THIRD EARTH RESOURCES

TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE-1

Volume I: Technical Presentations

Section A
T h e proceedings of a symposium held by
Goddard Space Flight Center
at Washington, D.C.
on December 10-14,1973
Compiled and Edited by

Stanley C Freden
Enrico P. Mercanti
Missions Utilization Office

and

Margaret A. Becker
Technical Information Division
Goddard Space Flight Center

Prepared at Goddard Space Flight Center

e,,
&#"1 PI Scientific and Technical lnf ormation O f i c e
0
,
'b,
,$ 1974
I \ \ NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Washington, D.C.
 ?

This document is “made available under NASA sponsorship in the interest of

early and wide dissemination of Earth Resources Survey information and
without liability for any use made thereof.” (NPD 8000.2A March 16,1973)
I 1

For d e by the Enperintendant of Doaarmmtr, U.E. Qormuruat Prhthg 0 6 ~Wmhlnltoa,

. DE.PM
 PREFACE

The Third Symposium on Significant Results Obtained from the first Earth
Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) was held from December 10-14, 1973 at
the Statler Hilton Hotel in Washington, D. C. The Symposium was sponsored by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center. The
s="ricvdrcof &\is SympoS.1 ~.1..1 1.*."
.m.
. . cu th e o m held from March 5-3, I??!. The
n r +A

Opening Plenary Session on Monday morning contained two papers of general inter-
est to the entire audience, one on the status of the ERTS-1 system and a report on
the Canadian ERTS program. The next two and one-half days were devoted to
contributed papers in th nes presented during three parallel sessions.
These papers are contain1 'f the Proceedings.

The Thursday Summary Session, as betore, was designed to highlight and summarize
the significant results from the first three days and also to present some typical
examples of the applications of ERTS data for solving resources management prob-
lems at the national, state and local levels. This Session was highlighted by an
introductory address by Dr, James C. Fletcher, NASA Administrator, and by a
keynote address by Dr. John C. Whitaker, Under Secretary of the Interior, U.S.
Department of the Interior. The presentations from this session are contained in
Volume I1 of the Proceedings.

Volume I11 contains the Discipline Summary Reports. These are based on a report
produced from a two-week long series of intensive interviews with the individual
ERTS-1 Principal Investigators and then updated and extended from the material
presented at the 'Ihird ERTS Symposium. The interviews were organized and
directed by Dr. 0. Glenn Smith of the Earth Resources Program Office at the
Johnson Space Center and were held at the Goddard Space Flight Center from
October 22 to November 2, 1973. The Discipline Summary Reports were writfen by
Working Groups in each of the disciplines which were convened on Friday,
December 14. These Working Groups were chaired by the respective discipline ses-
sion chairmen and were composed of selected specialists in the various disciplines.
Opinions and recommendations expressed in these reports are those of the panel
members and do not necessarily reflect an official position of NASA.

Stanley Cy Freden
Symposium Chairman

iii
,
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ERTS-1 SYSTEM PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW, John H. Boeckel, ......... 1 "'

CANADIAN ERTS PROGRAM PROGRESS REPORT, L. W. Morley
and A. K. McQuillan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 13 - /'

AGRICULTUREIFORESTRYIRANGE RESOURCES

A1 ESTIMATE OF WINTER WHEAT YIELD FROM ERTS-1, Stanley A. Morain

J
and Donald L. Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

A2 USER ORIENTED ERTS-1 IMAGES, Seymour Shlien and David Goodenough ... 29 '
A3 AN EVALUATION OF MACHINE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
OF ERTS-1 DATA FOR USER APPLICATIONS, David bndgrebe and Staff ... 41 ''

A4 THE UTILITY OF ERTS-1 DATA FOR APPLICATIONS

IN AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, R.Bryan Erb . . . ............. 75

A5 CROP IDENTIFICATION AND ACREAGE MEASUREMENT

UTILIZING ERTS IMAGERY, William H. Wigtonand Donald H. Von Steen ..... 87 '
A6 VEGETATION DENSITY AS DEDUCED FROM ERTS-1 MSS
RESPONSE, C. L. Wiegand, H. W. Gausman, J. A. Cuellar, A. H. Gerbermann, , /
and A. J. Richardson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 93

A7 REGIONAL AGRICULTURE SURVEYS USING ERTS-1 DATA,

William C. Draeger, James D. Nichols, Andrew S. Benson, David G. brrabee,
William M. Senkus, and Claire M. Hay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 117
/'
A8 FOREST AND LAND INVENTORY USING ERTS IMAGERY AND
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE BOREAL FOREST REGION O F /
ALBERTA, CANADA, C. L. Kirby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 127
/
A9 SO, DAMAGE TO FORESTS RECORDED BY ERTS-1, Peter A. Murtha ..... 137 --

A 10 A TIMER INVENTORY BASED UPON MANUAL AND AUTOMATED

ANALYSIS OF ERTS-1 AND SUPPORTING AIRCRAFT DATA
USING MULTISTAGE PROBABILITY SAMPLING, James D. Nichols, /
Mike Gialdini, and Sipi Jaakkola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 145

A 11 APPLICATION OF ERTS1 IMAGERY TO LAND USE, FOREST

---.-.-.. -..- ...
r.-.-.-.-,eL,P
U t l \ l S I I Y HIVU SUI L iiuv t> I IUH I IUIYJ
A ^ . .

I X GREECE, Pi. J. Yi+jjogloii, ,/

E. Skordalakis, and A. Koutalos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 159
 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)

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A 12 ERTS-1 MSS IMAGERY: ITS USE I N DELINEATING SOIL ASSOCIATIONS

AND AS A BASE MAP FOR PUBLISHING SOILS INFORMATION,
Frederick C. Westin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 ''
A 13 MAPPING SOILS, CROPS, AND RANGELANDS BY MACHINE ANALYSIS
OF MULTI-TEMPORAL ERTS-1 DATA, Marion F. Baumgardner,
James A. Henderson, Jr., and LARS Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

A 14 APPLICATION OF ERTS-1 IMAGERY IN MAPPING AND MANAGING

SOIL AND RANGE RESOURCES IN THE SAND HILLS REGION
OF NEBRASKA, Paul M. Seevers, David T. Lewis, and James V. Drew . . . .... 225 '
I

A 15 ERTS SURVEYS A 500 K M LOCUST~ BREEDING SITE IN SAUDI /

ARABIA, D. E. Pedgley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 233

A 16 REMOTE SENSING EXPERIMENT IN WEST AFRICA, N. H. MacLeod ..... 247 ./

A 17 NATURAL RESOURCE INVENTORIES AND MANAGEMENT

APPLICATIONS I N THE GREAT BASIN, Paul T. Tueller, Garwin Lorain, /

and Ronald M. Halvorson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 -'

A 18 USEFULNESS OF ERTS-1 SATELLITE IMAGERY AS A DATA-GATHERING

TOOL BY RESOURCE MANAGERS IN THE BUREAU OF LAND
MANAGEMENT, R. Gordon Bentley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 -'

A 19 VEGETATION MAPPING FROM ERTS IMAGERY OF THE OKAVANGO

DELTA, Douglas T. Williamson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 30 1

A 20 MONITORING VEGETATION SYSTEMS IN THE GREAT PLAINS

WITH ERTS, J. W. Rouse, Jr., R. H. Haas, J. A. Schell, and D. W. Deering ...... 309 .I'

A 21 ERTS1 DATA UTILIZATION IN THE FIELD OF AGRICULTURE

IN THAILAND, Pradisth Cheosakul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 319 *

LAND USE & MAPPING

L1 COMPUTER-IMP LEMENTED LAND USE CLASS1F ICATION WITH PAlTERN

RECOGNITION SOFTWARE AND ERTS DIGITAL DATA, Armond T. Joyce
and Thomas W. Pendleton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

L2 REMOTE SENSING OF LAND USE CHANGES IN U.S. METROPOLITAN

REGIONS: TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS AND OPPORTUNITIES
FOR APPLICATION, James R. Wray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 339

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L3 ERTS-1 ROLE IN LAND MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING
IN MINNESOTA, Joseph E. Sizer and Dwight Brown . . . . . . ............ 341 /’’

L4 INTERACTIVE ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF ERTS DATA

FOR REGIONAL PLANNING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: A
LOS ANGELES BASIN CASE STUDY, Surendra Raje, Richard Economy,
/
Gerald Willoughby, and Jene McKnight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 351

L5 EVALUATION OF ERTS-1 DATA FOR ACQUIRING LAND USE DATA

OF NORTHERN MEGALOPOLIS, Robert 8. Sirnpson, David T. Lindgren, /
and William D. Goldstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 371

L6 THE V A l h E OF ERTS1 IMAGERY IN RESOURCE INVENTORIZATION

ON A NATIONAL SCALE IN SOUTH AFRICA, 0. G. Malan, C. N. MacVicar,
/
D. Edwards, B. N. Temperley, and L Claassen and collaborators ............. 383

L7 CHANGE IN LAND USE IN THE PHOENIX (1:250,000) QUADRANGLE,

ARIZONA BETWEEN 1970 AND 1973: ERTS AS AN AID IN A NATIONWIDE /
PROGRAM FOR MAPPING AND GENERAL LAND USE, John L Place ...... 393 I/

L8 THE APPLICATION OF ERTS-1 DATA TO THE LAND USE

PLANNING PROCESS, James L. Clapp, Ralph W. Kiefer, Edward L. Kuhlmey,
and Bernard J. Niemann, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 425 LI

L9 THE UTILITY OF ERTS1 DATA FOR APPLICATIONS IN LAND USE

CLASSIFICATION, John E. Dornbach and Gerald E. McKain . . . . . . . . ...... 439 .

L 10 APPLICATION OF ERTS-1 SATELLITE IMAGERY FOR LAND USE MAPPING

AND RESOURCE INVENTORIES IN THE CENTRAL COASTAL REGION /
OF CALIFORNIA, John E. Estes, Randolph R. Thaman, and Leslie W. Senger . . . . . 457

L 11 EVALUATION OF ERTS-1 IMAGERY FOR LAND USE/RESOURCE

INVENTORY INFORMATION, Ernest E. Hardy, James E. Skaley
and Elmer S. Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 491 .

L 12 IMPACT OF ERTSI IMAGES ON MANAGEMENT OF NEW JERSEY‘S

COASTAL ZONE, Edward B. Feinberg, Roland S. Yunghans. JoAnn Stitt,
and Robert L Mairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 497 ’

L 13 CARETS--AN EXPERIMENTAL REGIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEM /

USING ERTS DATA, Robert H. Alexander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 505 ~

L 14 CONCEPTS OF INTEGRATED SATELLITE SURVEYS, J. A. Howard. ....... 523 .

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L 15 TOWARDS AN OPERATIONAL ERTS - REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPLEMENTING

CARTOGRAPHIC APPLICATIONS OF AN OPERATIONAL ERTS TYPE
SATELLITE, Alden P. Colvocoresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539 ’

L 16 EARTH RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY SATELLITE DATA COLLECTION

PROJECT, ERTS - BOLIVIA, Dr. Carlos Brockmann . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 559

L 17 AN OPERATIONAL APPLICATION OF ERTS-1 IMAGERY TO THE

ENVIRONMENTAL INVENTORY PROCESS, James D. O’Neal
and James R. Bwins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 579

L 18 PHOTOINTER PR ETATlON OF ERTS-A MU LTISPECTRA L IMAGES

ANALYSIS OF VEGETATION AND LAND USE FOR THE VALENCIA
LAKE BASIN REGION, F. Salas, M. Pineda, and A. Arismendi . . . . . . . ...... 585

MINERAL RESOURCES, GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE

AND LANDFORM SURVEYS

G1 APPLICATION OF THE ERTS SYSTEM TO THE STUDY OF WYOMING

RESOURCES WITH EMPHASIS ON THE USE OF BASIC DATA PRODUCTS,
Robert S. Houston, Ronald W. Marrs, Roy M. Breckenridge, and D. L. Blackstone, Jr. .. 595

G2 SUMMARY OF AN INTEGRATED ERTS-1 PROJECT AND ITS RESULTS

AT THE MISSOURI GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, James A. Martin, William H. Allen,
David L. Rath, and Ardel Rueff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

G3 ANALYSIS OF STATE OF VEHICULAR SCARS ON ARCTIC TUNDRA,

ALASKA. Ernest H. Lathram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 633

G4 THE INFLUENCE OF SEASONAL FACTORS ON THE RECOGNITION

OF SURFACE LITHOLOGIES FROM ERTS-IMAGERY OF THE WESTERN
TRANSVAAL, Jan Grootenboer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 643

G5 STRATIGRAPHIC SUBDIVISION OF THE TRANSVAAL DOLOMITE

FROM ERTS IMAGERY, Jan Grootenboer, Ken Eriksson, and John Truswell ..... 657 .

G6 AN INVESTIGATION OF MAJOR SAND SEAS I N DESERT AREAS

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, Edwin D. McKee and Carol S. Breed . ........ 665

G7 A NEW METHOD FOR MONITORING GLOBAL VOLCANIC ACTIVITY,

Peter L. Ward, Elliot T. Endo, David H. Harlow, Rex Allen, and Jerry P. Eaton ..... 681

G8 EVALUATION OF ERTS IMAGERY FOR SPECTRAL GEOLOGICAL

MAPPING IN DIVERSE TERRANES OF NEW YORK STATE, Y. W. Isachsen.
R. H. Fakundiny, and S. W. Forster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691
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G9 GEOLOGIC APPLICATIONS OF ERTS IMAGES ON THE COLORADO

PLATEAU, ARIZONA, AIexander F. !-!. Goe?r, Fred C. Ri!!ings!ey, Donl!d P. E!stnn
Ivo Lucchitta, and Eugene M. Shoemaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719 L

G 10 ERTS1, EARTHQUAKES, AND TECTONIC EVOLUTION IN ALASKA,

Larry Gedney and James Vanwormer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 745 ’-’/
G 11 STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THE MASSIF-CENTRAL - FRANCE,
J-Y. Scanvic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757
.’/
G 12 STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY OF THE AFRICAN RIFT SYSTEM: SUMMARY
OF NEW DATA FROM ERTS1 IMAGERY, P. A.Mohr. . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 767 /
k J r - € - f - + - -w __- k.. ~ -....----*-.-_-
- .
IMAGERY, Khosro Ebtehadj, Ali Ghazi, Farrokh Barzegar, Reza Boghrati,
and Bahman Jazayeri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... /-
1
G 14 MINERAL EXPLORATION WITH ERTS IMAGERY, Stephen M. Nicolais ...... 785

G 15 ERTS1 IMAGERY AS AN AID TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE

/
REGIONAL SETTING OF BASE METAL DEPOSITS IN THE NORTH WEST
CAPE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA, Dr. Richard P. Viljoen. . . . . . . . . . . ... 797

G 16 MAPPING OF HYDROTHERMAL ALTERNATION ZONES AND REGIONAL

/
ROCK TYPES USING COMPUTER ENHANCED ERTS MSS IMAGES,
Lawrence C. Rowan, Pamela H. Wetlaufer, F. C. Billingsley, and Alexander F. H. Goetz . 807

G 17 AN EVALUATION OF THE SUITABILITY OF ERTS DATA FOR THE

PURPOSES OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION, Robert J. Collins, F. P. McCown,
L. P. Stonis, Gerald Petzel, and John R. Everett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809 .

G 18 PRELIMINARY ROAD ALINEMENT THROUGH THE GREAT KAVlR

IN IRAN BY REPETITIVE ERTS-1 COVERAGE, Daniel B. Krinsley . . ....... 823 .
G 19 RELATIONSHIP OF ROOF FALLS IN UNDERGROUND COAL MINES
TO FRACTURES MAPPED ON ERTS-1 IMAGERY, Charles E. Wier,
Frank J. Wobber, Orville R. Russell, Roger V. Amato, and Thomas V. Leshendok .... 825
/
G 20 A STUDY OF THE TEMPORAL CHANGES RECORDED BY ERTS AND THEIR
GEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE, Harold D. Moore and Alan F. Gregory . . . . . . . . 845

G 21 GEOLOGIC EVALUATION AND APPLICATIONS OF ERTS-1 IMAGERY ,

OVER GEORGIA, S. M. Pickeringand R. C. Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 857

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G 22 ALTITUDE DETERMINATION AND DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF CLOUDS
ON ERTS-1 MULTISPECTRAL PHOTOGRAPHY, Carlos Albrizzio
and Adelina Andressen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869 '
G 23 GEOLOGICAL PHOTOINTERPRETATION OF THE PARAGUANA PENINSULA
USING ERTSA MULTISPECTRAL PHOTOGRAPHY, Carlos Albrizzio . . . . . . . . 883 "

G 24 SIGNIFICANCE OF SELECTED LINEAMENTS IN ALABAMA, James A. Drahovzal.

Thornton L. Neathery, and Charles C. Wielchowsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897

G 25 GEOLOGIC INTERPRETATION OF ERTS-1 SATELLITE IMAGES FOR WEST

ASWAN AREA, EGYPT, E. M. El Shazly, M. A. Abdel-Hady, M. A. El Ghawaby
and I. A. El Kassas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919 .

G 26 ERTSA MULTISPECTRAL IMAGE ANALYSIS CONTRIBUTION FOR THE

GEOMORPHOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF SOUTHERN MARACAIBO LAKE
BASIN, F. Salas, 0. Cabello, F. Alarc6n and C. Ferrer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 943 -
G 27 GEOLOGIC HYPOTHESES ON LAKE TANGANYIKA REGION, ZAIRE, /

DRAWN FROM ERTS IMAGERY, Ulyera Wolyce and Sendwe llunga . . . ...... 955 ''

G 28 PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF ERTS-INVESTIGATIONS BY W-GERMAN

INVESTIGATORS, Richard Muhlfeld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 969 .

WATER RESOURCES

w 1 MAPPING SNOW EXTENT IN THE SALT-VERDE WATERSHED AND THE

SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA USING ERTS IMAGERY, James C. Barnes,
Clinton J. Bowley, and David A. Simmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 977

w 2 SNOW-EXTENT MAPPING AND LAKE ICE STUDIES USING ERTS-1 MSS

TOGETHER WITH NOAA-2 VHRR, D. R. Wiesnet and D. F. McGinnis, Jr. . . . . . . 995

w 3 NEW SPACE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES KNOWLEDGE OF THE REMOTE

POLAR REGIONS, William R. MacDonald. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1011

w 4 ERTS-1 DATA IN SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL PROGRAM OF INSPECTION

OF DAMS, G. E. Graybeal, F. G. Hall, B. H. Moore, and E. H. Schlosser . . . . . . . . 1023

w 5 DYNAMICS OF PLAYA LAKES IN THE TEXAS HIGH PLAINS,

C. C. Reeves, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 1041

W6 WATER-MANAGEMENT MODELS I N FLORIDA FROM ERTS-1 DATA,

Aaron L. Higer, Alfred E. Coker, and Edwin H. Cordes . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 1071

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w7 MEASURING WATERSHED RUNOFF CAPABILITY WITH ERTS DATA,

....................................
Bruce J. Blanchard 1089

W8 AN EVALUATION CI F THE ERTS CIATA COLLECTION SYSTEM AS A

.
POTENTIAL OPERA,TIONAL TOOL, Richard W. Paulson ............... 1099

w9 RETRANSMISSION OF WATER RESOURCES DATA USING THE ERTS-1

DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM, R. A. Halliday, 1. A. Reid, and E. F. Chapman .... 1113

w10 E R T S l FLOOD HAZARD STUDIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN,

Albert Rango and Arthur T. Anderson .......................... 1127

w11 OPTICAL DATA PROCESSING AND PROJECTED APPLICATIONS OF THE

ERTS-1 IMAGERY COVERING THE 1973 MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY
FLOODS, Morris Deutsch and F. H. Ruggles ....................... 1167

w12 APPLICATION OF ERTS IMAGERY TO ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

- .. OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, A. 0. Lind .......................... 1169

W13 A REAL TIME DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM BY SATELLITE RELAY,

Saul Cooper........................................ 1197

W 14 HYDROLOGIC APPLICATIONS OF ERTS-1 DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM

IN CENTRAL ARIZONA, Herbert H. Schurnann .................... 1213

W 15 APPLICATIONS OF ERTS DATA TO COASTAL WETLAND ECOLOGY

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PLANT COMMUNlPl MAPPING
AND TYPING AND IMPACT OF MAN, Richard R. Anderson, Virginia Carter,
and John McGinness ................................... 1225

W 16 INVENTORIES OF DELAWARE'S COASTAL VEGETATION AND LAND-USE

UTILIZING DIGITAL PROCESSING OF ERTS-1 IMAGERY, V. Klernas,
............................
D. Bartlett, R. Rogers, and L Reed 1243

W 17 EVALUATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND AUTOMATIC DATA TECHNIQUES

FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF WETLANDS, Robert H. Cartmill . . . . . . . . . . 1257
MARINE RESOURCES

M1 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ERTS RADIANCES AND GRADIENTS ACROSS

OCEANIC FRONTS, George A. Maul and Howard R. Gordon ............. 1279

M2 OCEAN INTERNAL WAVES OFF THE NORTH AMERICAN AN@ AFRICAN

COASTS FROM ERTS-1, John R. Ape1 and Robert L. Charnell. ............ 1309

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M3 A REVIEW OF INITIAL INVESTIGATIONS TO UTILIZE ERTS-1 DATA

IN DETERMINING THE AVAILABILITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF LIVING
MARINE RESOURCES, William H. Stevenson, Andrew J. Kemmerer, Buddy H. Atwell,
and Paul M. Maughan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1317

M4 UPDATING COASTAL AND NAVIGATIONAL CHARTS USING ERTS-1

DATA, Fabian C. Polcyn and David R. Lyzenga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1333

M5 SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION MAPPING IN TIDAL ESTUARIES,

A. N. Williamson and W. E. Grabau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 1347

M6 MONITORING COASTAL WATER PROPERTIES AND CURRENT

CIRCULATION WITH ERTS1, V. Klemas, M. Otley, C. Wethe, and R. Rogers .... 1387

M7 CALIFORNIA COASTAL PROCESSES STUDY, Douglas M. Pirie and

and David D. Steller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 1413

M8 THE UTILIZATION OF ERTS-1 DATA FOR THE STUDY OF THE FRENCH

ATLANTIC LITTORAL, Pierre G. Demathieu and Fernand H. Verger . . . . . . . .. 1447

M9 ERTS IMAGERY APPLIED TO ALASKAN COASTAL PROBLEMS, F. F. Wright,

G. D. Sharma, D. C. Burbank, and J. J. Burns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1451

M 10 MONITORING ARCTIC SEA ICE USING ERTS IMAGERY, James C. Barnes

and Clinton J. Bowley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1453

M 11 APPLICABILITY OF ERTS TO ANTARCTIC ICEBERG RESOURCES,

John L. Hult and Neil1 C. Ostrander. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 1467

ENVIRONMENT SURVEYS

E l THE USE OF ERTSI IMAGERY IN AIR POLLUTION AND MESO-

METEOROLOGICAL STUDIES AROUND THE GREAT LAKES, Walter A. Lyons.
and Richard A. Northouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1491

E2 A METHOD TO MEASURE THE ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL CONTENT

USING ERTS-1 DATA, Michael Griggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 1505

E3 AUTOMATED STRIP-MINE AND RECLAMATION MAPPING FROM ERTS,

Robert H. Rogers, Larry E. Reed, and Wayne A. Pettyjohn . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 1519

E4 SIGNIFICANT APPLICATIONS OF ERTS1 DATA TO RESOURCE

MANAGEMCNT ACTIVITIES AT THE STATE LEVEL IN OHIO,
D. C. Sweet, F,,G. Pincura, C. J. Meier, G. B. Garrett, L. Herd, G. E. Wukelic,
J. G. Stephan, a d H. E. Smail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 1533

Xii
 TAP' I= CONTENTS (Continued)

Paper
-No. -
Page

E5 ERTS IMAGERY AS A SOURCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION

FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA, Douglas T. Williamson and Brian Gilbertson. ....... 1559

E6 APPLICATION OF ERTS IMAGERY IN ESTIMATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT OF A FREEWAY THROUGH THE KNYSNA AREA OF SOUTH
AFRICA, Douglas T. Williamson and Brian Gilbertson .................. 1569

E7 APPLICATIONS OF ERTS-1 IMAGERY TO TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSES IN ALASKA, D. M. Anderson, H. L. McKim,
W. K. Crowder, R. K. Haugen, L. W. Gatto, and T. L Marlar ............... 1575

E8 AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF THE ESTUARINE AND COASTAL

OCEANOGRAPHY OF BLOCK ISLAND SOUND AND ADJACENT NEW YORK
COASTAL WATERS, Edward Yost, R. Hollman, J. Alexander, and R. Nuzzi ...... 1607

E9 AIRCRAFT AND SATELLITE MONITORING OF WATER QUALITY

IN LAKE SUPERIOR NEAR DULUTH, James P. Scherz, Michael Sydor,
and John F. Van Domelen ................................ .1619

E 10 QUANTITATIVE WATER QUALITY WITH ERTS-1, Harold L. Yarger,

James R. McCauley, Gerald W. James, Larry M. Magnuson, and G. Richard Marzolf ... 1637

E 11 AN EVALUATION OF THE USE OF ERTS-1 SATELLITE IMAGERY FOR

GRIZZLY BEAR HABITAT ANALYSIS, Joel R. Varney, John J. Craighead,
and Jay S. Sumner .................................... 1653

E 12 UTILITY OF ERTS FOR MONITORING THE BREEDING HABITAT

OF MIGRATORY WATERFOWL, Edgar A. Work, Jr., David S. Gilmer,
and A. T. Klett ...................................... 1671

INTERPRETATION TECHNIQUES

I1 TECHNIQUES FOR COMPUTER-AIDED ANALYSIS OF ERTS-1 DATA,

USEFUL IN GEOLOGIC, FOREST AND WATER RESOURCE SURVEYS,
Roger M. Hoffer and Staff ................................ 1687

12 MULTISPECTRAL COMBINATION AND DISPLAY OF ERTS-1 DATA,

Vidal Raphael Algazi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 1709

13 AFFINE TRANSFORMATIONS FROM AERIAL PHOTOS TO COMPUTER

COMPATIBLE TAPES, F. G. Peet, A. R. Mack, and L. S. Crosson. . . . . . . . .... 1719

14 ESIAC: A DATA PRODUCTS SYSTEM FOR ERTS IMAGERY (Time-lapse

Viewing and Measuring), William E. Evans and Sidney M. Serebreny . . . . . . . .... 1725

xiii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)

Paper
-
No. Page
-
15 ADVANCED PROCESSING AND INFORMATION EXTRACTION TECHNIQUES
APPLIED TO ERTS-1 MSS DATA, William A. Malila and Richard F. Nalepka ..... 1743

16 INTERPRETATION OF ERTS-1 IMAGERY AIDED BY PHOTOGRAPHIC

ENHANCEMENT, U. Nielsen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 1773

17 A TECHNIQUE FOR CORRECTING ERTS DATA FOR SOLAR AND

ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS, Robert H. Rogers, Keith Peacock,
and Navinchandra J. Shah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 1787

18 THE PENN STATE ORSER SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING AND ANALYZING

ERTS DATA, G. J. McMurtry, F. Y. Borden, H. A. Weeden and G. W. Petersen. . ... 1805

19 ERTS IMAGE DATA COMPRESSION TECHNIQUE EVALUATION,

Curtis L. May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 1823

I10 EVALUATION OF DIGITALLY CORRECTED ERTS IMAGES, John E. Taber ... 1837

Ill AUTOMATED THEMATIC MAPPING AND CHANGE DETECTION OF ERTS-1

IMAGES, Nicholas Gramenopoulos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1845

I12 PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS COLOUR DISPLAY OF ERTS IMAGERY,

M. M. Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 1877

I13 APPLICATIONS OF ERTS DATA TO RESOURCE SURVEYS OF ALASKA,

Albert E. Belon and John M. Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1899

I14 SCENE CORRECTION (PRECISION PROCESSING) OF ERTS SENSOR DATA

USING DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES, Ralph Bernstein . . . . .. 1909

115 SPECTRAL AND TEXTURAL PROCESSING OF ERTS IMAGERY, R. M. Haralick

and R. Bosley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1929

I16 DIGITAL IMAGE ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES USED IN SOME ERTS

APPLICATION PROBLEMS, Alexander F. H. Goetz and Fred C. Billingsley ...... 1971

AUTHOR'S INDEX ................................... 1993

xiv
’aper A 20

MONITORING VEGETATION SYSTEMS IN THE GREAT PLAINS WITH ERTS

.W. Rouse, Jr., R. H. Haas, J. A. W e l l and D.W. Deering, Remote Sensingcenter, Texas A&M
hivemity, Colfegp Station, Texas

ABSTRACT

The Great Plains Corridor rangeland project being conducted

at Texas A&M University utilizes natural vegetation systems
as phenological indicators of seasonal development and climatic
effects upon regional growth conditions. A method has been
developed for quantitative measurement of vegetation con-
ditions over broad regions using ERTS-1 MSS data. Radiance
values recorded in ERTS-1 spectral bands 5 and 7, corrected
for sun angle, are used to compute a band ratio parameter
which is shown to be correlated with aboveground green bio-
mass on rangelands.

INTRODUCTION

The Great Plains of the central United States produces over forty per-
cent of the nation’s beef and much of the country‘s grain. The beef
industry in this region is a $23 billion operation, which is extremely
vulnerable to adverse seasonal or climatic conditions. The stability
of the beef and agricultural products industry in the Great Plains
is contingent upon decisions made by the 400,000 farm and ranch owners
in this region. These private operators need timely information on
regional range forage conditions and crop production levels upon
which to base their management decisions. This paper reports on an
ERTS-1 study of rangelands in the Great Plains that has established
the potential for using ERTS-type data to provide quantitative re-
gional vegetative condition information required in support of these
agricultural operations.

The Great Plains Corridor rangeland project utilizes natural vegeta-

tion systems as phenological indicators of seasonal development and
climatic effects upon regional growth conditions. The basic task is
that of monitoring the vernal advancement and retrogradation of vege-
tation (green wave effect) throughout the uniform Mixed Prairie
Grassland Association extending from south Texas into Canada. The
objective of the work is to determine the feasibility of using ERTS-
type data to map regional vegetation conditions throughout the growing
season for the Great Plains.

309
 The study employs a network of ten test sites in six states extending
from south Texas into North Dakota. Ground observations recorded
every eighteen days at each site include green biomass, moisture con-
tent of vegetation, weather information, etc. ERTS-1 MSS data have
been acquired for all sites for four full seasons.

The ERTS-1 MSS data were computer processed for selected areas of
each site. Spectral reflectance data were analyzed for each available
date for each site. The measurements were corrected for seasonal sun
angle differences to permit temporal comparisons. Radiance values
recorded in ERTS-1 spectral bands 5 and 7 were used to compute a Band
Ratio Parameter which is shown to be correlated with aboveground green
biomass and vegetation moisture content.

This research has established a method for obtaining a quantitative

measurement of vegetation conditions over broad regions using ERTS-1
MSS data. It is anticipated that this capability will be further
developed to provide regional rangeland vegetation condition and grow-
ing condition information needed in rangeland management and agri-
business activities in the Great Plains.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the Great Plains Corridor Project were established

to examine three basic hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: The vernal advancement and retrogradation o f

a
;
:
vegetation (green wave e f f e c t ) can be discriminated on a regional
basis using r e p e t i t i v e multispectral data.
{I*

Hypothesis 2: Natural vegetation parameters provide a net3

t .... 1
information source f o r regional agri-business use.

Hypothesis 3: Temporal e f f e c t s are important i n discriminating

broad landforms, s o i l associations, vegetation types, and other
natural resource features.
\ r',

The specific objectives are:

I . \

r J f
1. Establish a test site network for collection of ERTS-1
correlated ground data in the Great Plains Corridor.

2. Use ERTS-1 data for charting the "Green Wave Effect" in

the Great Plains Corridor.

3. Correlate changes in reflectance characteristics of vege-

tation measured by ERTS-1 with environmental and growth
conditions.

310
 4. Evaluate the use of ERTS-1 data for measuring the kind,
amount, and condition of rangeland vegetation.

5. Evaluate the feasibility of an operational satellite

system for monitoring the status of natural vegetation
in the Great Plains Corridor.

GREAT PLAINS CORRIDOR

An effective rangeland test site network was established within the

Great Plains
-~ Corridor region
" " the initial phases of the ERTS-1
during
investigation. This test site network consists of ten study sites
(Fig= 1)9 nine of which lie within the Mixed Prairie grassland asso-
ciat ion. The
- headquarters
- - - . - - study site at College Station, Texas occurs
within the closely allled but somewhat more humid True Prairie grass-
land asso'

With the ~ X E ~ V L U J I IUI L I I ~wdee;e Station and Weslaco study sites,

a
which ar'e at elevations of 314 ind 225 ft., respectively, the Great
Plains C:orridor test site elevatSons span only 1800 ft., from Texas
through North Dakota. Their ele!vations range between 1100 and 2900 ft.

Loamy s o u s preaommace on mosc of the study areas within the Corridor.

However, one southern site (Woodward) and one northern site (Sand Hills)
are dominated by sandy soils. Two southern sites (Sonora and
Throckmorton) and one northern site (Cottonwood) are dominated by
clayey soils.

Important community dominants within the Corridor include warm-season

grasses (bluegrams, buffalograss, sideoats grams, and big and little
bluestems) and cool-season grasses (western wheatgrass, needle-and-
thread, and Texas wintergrass). Stipa and Bouteloua genera are con-
sidered to be characteristic of the Mixed Prairie and are present
throughout the association. The relative homogeneity of the Great
Plains Corridor and of the included study sites, in terms of climate
and soils as evidenced through vegetation expression, is demonstrated
in Figure 2.

Each of the ten sites is an established research area of a state

agricultural experiment station or the USDA. All sites are monitored
by the experienced personnel normally associated with the several
stations. The ground observations recorded coincident with the ERTS-1
passes include green biomass, standing biomass, moisture content of
vegetation, and phenology of dominant species. Ground photography
and grass clippings are obtained during each sampling. Weather infor-
mation is also recorded for all sites.

3 11
DATA PROCESSING

The objectives of this study require the acquisition of ERTS-1 measure-

ments showing temporal changes at each of ten locations throughout
the Great Plains Corridor. The problem of obtaining radiance data
from identical locations are multiple orbits has been handled in two
stages. In the first stage, a 7km x 7km area centered on the test
site is located, using a computer greymap, and the integrated
radiance is computed for each of the MSS bands. The data presented
in this paper were obtained from this type processing. The second
stage involves "masking" the 7km x 7km sections to remove non-
grassland areas. For many sites, this procedure removes only a
small percentage of the scene, e.g. Throckmorton.

The radiance measured in each MSS band is computed from the ERTS CCT
counts and corrected for seasonal sun angle differences by dividing
the CCT value by the sine of the inclination angle of the sun. The
correction procedure has been tested using measurements of temporally
independent targets.

The data processing procedure has been formalized and implemented on

a digital computer to generate the Site Processing Report shown in
Figure 3 for each frame of usable data.

SPECTRAL ANALYSIS

The.processing of ERTS MSS data provides four parameters which can

be analyzed relative to the ground observations. However, previous
studies have shown that combinations of these four parameters can
provide more useful parameters for specific comparisons. For the
purposes of this project, the parameter obtained by taking the differ-
ence between the radiance values in bands 5 and 7 has been found to
be of particular significances. Although other combinations have
been found which correlate with vegetation condition, this project
has established that bands 5 and 7 do provide a single quantity
indicative of the aboveground green biomass, and consequently the
present analysis activity has been restricted to this parameter.

The specific parameter employed is the Band Ratio Parameter (BRP)

defined as the difference in the ERTS radiance value measured in
bands 5 and 7, divided by their sum. The normalization procedure
is used to eliminate seasonal sun angle differences and to mini-
mize the effect of atmospheric attenuation. To avoid working with
negative BRP values and the possibility that the variance of the
ratio would be proportional to the mean values, a square-root
transformation is also computed. This parameter, termed the

3 12
Transformed Vegetation Index (TVI), is equal to the square-root of
the BRP plus an arbitrary constant. The constant selected was 0.5.

A step-down regression analysis of twenty-nine data sets from the

five southern test sites indicated that dry biomass, percent green
estimate, moisture content, and their interactions accounted for
60% of the variation in TVI values computed from the heterogeneous
7km x 7km areas. However, data from the uniform grassland site
near Throclanorton, Texas show that TVI is highly correlated to
vegetation condition. At Throckmorton, the vegetation moisture con-
tent and percent green estimate, along with their interaction,
accounts €or 99% of the variation of TVI for eight sampling dates.
The green biomass parameter alone accounts for 89% of the variation
in TVI. Addition of the vegetation moisture content and green biomass
interaction to the regression of green biomass with TVI increases the
accountable variation to 93%. Figure 4 shows the relationship of TVI
and green biomass measured for eight dates at the Throckmorton test
site.

Analysis of theb, u a L a L u a L a threshold exists such that the

D U ~ ~ S D L

TVI is insensitive to biomass and/or vegetation moisture content below

the threshold values. The implication is that sparsely vegetated
areas are not amenable to TVI characterization. However, further
analysis is necesisary to confirm this preliminary indication.
1

The TVI parameter-s appea!r to be most adequate for monitoring the

.- aiiu
vernal progressiorl ..-a "
ietrogradation of vegetation within the Great
Plains Corridor and has good potential for measuring green biomass
in increments to useful for regional agricultural applications.

CONCLUSION

This paper provides a brief summary of selected aspects of the Great

Plains Corridor Project being conducted at Texas A&M University.. The
emphasis here is on the quantification of ERTS-1 MSS data to provide
measurements of vegetation conditions on a regional basis. The
project includes other analysis activities using ERTS-1 data, including
image analysis, using color composites and black and white images, and
interactive computer analysis. The net result of these activities is
confirmation that the basic hypotheses of the study are true.

313
3 14
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 GREAT P L A I N S CORRIDOR P R O J E C T

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B S I T E DESIGNATOR: GP 3* 1 CELLS 1147 T O 12-56
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BAND 6 0.57 -7
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PHEPARFD 6Y:TEXAS A i M U N I V E R S I T Y , RECOTE S€hSING C E N T k H
D A T A 4 N 4 L Y S I S LABORATOKY llSEP73
4:
* "

Figure 3. Site Processing Report.

3 16
 Green Biomass
(kg/hect are)
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 tn 0 tn 0 0
)r) N cv d d tn 0

I I I I I I

/ f

0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
QI 00 b a

317
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