Back to Remote Sensing
	A multi agency project funded by US EPA's STAR Program

Obtaining and Using Satellite Data

We will be using data from several satellites to accomplish our goals for this project. Landsat data allows us to look at land cover. Radarsat data allows us to very accurately map elevation differences. High resolution Quickbird satellite data will be used to map wetland vegetation.

Using data obtained from the Landsat satellite, we will be able to calculate changes in land use, forest type, and wetland amount for the last decade. This information will help us determine the land use pressure on coastal margin ecosystems.

We have already used Landsat data to develop a better forest cover classification. These satellite data captured specifically-targeted events in the forest canopy, such as fall color events for various species and times when only a few types of trees had leaves. Together, this series of images allowed identification of the forest types as seen from space to nearly the species level forest. This level of classification will give us a good idea of forest changes between 1990 and 2002.

[See Wolter, P.T., D.J. Mladenoff, G.E. Host, and T.R. Crow. 1995. Improved classification in the northern Lake States using multi-temporal Landsat imagery. PE&RS 61:1129-1143.]

Artist's conception of Landsat-7 in orbit

Satellites equipped with RADAR provide high resolution elevational data. We will obtain this data for Great Lakes coastal areas to assess how changes in lake levels will affect coastal areas.

This example shows work we did for the Toolik Lake Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Alaska. Combining data from both Landsat and Radarsat (the INSAR DEM), we produced a three-dimensional model of the study area that shows both elevation and land cover. Researchers are using this to study stream and lake ecology issues.

Similar land cover-elevation models can be created for coastal areas of the Great Lakes to aid in the investigation of effects of changing water levels and changing land uses on coastal wetlands.

Artist's conception of Radarsat in orbit

 

 

Data obtained from the high spatial resolution Quickbird satellite will be used to map vegetation types within 15 wetlands. This will test the usefulness of high resolution satellites in tracking the range and rate of spread of exotic and invasive wetland species such as purple loosestrife.