IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, IT’S A BRAND NEW FIELD SITE: USING UNCREWED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) TO DISCOVER AND DIGITIZE FOSSIL LOCALITIES

The Cajon Valley Formation, a Miocene locality in the San Bernardino National Forest, has been excavated by numerous institutions for over 40 years; most recently, the Western Science Center, a natural history museum in Hemet, CA, has made the formation part of its ongoing field program. The continual excavation and erosion have led museum staff to become concerned that the quarry could eventually become exhausted, and subsequent prospecting excursions around the outcrop did not result in any new fossil localities. In summer 2022, students and faculty from Earlham College’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences visited the Western Science Center to exchange techniques with museum staff for 3D modeling, including through the use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). Images of section 5 of the Cajon Valley Formation taken by a drone were used to make a photogrammetric model of the landscape using Agisoft Metashape software. Examination of the 3D terrain model identified an additional outcrop along strike with the fossil quarry that had not been discovered during previous prospecting excursions due to the steep, rugged nature of the field area. Preliminary investigation of this new outcrop produced identifiable vertebrate fossils, providing the museum with a new locality that will allow its scientists to continue their work in the Cajon Valley Formation. The developing technique of UAS field mapping gives paleontologists the ability to not only discover new fossil localities, but to digitize those localities for use in fieldwork, research, and outreach.