High-level Data Fusion Software for SHOALS-1000TH FY07 Annual Report

Optech International and the Department of Marine Science at the University of Southern Mississippi have partnered to develop and apply data fusion techniques for application to environmental mapping problems in shallow-water and coastal environments. This work has lead to: (1) a robust collaboration between industry and academia focused on the use of airborne remote sensing technologies for nearshore and coastal analysis; (2) the emergence of a data fusion paradigm wherein a larger community of researchers can understand and eventually contribute to this work; (3) dissemination of appropriate data sets into the larger community; and to (4) improved understanding of regional-scale coastal environmental processes which will be realized thorough the structured analysis of combined airborne lidar and passive spectral data.