Issue link: http://uwashington.uberflip.com/i/903202
PEDESTRIAN TRACKING USING ULTRA- WIDEBAND RADIO Several years ago, PacTrans funded a multi-institution project that incorporated PIs from three of PacTrans five consortium institutions. Keith Cunningham from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Michael Olsen from Oregon State University, and Joe Wartman from the University of Washington, set out to develop a new, automated technology that fundamentally shifted slope asset management (risk of rock fall and land slide) from a reactive method to a proactive method. The potential benefits of such a shift, had the potential to increase speed and improve this type of risk evaluation, help protect public safety, and ultimately save money and lives. The system has become feasible with the emergence of technology that enables new capabilities using light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology. The "rockfall activity index," as it's called, should add precision to and expedite what has, until recently, been a somewhat subjective, time-consuming process in an effort to determine just how dangerous a cliff is to the people, vehicles, roads or structures below it. The paper that was produced from this work was just published in the Engineering Geology Journal (http://www.sciencedirect.com/ science/article/pii/S0013795216305671) this April. It has since made headlines in: UW Today, Science Daily, Phys.org, Sci News, and Hi Tech Days, among others. KEZI News in Corvallis covered this story several weeks ago and video footage in the article is a clear and succinct explanation of the work. It has also been featured in the August issue of Earth Magazine. This research team is starting a new research project with Oregon Department of Transportation evaluating seismic rockfall risk, part of which includes implementing the RAI technique into their workflows. Ultimately, they see it as a valuable tool to prioritize slopes to reduce the amount of manual inspection required (which includes people repelling down the cliffs). Additionally, the rigorous analysis comparing the surface models created from the terrestrial lidar with the unmanned aircraft system photogrammetry has help the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities with their decision to incorporate UAS technology in their projects. Contact: Michael Olsen, olsen@oregonstate.edu, Joseph Wartman, wartman@uw.edu, Keith Cunningham, kwcunningham@alaska.edu 11 2014-2015 Annual Report