Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Use USGS Funds for LIDAR Dataset Processing
Last Updated on Thursday, 30 October 2008 10:41 Written by Rosemarie McKeon
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The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla (CTUIR) received approximately $58,000 in funding from the U. S. Geological Survey to process Light Detection And Ranging (Lidar) data and create a dataset that would span the mainstem of the Umatilla River, approximately 90 miles. This dataset will be incorporated into the National Elevation Dataset (http://ned.usgs.gov/) and be available through The National Map (http://nationalmap.gov/).
The LIDAR data will be used by the CTUIR and others to increase their understanding of the thermal and geomorphic dynamics of the Umatilla River in order to address water quality and endangered fisheries issues. This data will improve the CTUIR understanding of the relevance of flooding in creating and maintaining habitats critical for native aquatic organisms. It will also be a fundamental part of the modeling framework for temperature and total daily maximum load of pollutants for the Umatilla River as it flows through the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
