RAPID: Drone-Based Microwave Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture and Fire-Induced Hydrologic Hazards in the Aftermath of the Monroe Canyon Wildfire

NSF Award Search · 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $49,934 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

This project team will collect high-resolution, post-wildfire soil data using drone-mounted microwave sensors in response to the ongoing Monroe Canyon Wildfire in Utah's Fishlake National Forest. This wildfire intersects a region identified by the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE) project as a critical data collection zone. As a result of this team's prior involvement in FASMEE's field campaigns and established relationships with local authorities and agencies, they are uniquely positioned to deploy and collect urgently needed post-fire soil hydrologic data. They will deploy their existing drone-mounted passive L-band radiometer system for two weeks following a precipitation event to measure fire-induced changes in soil moisture, infiltration dynamics, and hydrophobicity. These parameters are critical for understanding post-fire flood risks, erosion susceptibility, and ecosystem recovery. The resulting dataset will fill a crucial gap: no high-resolution, post-fire soil moisture datasets currently exist at this scale and resolution. Integration with NASA's UAVSAR pre-, during-, and post-fire L-band SAR observations will enable multi-scale, multi-modal analysis that is unprecedented in the wildfire recovery domain. The project will offer field based training for students and share resulting data in open repositories. The researchers will collect the first high-resolution, drone-based microwave remote sensing dataset focused on soil moisture dynamics and

Key facts

NSF award ID
2544973
Awardee
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (IL)
SAM.gov UEI
Y8CWNJRCNN91
PI
Mohamad Alipour
Primary program
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
RAPID
Estimated total
$49,934
Funds obligated
$49,934
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
08/15/2025 → 07/31/2026