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Tag: Dewberry

  • Dewberry awarded USGS Earth MRI task orders

    Image: USGS
    Image: USGS

    Firm will provide geophysical surveying services across multiple states

    Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has been awarded multiple task orders from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) under the Geospatial Products and Services Contract (GPSC) to perform airborne geophysical surveys in portions of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Texas and New Mexico for the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI).

    “Earth MRI is a play on words, as people are familiar with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to image inside the human brain,” said Dewberry Project Manager David Maune. “Dewberry is excited to support USGS in its mission to assess critical minerals using airborne geophysical survey technology.”

    Dewberry will perform very low-altitude magnetic and radiometric surveys from a fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter with towed-array sensors to image subsurface geologic structures in search of undiscovered critical minerals and rare earth elements vital for the electronics industry.

    These projects, which will be used to evaluate the potential for undiscovered critical mineral deposits contributing to an understanding of the major mineral systems for the two regions, are expected to be completed in early 2021.

  • Dewberry selected for NOAA shoreline mapping contract

    Dewberry selected for NOAA shoreline mapping contract

    Existing NOAA nautical chart of Nantucket Harbor, Mass., overlaid with revised shoreline features collected by Dewberry. Image courtesy of Dewberry. (Image: Dewberry/NOAA)
    Existing NOAA nautical chart of Nantucket Harbor, Mass., overlaid with revised shoreline features collected by Dewberry. Image courtesy of Dewberry. (Image: Dewberry/NOAA)

    Dewberry has been selected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the agency’s Shoreline Mapping Services contract. The five-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a ceiling of $40 million and will enable Dewberry and its partners to work with NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey to develop new technologies and initiatives to protect the nation’s coasts.

    This is Dewberry’s second consecutive shoreline mapping services contract for NOAA. Over the past five years, the firm completed 30 task orders across the nation, including research studies to analyze bathymetric point tracing, derive bathymetry from satellite data, and apply INSAR data to analyze subsidence.

    Task orders also included shoreline mapping in Alaska; creating topobathymetric lidar and shoreline products from NOAA-acquired data in Connecticut, Puerto Rico, the Chesapeake Bay, Florida and Maryland; acquiring and processing topobathymetric lidar data in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Texas and Massachusetts; and developing topobathymetric elevation and shoreline mapping datasets along the Atlantic seaboard from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Long Island, New York.

    “We are excited to continue to support and partner with NOAA to update the national shoreline, nautical charts, and provide high-resolution topography and bathymetric data to enhance the National Coastal Mapping Program,” said Amar Nayegandhi, CP, CMS, GISP, Dewberry’s senior vice president and senior project manager for the contract. “We always strive to find the most appropriate technology and solutions for NOAA and its numerous stakeholders. The task orders we received under the previous contract are a testament to the breadth of geospatial, scientific, and technology services we offer to NOAA.”

    Dewberry also conducted special initiatives such as supporting the GRAV-D program to assist in developing the new gravimetric geoid model for 2022 and the 3D Nation Requirements and Benefits Study in collaboration with NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

    The 3D Nation Study documents topographic, coastal, and bathymetric 3D elevation data requirements and benefits across a multitude of geographies, helping to establish a baseline understanding of national business uses, needs and associated benefits for 3D elevation data.

  • USGS selects Dewberry to complete lidar mapping for Florida

    This digital elevation model (DEM) indicates the type of data currently being acquired across Florida. (Photo: Dewberry)
    This digital elevation model (DEM) indicates the type of data currently being acquired across Florida. (Photo: Dewberry)

    High-resolution airborne lidar data to be acquired over 34,000 square miles for disaster response and recovery.

    Under an active Geospatial Products and Services contract, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has selected Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, to complete a statewide lidar mapping project for Florida. The project is funded by the Florida Division of Emergency Management and USGS as part of Hurricane Irma Disaster Recovery, Response and Preparedness measures being conducted by the state and federal agencies.

    The approximately $20 million project includes airborne lidar data acquisition, ground survey and preparation of bare earth point cloud and digital elevation model products for various applications to support response, recovery, and preparation for future storm events.

    The resulting quality level 1 data will be primarily used for hydrologic and hydraulic modeling and many engineering applications by the water management districts to mitigate the impacts of flooding caused by these storms.

    USGS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will also utilize these data for various flood studies. The project encompasses an area of more than 34,000 square miles.

    Photo: Dewberry
    Photo: Dewberry

    Dewberry has acquired and processed nearly 22,000 square miles of lidar data for various local, state, and federal agencies in Florida within the past three years.

    “As we continue to map the state of Florida, we’re looking forward to using the best technology and personnel to complete such a vast undertaking,” said Dewberry Vice President and Director of Remote Sensing Amar Nayegandhi, CP, CMS, GISP. “Once these data are acquired and analyzed, they will be able to support USGS, FEMA, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Florida water management districts, and several other state and local agencies in their mission to better prepare for natural disasters and minimize loss of life and property; and use these scientific data to enhance and protect our quality of life.”

    Dewberry will serve as prime contractor for this project and will perform the majority of the data production. The firm is teaming with seven other partner firms including Woolpert Inc., Quantum Spatial Inc. and Digital Aerial Solutions, Inc, which will acquire and process data to support the project.

    Dewberry’s other subcontractors will be tasked with acquiring airborne lidar data.

    “We have 11 aircraft with top-of-the-line airborne lidar sensors being deployed for data acquisition starting in early December,” said Dewberry Senior Project Manager Elise MacPherson, PMP. “I’m excited to manage this project and support the needs of USGS, their partner federal agencies and the many stakeholders in Florida.”

  • Dewberry provides data analytics for Houston post-flooding

    Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has been selected as a consultant to Civis Analytics to perform comprehensive data analytics, including flood hazard and property loss modeling and damage estimation, to support the city of Houston’s post-Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts.

    Hurricane Harvey flooding in Houston. (Photo: FEMA)
    Hurricane Harvey flooding in Houston. (Photo: FEMA)

    The granular, structure-level understanding of this catastrophic flooding event will be critically important to the city’s efforts to catalog impacts and direct resources to the rebuilding and recovery efforts, Dewberry said.

    The resulting data will be made accessible to authenticated city staff and non-profit organizations through the new Houston Estimation and Analysis of Loss (HEAL) platform. A cloud-based system that will be used in disaster mitigation planning, HEAL will aggregate data, analytics, tools and visualizations in a web-based environment available to city, state and federal officials and other stakeholders.

    Hurricane Harvey flooding in Houston. (Photo: FEMA)
    Hurricane Harvey flooding in Houston. (Photo: FEMA)

    The data development effort featured a hindcast model of the historic Hurricane Harvey storm event, which dropped 51 inches of rainfall within the city of Houston and surrounding areas over five days in August.

    The HEAL platform will provide the city with a comprehensive data collection and analytical architecture with the ability to calculate and report unmet needs at various levels, such as structure, parcel and census block.

    The analytics will include extensive modeling to estimate flood depth and extent and the structural and contents losses created by it. Model validation will use a wide set of data from debris removal pickup locations, and community field data collection, to federal assistance information, as well as non-traditional sources such as social media videos.

    Hurricane Harvey flooding in Houston. (Photo: FEMA)
    Hurricane Harvey flooding in Houston. (Photo: FEMA)

    For this complex project, Dewberry’s innovative approach has involved strong applications of science and engineering including meteorological data processing, 2D flood risk modeling, and damage assessment to replicate post-Harvey conditions in Houston.

  • Dewberry to update lidar for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands after hurricane

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has selected Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, to collect and process Quality Level 1 topographic lidar data of Puerto Rico, including the islands of Culebra, Vieques and Isla de Mona; and the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas.

    The new data will be used to identify the impact of Category 5 Hurricane Maria, which struck the territories in September 2017.

    Digital elevation model of El Yunque National Forest produced from 2016 topographic lidar data. (Image: Dewberry)

    The project will be completed under Dewberry’s Geospatial Product and Services Contract with USGS to support the agency’s 3D Elevation Program.

    Dewberry has been performing mapping, mitigation planning and sea-level rise studies in Puerto Rico for more than 10 years, primarily serving the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

    In a similar effort, the firm recently collected and processed more than 3,400 square miles of topographic and bathymetric lidar data for USGS, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

    For that project, the data were collected prior to Hurricane Maria’s landfall, and the new data will be assessed in comparison to that dataset to evaluate the storm’s impact. Lidar data have not been collected for the U.S. Virgin Islands in more than 10 years.

    Digital Elevation Model of the Guajataca Lake Dam produced from 2016 topographic lidar data. (Image: Dewberry)

    The new lidar data will be collected, processed and delivered by the spring of 2019. Dewberry will perform all ground surveys and its geospatial team will complete the processing and creation of digital elevation models and other ancillary products. The firm’s subconsultant, Leading Edge Geomatics, will perform the data acquisition using two Riegl VQ1560i sensors.

    “The pre-storm data we had collected and processed under our prior task order was instrumental in assisting FEMA, its partners and the local Puerto Rican government in planning and conducting its post-Maria disaster recovery work,” said Amar Nayegandhi, CP, CMS, GISP, vice president of geospatial and technology services for Dewberry. “The new data are being collected at a higher density to also support the infrastructure community and will show how the storm has altered the terrain.”

  • Dewberry completes US hydrography study for business uses, requirements

    National-Hydrography-Requirements-and-Benefits-Study-2-W

    Dewberry, a privately owned professional services firm, has completed the National Hydrography Requirements and Benefits Study (HRBS) for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

    The firm conducted the study — sponsored by USGS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service — to establish a baseline understanding of national business uses, needs and associated benefits for national hydrography data and to inform the design of an enhanced future program that balances requirements, benefits and costs.

    Dewberry collected more than 400 responses from federal agencies; commissions; non-profits; private and commercial entities; and local, state, and tribal governments from across the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and American Samoa.

    Participants were asked to provide detailed information about the hydrography data required to accomplish their missions, including positional accuracy, stream density, smallest contributing watershed, smallest mapped body of water, update frequency, post-event updates and level of detail. They were also asked what analytical functions and integration levels are required between hydrography data and other datasets.

    Dewberry collected responses regarding hydrography data access methods, including required data types or formats, geographic extents, data or service access methods, required elevation-hydrography data integration, and the impact of hydrography data errors.

    Study respondents reported budgets associated with annual programs supported by hydrography data and what future annual benefits they anticipate from an enhanced data program.

    “Hydrographic data is integral to a variety of mission-critical activities performed throughout the U.S.,” said Dewberry associate and project manager Sue Hoegberg. “Our report gives USGS a far greater understanding of the requirements and benefits associated with potential enhancements to a national hydrographic data program, one that — if all reported requirements were met — would help users realize an estimated $602.5 million in annual program benefits.”

    Based on Dewberry’s results, the top business uses of hydrographic data are to manage river and stream flow, riverine and stream ecosystems, water resources, flood risks and wildlife and habitat, as well as track water quality — six uses that account for $545 million of the estimated future annual benefits.

    The top requirements for integration with other datasets are elevation, stream flow, wetlands, soils and land cover.

    National-Hydrography-Requirements-and-Benefits-Study-1-W

    Maps: USGS