ECOHYDROLOGICAL APPLICATIONS OF UAVS

1. E C O H Y D R O L O G I C A L
A P P L I C AT I O N S O F U AV S
K E L LY C A Y L O R , P R I N C E T O N U N I V E R S I T Y
S U M M E R S C H O O L O F H Y D R O L O G Y
A P P L I E D C O U R S E O N U A V S F O R E N V I R O N M E N TA L M O N I T O R I N G
M A T E R A S U M M E R C O U R S E , 2 0 1 5

2. S PAT I A L E C O H Y D R O L O G Y R E S E A R C H
Q U E S T I O N S
W H A T A R E T H E E C O L O G I C A L A N D H Y D R O L O G I C A L
S I G N AT U R E S O F O R G A N I Z A T I O N O F V E G E TA T I O N
PA T T E R N W I T H I N L A N D S C A P E S ?
W H A T K I N D S O F E C O L O G I C A L A N D H Y D R O L O G I C A L
D Y N A M I C S C A N L E A D T O T H E D E V E L O P M E N T O F S U C H
PA T T E R N S ?
W H A T D O T H E S E C O U P L E D PA T T E R N S A N D P R O C E S S E S
T E L L U S A B O U T T H E P O T E N T I A L F O R F U T U R E C H A N G E
I N WA T E R - L I M I T E D E C O S Y S T E M S ?

3. E C O H Y D R O L O G I C A L O R G A N I Z AT I O N
Relative controls on surface hydrological patterns
Geom
orphological
Ecological
Clim
atological
High
Low
High
Low
High Low
River
basins
Tree/grass
mosaic Hillslopes
Regional
LandscapePatch UAVs

4. PAT T E R N S A R E S C A L E - D E P E N D E N T
Caylor & Shugart, 2004

5. P R O C E S S E S A R E S C A L E - D E P E N D E N T
Caylor & Shugart, 2004

6. SCALE-DEPENDENCE + NON-LINEARITY
Small-scale spatial pattern and organization may have substantial
impacts on landscape-scale energy and water balance of vegetation
f(E [x]) 6= E [f(x)](Jensen, 1906)
RADIATION TEMPERATURE WATER POTENTIAL
CHARACTERISTIC STOMATAL RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATION
(Figures from Jarvis, 1976)

7. U AV B A S E L I N E D ATA F O R
E C O H Y D R O L O G I C A L M O D E L I N G
Digital Elevation Models, Thermal, NDVI:
L A N D S C A P E - S C A L E M O D E L S O F H I L L S L O P E PA T T E R N &
P R O C E S S E S
Canopy Mapping, Patch/Landcover Classification:
PA T C H - B A S E D M O D E L S O F S O I L M O I S T U R E D Y N A M I C S &
V E G E TA T I O N WA T E R U S E / G R O W T H
Feature Extraction & Image Morphological Analysis:
I N D I V I D U A L - B A S E D M O D E L S O F T R E E / G R A S S
C O M P E T I T I O N

8. Digital Elevation Models, Thermal, NDVI, (LIDAR):
L A N D S C A P E - S C A L E M O D E L S O F H I L L S L O P E PA T T E R N &
P R O C E S S E S
Slopes - 3 to 7%

9. Digital Elevation Models, Thermal, NDVI, (LIDAR):
L A N D S C A P E - S C A L E M O D E L S O F H I L L S L O P E PA T T E R N &
P R O C E S S E S
Characterizing hillslope flow convergence
U A V- D E R I V E D M A P S O F
H I L L S L O P E S L O P E S A N D
E L E VA T I O N C A N C L A R I F Y
H O W M I C R O
T O P O G R A P H Y A N D
V E G E TA T I O N I N T E R A C T

10. Pandamatenga Agricultural Station,
Botswana
(18.66S 25.50E)
Spatial mosaic of landscape patches
can be derived from UAV data.
698 mm
Caylor, 2005
Canopy Mapping, Patch/Landcover Classification:
PA T C H - B A S E D M O D E L S O F S O I L M O I S T U R E D Y N A M I C S &
V E G E TA T I O N WA T E R U S E / G R O W T H

11. 11
Canopy Mapping, Patch/Landcover Classification:
PA T C H - B A S E D M O D E L S O F S O I L M O I S T U R E D Y N A M I C S &
V E G E TA T I O N WA T E R U S E / G R O W T H
Spatial mosaic of
landscape patches
can be used to
infer vegetation
function
Caylor & Shugart, 2004Caylor, 2005

12. Vegetation is organized along a continuum from over-
dispersed (uniform) to under-dispersed (clumped)
uniform random
clumped
Increasing variance in density
Feature Extraction & Image Morphological Analysis:
I N D I V I D U A L - B A S E D M O D E L S O F T R E E / G R A S S C O M P E T I T I O N

13. Under-dispersed
Over-dispersed
Poisson
No variance
Good et al., Proc Roy Soc A, 2013
Under-dispersed
Over-dispersed
Drylands
Patterns of LAI means and standard
deviation organized by landcover (CONUS)
Impact of spatial pattern on expected water
use of vegetation
Feature Extraction & Image Morphological Analysis:
I N D I V I D U A L - B A S E D M O D E L S O F T R E E / G R A S S C O M P E T I T I O N

14. U AV O P P O R T U N I T I E S D ATA F O R
E C O H Y D R O L O G I C A L R E S E A R C H
Digital Elevation Models, Thermal, NDVI:
U N D E R S TA N D I N G D Y N A M I C S O F H I L L S L O P E PA T T E R N F O R M A T I O N
A N D S U R FA C E H Y D R O L O G I C A L P R O C E S S E S
Canopy Mapping, Patch/Landcover Classification:
I N F E R R I N G PA T C H - B A S E D D Y N A M I C S O F S O I L M O I S T U R E &
V E G E TA T I O N / C R O P WA T E R U S E / G R O W T H
Feature Extraction & Image Morphological Analysis:
M A P P I N G I N D I V I D U A L - B A S E D PA T T E R N S O F V E G E TA T I O N / C R O P S
& I N F E R R I N G C O M P E T I T I V E E C O H Y D R O L O G I C A L I N T E R A C T I O N S