In late July major thunderstorms dropped half a foot of rain in a matter of hours over a small location in central Vermont. Streams quickly rose, moving woody debris downstream where it clogged culverts and bridges. The resulting floods caused substantial damage to both roads and bridges in two towns. By deploying UAS technology in the hours after the storm researchers were able to document the event and measure the damage using 3-D models created from the UAS imagery. Perhaps more importantly, they were able to conduct a detailed survey of the problematic streams and quantify the amount of woody debris that had moved during the storm and map the woody debris that would likely affect culverts and bridges in subsequent storms.
This video appears courtesy of Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne, University of Vermont.
