Using Low-Cost Thermal Cameras to Validate Lidar-Based Predictions of Flow through the Riparian Buffer Zones.

Riparian buffer zones (RBZs) are critical to protecting water quality, but the effectiveness of these areas depends on their ability to intercept and filter storm event flow. High Resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data provides a unique and accurate way to characterize both surface topography and riparian vegetation. Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis that combines this topography and 3D vegetation cover with high resolution soils databases has the potential to predict areas of concentrated flow through riparian zones. This project proposes to develop techniques to map the riparian zone in areas of concentrated flow along the streams in the Lake Issaqueena watershed in the upstate of South Carolina using. This watershed includes both forest and agricultural lands with a wide range of topography and therefore can serve as an excellent model system to evaluate the feasibility of detailed riparian area characterization. A randomly selected subset of riparian area sites was used to evaluate the accuracy of the concentrated flow and riparian area attributes at each location. Low-cost thermal imaging cameras were used to identify areas of flow and high soil moisture after rain events. These methodologies can serve as a template for further efforts to quantify not only the presence of riparian buffers, but also they are likely impact on protecting in-stream habitat and water quality.