Tate Meehan and Cameron Wagner

Geo-physicists, Army Corps of Engineers

White Clouds Preserve, ID

September 14th, 2024 

During our first morning at the White Clouds Preserve in Central Idaho, we had the opportunity to chat with Tate Meehan and Cameron Wagner, two geophysicists working for the Engineering Research and Development Center within the Army Corps of Engineers.  We met them in a garage on the preserve, just a few yards from our campsite where they showed us their various ground penetrating radar and lidar gadgets, including two heavy lift drones and a terrain conductivity meter. They use this technology to create a topographic map with radar in order to model various changes in terrain such as soil moisture or snow depth. They are researching how this novice radar technology interacts with various terrain types in hopes of utilizing this technology elsewhere, eventually to collect data from space. 

Tate endured a lengthy proposal process to get funding for his research from the Army Corps of Engineers. The source of this funding comes with many implications, namely that it somehow will benefit the United State’s Department of Defense to carry out their military endeavors. This particular technology could be used to survey terrain during warfare, enhancing the safety of mission operations. However, Tate’s passion for his research stems from elsewhere. The data collected from this research can be used to inform land management, particularly for ranchers. Additionally, as we experience the impacts of climate change, this radar technology can be used to monitor changes in soil moisture and snowpack.This project is the first that Tate is leading himself, representing the culmination of years of study, and passion for using physics to understand our changing world. 

by Johanna Duncan