Over the preceding couple months, I began two research projects that focus on environmental sensing of earth systems. I will be writing proposals and defending them before my committee later this spring.
The first project is hydrogeologic monitoring of springs and first order streams in the High Cascades supervised by Leif Karlstrom. This watershed is characterized by young volcanic aquifers with high porosity recharge from melting snow pack. Presently we have deployed simple data loggers for pressure and temperature near the discharge points of two springs.
The second project is lightning detection and mapping, supervised by Joe Dufek. Lightning generated by cumulonimbus clouds are the source of much wildfire activity in the western region of the United States. Our first step will be running an experiment to determine if wildfire ash changes the electromagnetic properties of the atmosphere to determine if there are any ways to detect and distinguish lightning caused by pyrocumulus clouds from that of cumulonimbus clouds. Our second step will be the deployment of lightning detection sensors on mountain tops in the cascades and coastal ranges.
A couple weeks ago, I received word that I have been funded as a research assistant by a government grant for the next two years. The aforementioned two projects will eventually be integrated into planning a multi-hazards sensor system that will be deployed in one of the major valleys in the Cascades. We are hoping to connect sensors into wild SAGE nodes (Argonne National Laboratory) for implementation of AI in these remote wilderness areas. One of our major aims is to acquire data at high geographic and temporal densities that can be used for both multi-hazard detection and scientific research. I am hoping that in the four years I have remaining at the University of Oregon this system will become operational.
