Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi students and faculty participate in a coordinated hyperspectral imaging effort in the Coastal Bend area.

A major field research event in the Texas Coastal Bend area during the week of July 14th 2008 will involve numerous universities from around the United States, primarily from the southeast, as part of the NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center (ECSC). The focus is on using hyperspectral imaging techniques to study coastal environments.

A hyperspectral imaging instrument will be flown in an AISA Eagle aircraft from the Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies (CALMIT) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Mission Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve (MANERR) is the main target area of the study, including four sites in particular: Redfish Bay, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, the Copano Bay shoreline near Mission Bay, and the Fennessey Ranch. More information about MANERR and the project can be found on the University of Texas Marine Science Institute website.

An armada of boats with university students, as well as a few state and federal agencies, will be involved in the land-based efforts that will focus on the "ground-truthing" of land and shoreline sites.

John Schalles of Creighton University is the lead for the project from the NOAA ECSC, and Sally Morehead is the Manager from MANERR. Liz Smith (pictured) from A&M Corpus Christi's Center for Coastal Studies is in charge of the Fennessey Ranch portion of the project. As part of his PhD dissertation, student John Woods is in charge of the Redfish Bay area operation. Please visit the Center for Coastal Studies website for more information.

- Will Piatt