UAV/Drone: RiCOPTER ⁽¹⁾

Decadal Erosion Rates and Sediment Buffering Identified Through Enhanced DEM Differencing (2026)

Climate change is increasing extreme rainfall and landslides in mountain regions, raising concerns about accelerated erosion. Our study in Taiwan’s Laonong Basin combined satellite-derived elevation data with local Lidar data to examine how rapidly the landscape is changing. We found that decadal erosion rates are about 5 millimeters per year, similar to geological rates measured over thousands to millions of years. This suggests that sediment produced by storms and landslides is often temporarily stored in valleys as we have found before being transported downstream, helping maintain long-term erosion balance. Our study also identified smaller areas with much higher erosion rates, highlighting localized landslide hazards and demonstrating the value of enhanced elevation differencing data for monitoring landscape change.

氣候變遷讓極端降雨和山崩變得更頻繁，也讓山區侵蝕速度更受關注。我們以臺灣荖濃溪流域為例，結合衛星高程資料與在地光達資料，來看近幾十年的地形變化。結果發現，流域平均侵蝕速率大約是每年 5 毫米，和長時間（幾千到幾百萬年）的地質估算其實很接近。這表示雖然暴雨和崩塌會帶來大量土砂，但這些物質常會先暫時堆在河谷或沖積扇，再慢慢被搬運出去，所以長期來看侵蝕還是維持平衡。不過在一些子流域，侵蝕速度明顯更高，顯示局部仍有較強的山崩風險。這也說明改良後的高程差分資料，在監測山區地形變化和災害評估上很有幫助。

Tatun Volcanic System: Quantifying geothermal heat loss at the Dayoukeng crater (2026)

This study quantifies geothermal radiative heat flux and heat loss at the Dayoukeng crater, Tatun Volcanic Group, Taiwan, using UAV thermal imagery and Landsat thermal infrared data. While Landsat efficiently captures regional geothermal heat loss, UAV observations resolve fine-scale thermal variability with much higher spatial detail. Both approaches produce comparable geothermal heat loss estimates (210–217 MW), demonstrating their complementary strengths. This work represents the first UAV-based geothermal heat loss assessment at Dayoukeng and provides a valuable framework for geothermal exploration and volcanic monitoring.

 本研究結合無人機熱影像與 Landsat 熱紅外資料，量化台灣大屯火山群大油坑地熱輻射熱通量與熱損失。結果顯示衛星可有效評估區域地熱熱損失，無人機則可解析局部熱異質性，兩者具互補優勢，可應用於地熱探勘與火山監測。