A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Upper Colorado River Water Science Basin (IWS) riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery. Photogrammetry techniques were used with the natural color video images to produce an orthomosaic map of the study reach.

A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Delaware River Water Science Basin (IWS) riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery. Photogrammetry techniques were used with the natural color video images to produce an orthomosaic map of the study reach.

A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Delaware River Water Science Basin (IWS) riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery. Photogrammetry techniques were used with the natural color video images to produce an orthomosaic map of the study reach.

A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Integrated Water Science (IWS) basin riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery. Orthomosaic maps were produced from the natural color videos using photogrammetry techniques. Separate child pages were created to provide access to both the videos collected and the orthomosaic maps produced for each IWS basin (Delaware River, Illinois River, and Upper Colorado River).

A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Integrated Water Science (IWS) basin riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery. Orthomosaic maps were produced from the natural color videos using photogrammetry techniques. Separate child pages were created to provide access to both the videos collected and the orthomosaic maps produced for each IWS basin (Delaware River, Illinois River, and Upper Colorado River).

A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Illinois River Water Science Basin (IWS) riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery. Photogrammetry techniques were used with the natural color video images to produce an orthomosaic map of the study reach.

A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Illinois River Water Science Basin (IWS) riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery. Photogrammetry techniques were used with the natural color video images to produce an orthomosaic map of the study reach.

A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Upper Colorado River Water Science Basin (IWS) riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery.

A Bell 407 helicopter with a gyro-stabilized gimbal was used to collect aerial videos of Upper Colorado River Water Science Basin (IWS) riverine study sites in 2022. Videos were collected using both natural color and thermal infrared cameras. These videos were used to determine the feasibility of estimating river surface velocity using aerial imagery.

The University of Connecticut and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected low-altitude (30-50 m above ground level) airborne visible-light imagery data via a quadcopter, small unoccupied aircraft system (UAS or ‘drone’) deployed along two tributary confluence locations within the Housatonic River: Mill Brook (latitude: 42°52’18” N, longitude: 73°21’48” W) and Furnace Brook (latitude: 41°49’16” N, longitude: 73°22’17” W). Both tributary confluence sites serve as critical summer thermal refuge for cold water-adapted poikilotherms. The objectives for this data collection included the creation of high-resolution orthomosaic images of the two tributary confluences to infer bank and instream structures and mixing processes at the tributary confluences. Detailed site-scale maps such as these are important tools for managers and researchers aiming to protect and conserve populations at risk. The UAS (Mavic 2 Zoom, DJI Enterprises) was flown several times per day, at wind speeds below 10 mph, capturing RGB imagery from March 24-25, 2021. The UAV flights collected single RGB JPG images at 30-50m above ground level using the double-grid flight pattern on the third-party app Pix4D Capture (https://www.pix4d.com/product/pix4dcapture). The images were stitched automatically into several orthomosaic images using Agisoft Metashape (Agisoft LLC, St. Petersburg, Russia) software as described in the ‘processed_data’ subfolders of this data release. Structure from Motion techniques were also applied to the visual imagery to derive time-specific, digital surface models (DSM) of the exposed banks and some subsurface features.