Spatial Analysis Laboratory

Lab Description

The Desert Research Institute (DRI) is recog­nized for significant and unique applications of spatial data (geographic information systems [GIS] and remotely sensed data) to ad­dress archaeological, atmospheric, biological, ecological, geological and hydrological research topics both nationally and internationally. Many DRI investigators use multi-scale remote sensing and GIS to map, monitor, and model earth surface processes in a diverse range of environments. DRI’s Spatial Analysis Laboratory (SAL) provides a wide range of hardware and software tools for addressing these applications and data from satellite, manned, and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) as well as ground based remote sensing data.

Computations are conducted on a wide variety of Intel and AMD-based systems, which range from a general purpose, 15-node HPC cluster to enterprise-grade desktop image processing, visualization and computation resources. The SAL offers workload hosting on both bare metal systems as well as state-of-the-art visualization platforms. Platforms include customized AVADirect AMD 7000 Series high performance workstations with Geoforce RTX graphics cards (4) down to desktop workstations. Critical data is backed up to cloud storage providers and on-premises enterprise disk and tape systems. Scientists also make use of a wide variety of high-resolution printers and plotters. DRI’s IT Department offers full stack support and consulting services for all of these technologies, leveraging a wide range of staff expertise and decades of hands-on experience.

The SAL supports a system-wide license of ESRI GIS software, including ArcPro and extensions, ArcOnline, ArcServer, and other ESRI products, instructional aides, and online databases. The Laboratory supports a system-wide license of NV5 image processing and programming software, including ENVI and IDL. A system-wide license of MAT­LAB software is also available at the Institute level. The SAL supports system-wide licenses of AgiSoft Metashape Professional and PIX4Dmapper software for development of photogrammetric processing and image analysis techniques as well as 3D spatial model generation.

The SAL has many hardware systems for acquiring spatial and spectral data. GPS hardware includes: a Trimble R10 survey grade system, two Trimble R2 map grade systems (sub-foot/decimeter real-time), as well as a Trimble Geo7X that can produce data post-processed to 2-3 cm or sub-meter in real time mode, and many Garmin hand-held GPS systems. A Malvern Panalytical ASD FieldSpec 3 Max full range field spectrometer is available for performing detailed spectral analysis of field samples. The SAL also has hyperspectral, multispectral, color, and thermal digital cameras/sensor payloads (HySpex Mjolnir VS-620, Sony RX1R II, RGB61, ADC2 by Tetracam, Altum by MicaSense, Survey3 by MAPIR, and FLIR Duo-Pro R) for deployment on several UAS platforms;  Wingtra Gen II, Freefly Alta-X, Inspired Flight IF750, Parrot Anafi USA Government Edition, DJI Matrice 600, and DJI Phantom.

To support hands-on spatial analysis training, DRI maintains a teaching laboratory where university level classes and short courses in image processing, remote sensing, and GIS are taught.