In collaboration with University of Houston, Blum Center-affiliated UC Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering Brett Sanders received a three year grant from NASA for a project aimed to collect data and monitor local beaches by satellite imagery. The newest technology the team is working on with NASA is meant to be able to use space-based platforms to measure the erosion of beaches nearby.
The project will also be able to measure and determine flood risks as a result of the eroding coastlines. Being able to use space technology allows the research team a bigger field of view and more data, and local technology will help them validate and confirm the accuracy of the space data.
UC Irvine professors, graduate students, and all those involved in the research are hard at work beginning to implement the new technology alongside the existing ones. This research will be used city- and statewide to warn of rising rates of erosion before it’s too late to stop them.
Want to learn more? Read articles written about Brett Sanders and the work he is doing in the Daily Pilot and the Orange County Register.