Research Laboratories

Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory (BCAL)

Boise Center Aerospace Laboratory (BCAL) was established in 2004 with a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). BCAL’s mission is to provide the Intermountain West with expertise, leadership and coordination of remote sensing research and applications, and to provide education and training programs that promote remote sensing and spatial technologies. BCAL’s training provides students with skills and knowledge in science and technology for professional careers or continued study in all aspects of the geosciences.

BSU – Watershed Processes Research Group (WPRG)

The Watershed Processes Research Group (WPRG) seeks to improve understanding and prediction of water movement and storage in mountain catchments, and to uncover relationships between hydrological processes and ecosystem functions. Recent work has focused on snow cover estimation using lidar.

GIS Training and Research Center (GIS TReC)

The GIS Training and Research Center (GIS TReC) is a University-wide facility administered by the Office of Research serving all colleges and departments at Idaho State University as well as the GIS community of east Idaho.

UoI – Remote Sensing and GIS Research Lab

Conducts algorithm development; forestry, range, and geological applications; in addition to outreach via informative workshops

USFS – Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab

The Boise ASL conducts research on aquatic and terrestrial processes and the effects of natural and human-caused disturbances on these ecosystems. This information is used to develop decision support tools to assist managers in selecting alternatives for the proper management that lead to the diverse, resilient, and sustainable aquatic and terrestrial systems. The Lab is also involved in pioneering research to map and monitor stream habitat using green LiDAR.

USFS – Moscow Forestry Sciences Laboratory

Focus on LiDAR for Forest Inventory and wildfire severity.