In the final video of seven, Dr. Chris Hopkinson discusses the use of LiDAR for water resource monitoring. He in particular talks about snow pack monitoring in mountain watersheds. In the alpine zone, he found good correlation between LiDAR differences and snow pack depths. LiDAR confirms maximum snow pack volume is at treeline. The details from the LiDAR study allows translation of these results to other adjoining watersheds. LiDAR also shows the runoff contribution of ice cores buried in moraines after glacier recession. LiDAR in remote areas provides useful information about hydraulic gradients on complex river systems (the example is the McKenzie River delta). He shows how LiDAR picks up hydraulic jumps and allows the modelling of detailed river hydraulics that otherwise would require detailed stream gauging.
Dr. Hopkinson's presentation was part of the University of Lethbridge's workshop on LiDAR/SAR, June 26,27, 2014
