Passive Ecosystem Monitoring: Developing UAS-based monitoring methodologies for tidal wetlands in the NERR System

Tidal wetlands perform vital ecosystem services. However, these wetlands confront anthropogenic and natural stressors that are actively contributing to their degradation. In an effort to safeguard tidal wetlands and the ecosystem services they provide, the National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) system developed a System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) intent on assessing impacts to tidal wetlands and, where possible, addressing those impacts. The NERR system SWMP has identified gaps in its current field-based and satellite-based monitoring methodologies—gaps that unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) are uniquely poised to fill. However, NERR system managers lack the expertise necessary to develop rigorous and reliable UAS-based data collection and data analysis workflows upon which reserve managers can rely as they continue to study tidal wetlands. Furthermore, because UAS technology is relatively young, scientific publications for which UASs have been used typically do not discuss data collection and data analysis methodologies in adequate detail for consumers of these publications to replicate, reserve managers included. This project relies on rapidly-deployed aerial surveys of several tidal wetlands proximate to Beaufort, North Carolina in order to develop data collection and data analysis workflows. This project employs an iterative data collection and data analysis process in order to improve these workflows. These workflows will help the NERR system managers in North Carolina and beyond monitor and protect tidal wetlands and the ecosystem services they provide.