Jessica Boone, 2018 Conference Talk

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Jessica Boone , Althouse & Meade
"Managing clean energy, rangeland, and rare species through spatial technologies."   Session: TECH: MOBILE & UAV

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ABSTRACT: "As demands increase for holistic land management strategies, l and managers, owners, and ranchers require immediate access to field information to make informed decisions. Topaz Solar Farms, a 4,700-acre, 550-megawatt passive photo-voltaic solar farm located on the Carrizo Plain in San Luis Obispo County, California, exemplifies a successful partnership between agriculture, habitat conservation, and energy production where stakeholders rely heavily on spatial information to preserve rangeland production, produce alternative energy, and protect sensitive species. Remote GPS collars track the federally listed San Joaquin kit fox within completed solar array fields and in nearby reference sites. Android based tablets loaded with a third-party application and paired with Bluetooth GPS devices can track locations of biologists and allow them to review, collect, and edit spatial and non-spatial information. This data is used to recommend grazing practices and record sensitive resource activity within the project boundaries. Data is synced to a cloud database that is then integrated into an open source mapping software. Staff can QA/QC data and then submit it for analysis and figure production for distribution to compliance managers. Topaz Solar Farms is an example for future energy projects of how technology can provide biologists, ranchers, and managers with real-time data for important decision-making regarding rangeland strategy and sensitive species protection "