Photos monitor Yellowstone’s thermal features

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (2) – 8/4/20

Structure-from-motion photogrammetry is a method of photography that can provide the precise size of an object, and a method being used by geologists in Yellowstone National Park to better understand the movements of the park’s many thermal features. Although images from over 100 years ago exist for some of the better-known thermal features like Giant, Castle and Old Faithful geysers, SfM photogrammetry collects movement and topographical data on a more finite level, allowing geologists to monitor change. These photographs are usually taken on aerial over-flights, but sometimes from the ground as well, and have so far been used to better understand the rates of change of the mounds at Mammoth Hot Springs.