Ellsworth American reports on Geospatial Analysis Laboratory
The Ellsworth American wrote about the University of Maine School of Forest Resources’ Barbara Wheatland Geospatial Analysis Laboratory’s involvement with the construction of a new waste transfer station in Orland. “Basically the client wanted the most up-to-date representation of what’s there on the ground,” says Dave Sandilands, a graduate student, remote sensing specialist and aerial survey pilot with the Wheatland Lab, which uses satellite and aerial photography, laser sensing data, geographic information systems and other tools, including the university’s Cessna 172, to monitor forests and conservation easements and to research the natural sciences. “GIS and remote sensing are very big in the forest industry,” says Sandilands, who added the technology is great for analyzing a forest’s structure and health from the air. Foresight Engineering asked the Wheatland Lab to do the aerial surveying in order to be able to accurately measure distances for clearing trees, constructing the station and anticipating where water runoff would flow.