camera testing project lays the groundwork for the collection of aerial imagery that will be used in the creation of the next iteration of systemic land cover/land use data for the Upper Mississippi River System. Prior to acquisition in the summer of 2020, the new 4-band aerial camera will be assessed for image quality at various resolutions and be compared to the camera used for the 20
Authors
Larry R. Robinson
Mapping the thermal landscape of the Upper Mississippi River
Temperature has a fundamental influence on physical, chemical and biological processing in aquatic ecosystems. River temperatures respond to a diverse array of drivers including air temperature, streamflow, and thermal inputs, but the physical template has been shown to play a significant role in structuring spatial and temporal variation in water temperature. How these factors interact to affect
Authors
Kathi Jo Jankowski, Larry R. Robinson, John Kalas, Alicia Carhart, Brian R. Lubinski, Janis Ruhser
General classification handbook for floodplain vegetation in large river systems
This handbook describes the General Wetland Vegetation Classification System developed as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program, Long Term Resource Monitoring (LTRM) element. The UMRR is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the states of Illinois, Iowa, Minne
Authors
Jennifer J. Dieck, Janis Ruhser, Erin E. Hoy, Larry R. Robinson
Web GIS in practice VII: stereoscopic 3-D solutions for online maps and virtual globes
Because our pupils are about 6.5 cm apart, each eye views a scene from a different angle and sends a unique image to the visual cortex, which then merges the images from both eyes into a single picture. The slight difference between the right and left images allows the brain to properly perceive the 'third dimension' or depth in a scene (stereopsis). However, when a person views a conventional 2-D
Authors
Maged N.K. Boulos, Larry R. Robinson
Changes in backwater plant communities from 1975 to 1995 in Navigation Pool 8, Upper Mississippi River
Water elevation in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) is highly regulated by an extensive system of locks and dams. Completion of this system in the 1930s created productive, biologically diverse backwater habitats. The status of plant communities in these backwater areas may now be threatened by several factors, including sediment accumulation, recreational use, and navigation traffic. Aerial phot
Authors
Robin W. Tyser, Sara J. Rogers, Thomas W. Owens, Larry R. Robinson