Advancing Pollinator Habitat Monitoring through Remote Sensing on Nebraska Roadsides

To meet monitoring and reporting requirements under the Monarch Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA), Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) must collect consistent data on milkweed stem density and nectar-plant cover across extensive roadside networks. Current field-based approaches, though effective, are resource-intensive, limited in spatial coverage, and require a specialized level of biological expertise. NDOT needs a scalable and cost-effective remote sensing strategy that can meet CCAA requirements. Furthermore, NDOT must understand the costs and benefits to applying this technology in-house or via external contract, and how the products could be applied to offer NDOT versatile imagery and data outputs that can support broader environmental review needs, planning, and maintenance decisions.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Programmed
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Nebraska Department of Transportation

  1500 Nebraska 2
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68502
• Project Managers:

  Halsey, Lieska

• Principal Investigators:

  Manzanares, Mercy

• Start Date: 20260701
• Expected Completion Date: 20280531
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefit cost analysis; Data collection; Environmental monitoring; Habitat; Pollinators; Remote sensing; Roadside flora
• Geographic Terms: Nebraska
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Environment; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01991955
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Nebraska Department of Transportation
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jun 5 2026 12:41PM