UKB_LiDAR_Work_Plan_Final_1.docx

PARTNERS PROGRAM WORK PLAN

LiDAR Data Collection Work Plan June 30, 2021 USFWS – Partners Program Project Location – Williamson, Sprague, and Sycan River Watersheds

Summary: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking to collect LiDAR and topobathymetric data for portions of the Upper Klamath Lake Watershed near Klamath Falls, Oregon, including the Sprague, Sycan, and Williamson river basins. The Service has secured $622,000 to fund these data collection and processing efforts, and we have developed an initial data collection coverage area based on what we believe may be possible to collect and process with the available funding. Details of this proposal are subject to modification based on the capabilities and cost estimates of the eventual contractor, with a goal of maximizing the areal coverage of LiDAR and topobathymetric data able to be collected with available funding.

LiDAR Data Collection: Numerous regulatory and planning documents (e.g., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Integrated Fisheries Restoration and Monitoring Plan, Upper Klamath Basin Watershed Action Plan, the Interim Measures Implementation Committee’s Priority List of Projects, Klamath Basin Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) and Water Quality Management Plans) indicate that riparian and floodplain restoration are priority projects to achieve the objectives of the Upper Klamath Lake Drainage TMDL and the Revised Recovery Plan for the Lost River sucker and Shortnose sucker. Channelization (due to levees and berms) and channel incision are key obstacles preventing floodplain and riparian recovery in the Upper Klamath Basin. While Upper Klamath Basin restoration practitioners have identified areas that are incised or channelized, we do not currently have access to precise and current data indicating where channel incision is the greatest and where the removal, set-back, or breaching of levees and berms would be most effective. LiDAR or something similar (e.g. photogrammetry) would provide the information necessary to prioritize areas where projects to reverse channel incision and mitigate (or eliminate) the effects of levees and berms are appropriate, necessary, and most needed. Specifically for projects addressing levees and berms, LiDAR would allow for local hydrologic/hydraulic modeling which is critical in prioritizing this work. Additionally, there is a lot of interest in Stage 0 restoration and stage 0 planning requires high quality DEMs, which primarily come from LiDAR. Finally, a team of local restoration professionals (the Upper Klamath Basin Watershed Action Plan team composed of staff from USFWS, Trout Unlimited, Klamath Watershed Partnership, The Klamath Tribes, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, The Nature Conservancy, and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board [of California]) has identified LiDAR as a priority data need to address know knowledge gaps related to restoration planning and prioritization in the Upper Klamath Basin.

LiDAR Collection Areas:

The areas of interest (AOIs) for this data collection effort include three watersheds in the Upper Klamath River Basin: the Sprague River (381 sq. mi.), Sycan River (200 sq. mi.), Williamson River (162 sq. mi.), (Figure 1). The AOIs will be buffered by ≥ 50m to ensure complete coverage and adequate point densities around study area boundaries.

Topobathymetric Lidar:

Topobathymetric lidar data will be acquired using a Riegl VQ-880G (or GII) hydrographic airborne laser system. The systems contain a green wavelength (ʎ=532 nm) laser capable of penetrating water, and a high repetition pulse rate, high scanning speed, small laser footprint, and wide field of view together facilitate high resolution coverage of topographic and bathymetric surfaces. Additionally, the short laser pulse length of the bathy system is ideal and critical for shallow-water systems allowing for effective discrimination between water and bathymetric surfaces when mapping near-shore, shallow, and dynamic aquatic environments.

Lidar data will be collected to produce a high resolution topobathymetric data set (combined average ≥ 6 pulses/m2) with a maximum scan angle of ± 20° (off nadir). Water clarity affects the depth penetration capability of the bathymetric laser with returning laser energy diminishing by scattering throughout the water column. Additionally, the bottom surface must be reflective enough to return remaining laser energy back to the sensor at a detectable level. The systems demonstrate hydrographic depth ranging capability of at least 1.5 Secchi depth (reliably up to ~20 ft in clear water) on bright reflective surfaces. Actual depth performance will depend on bottom reflectivity and water clarity at time of acquisition. Finally, the laser will not penetrate dense aquatic vegetation. Data will be collected during the best possible conditions for success. Comment by Johnson, Adam G: What was this? Try to bring it in.

Data & Products Point Cloud Topobathymetric:

• Classified Returns, Las 1.4 format Point files will include the following fields: X, Y, Z, Return Intensity, Return Number, Point Classification (topographic ground, default, bathymetric ground, water column, water surface), Scan Angle, Adjusted GPS Time Surface Models (Topobathymetric)

• Bare Earth (DEM), 1 m (3 ft) resolution, Esri Grid format

• Highest hit (DEM), 1 m (3 ft) resolution, Esri Grid format

• Intensity Images, 0.5 m (1.5 ft) resolution, GeoTiff format Vectors

• 2D Water’s Edge Breaklines, shapefile format (polyline) – Topobathymetric

• Bathymetric Coverage Polygon, shapefile format – Topobathymetric

• Survey Boundary, shapefile format

• Tile Delineation, shapefile format

• Ground Check Points, shapefile format Reporting

• Methods, Results, Accuracy Assessments, *.pdf format

• FGDC-compliant Metadata Coordinate System Standard UTM or State Plane and corresponding horizontal/vertical datums as appropriate, to be decided at time of final contracting.

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