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Loomis Engineers Receive LEED Accreditation

We've Changed Our Name

John Barnard, RPLS, Contributes to Earthwatch Research

Loomis Announces Acquisition of Metcalfe & Sanders Land Surveyors

Bill Burnett Joins Loomis Partners as Director of Business Operations

Loomis Expands to Larger Office Space

Loomis Personnel Assist Commercial Real Estate Women Executives in Coaching Austin's Girl Scouts

Peninsula Gets Green Light

Loomis Environmental Department Completes Phase One Study of Barton Creek Wilderness Park

Work Plan Approved for Hays County Habitat Conservation Plan
 
Loomis Procures State-of-the-art 3-D Laser Scanner

Loomis  Donates Engineering Services to Wimberley Park

Kennedy Ridge STEP Project Nominated for Environmental Excellence Award

John Barnard, Loomis Partners Chief Surveyor, Contributes to Earthwatch Research in Iceland

July 2008

John Barnard, R.P.L.S. and Chief Surveyor at Loomis Partners, joined a team of Earthwatch Institute scientists on a glaciological expedition in Iceland.  Led by Dr. Andy  Russell, a scientist from Newcastle University, the research group included ten US high school student volunteers. As a co-principal investigator, John was involved in the surveying of the upland topography and bathymetry of three pro-glacial lakes (depths to ~420 feet) in Skaftafell National Park, part of ongoing Earthwatch expeditions to study the effects of how glaciers transport and release sediment into meltwater systems.

An Earthwatch volunteer and field team leader, John has participated in two previous expeditions to survey these sites along the front of the Skeidararjokull Glacier. Loomis Partners' Terrestrial Laser Scanning System provides the research team with a tool that can survey large areas in a short time period. These annual survey data sets are being compiled to model the changes in this dynamic landscape.

John Barnard instructs students on using the Terrestrial Laser Scanner

In 1996 the Skeidararjokull Glacier was the site of a massive flood that was caused by a volcanic eruption beneath the vast Icelandic ice cap, one of the most geologically active areas in the world (Earthwatch website).

Remarkably, one of these glacial outburst floods (known as “jokulhlaups”) occurred during the 2008 expedition (see photo at left), and the group was able to survey the rising, peak, and waning stages of the flood, which was associated with the draining of Graenalon, Europe’s largest ice-damned lake. Loomis' Terrestrial Laser Scanner was used to survey the glacial vents, from which the water was erupting, at two hour intervals for 48 hours. This is the first time that laser scanning technology has been used to monitor one of these events.

This survey work will aid scientists in understanding the volatile Icelandic landscape as well as glacial landforms that shape North America and Europe.