Using Unmanned Aerial Systems to Identify and Manage Protected Species Habitat

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or drones provide a unique but mostly unexploited opportunity to improve the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)'s right-of-way management and its current practices for planning, designing, constructing, and maintaining habitat. The research team will develop guidance on the use of UAS to identify and manage protected species habitat and determine the efficacy of multi- and hyper-spectral imagery for identifying and mapping endangered plant populations and potential pollinator conservation areas.

• Record URL:
  • https://library.ctr.utexas.edu/Presto/project=0-7258

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $1,175,396.00
• Contract Numbers:

  0-7258

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Texas Department of Transportation

  125 E. 11th Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483
• Managing Organizations:

  Texas Department of Transportation

  125 E. 11th Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483
• Project Managers:

  Dassi, Martin

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas A&M Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System
  3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135

  Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

  6300 Ocean Drive
  Corpus Christi, Texas  United States  78412
• Principal Investigators:

  Kraus, Edgar

• Start Date: 20250901
• Expected Completion Date: 20280831
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drones; Endangered species; Environmental monitoring; Habitat; Image analysis; Mapping; Pollinators; Right of way (Land); Vegetation
• Identifier Terms: Texas Department of Transportation
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01967587
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Texas Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 0-7258
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 29 2025 4:28PM