Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve in the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains is becoming a hub for cutting-edge wildfire research, where aerial imagery is helping scientists understand how fire transforms ecosystems. Spanning nearly 1,200 acres the preserve is offering a unique testing ground to merge traditional land practices with modern technology.
For Ph.D. student Daniel Neamati, who studies aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford, a bird eye view is essential. “That top-down view is really important,” he explained. “My research would not be possible without it.” Neamati, a TomKat Center Graduate Fellow for Translational Research, is applying his expertise in GPS accuracy and 3D modeling to wildfire management. After prescribed burns at Jasper Ridge last year, his team began analyzing imagery from the ground, drones, and satellites to monitor how vegetation responds over time.
A key focus of his work is tracking the resurgence of the rare western bewildering bushmallow, a plant native to the region. Using layered imagery ranging from Stanford researchers’ field photos to high-resolution drone surveys and wide-coverage satellite data he is piecing together how fire influences plant recovery.
Historic Aerial Views Offer Clues
Jasper Ridge has a long history of aerial observation. The first known aerial photograph of the preserve was captured in 1928 using a Fairchild FC-2 aircraft, a pioneering design for aerial photography. That image revealed a more open grassland landscape compared to today, raising new questions for fire ecologists about how such environments were once sustained without fire.
Subsequent aerial surveys in 1948 and the post–World War II era, led by the U.S. Geological Service and Stanford, reflected the growing use of aerial imagery for mapping rugged landscapes. For decades, Stanford relied on costly flights to capture images of Jasper Ridge. But with the arrival of Google Earth, USDA flights, and especially drone technology in the last decade, researchers now have frequent, affordable, and precise aerial data.
“Being able to put the drone up whenever we need to take photos is really an amazing thing,” said Trevor Hébert, an academic technology specialist at Jasper Ridge. Drones not only provide stability and low-altitude coverage but, with photogrammetry software, can create seamless 3D models corrected for lens distortion, a process known as orthorectification.
Technology Driving Fire and Vegetation Research
Today, researchers at Jasper Ridge are using both historic and modern imagery to build vegetation maps relied on by nearly every scientist working in the preserve. Remote sensing techniques, which analyze how plants reflect light, help track vegetation health and changes over wide areas.
Stanford has long been a leader in these methods. In the 1980s and 1990s, Jasper Ridge was a site for pioneering remote sensing experiments, including the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s AVIRIS program, which created one of the most advanced vegetation datasets of its time. These efforts even helped develop the widely used Normalized Difference Water Index, a tool to measure water content in plants.
Faculty Director Tadashi Fukami noted that the preserve is also guided by Indigenous cultural burning practices. He sees aerial technology as a bridge between traditional ecological knowledge and modern tools. “This is a powerful tool,” Fukami said. “The new technology can support cultural revitalization efforts while helping us understand biomass changes.”
A Tool for Land Management
Beyond research, aerial imagery is proving invaluable for daily land management at Jasper Ridge. Staff scientists like Sheena Sidhu use drone data to plan wildfire fuel reduction projects, monitor invasive species, and track changes after prescribed burns.
“With fuel reduction, we’re trying to mitigate the risk of wildfire spread at the borders of the preserve,” Sidhu explained. “Aerial imagery helps us visualize fuel loads and decide where vegetation modification could slow fire behavior.”
By overlaying drone images with burn maps, staff can quickly identify vegetation patterns and guide future management efforts. In invasive species control aerial views help managers prioritize limited resources by showing where eradication efforts are most needed.
From historic aircraft photography to modern AI-driven analysis, Jasper Ridge continues to serve as a living laboratory where technology and ecology intersect. As fire becomes a growing challenge across California researchers hope these tools will not only deepen scientific understanding but also guide effective land stewardship for the future.