A multi agency project funded by US EPA's STAR Program

Development of Environmental Indicators using Remote Sensing Technology

A picture is truly worth a thousand words. Although traditional wetland and forest mapping and monitoring techniques are accurate, they are very expensive and labor intensive. This makes the mapping and monitoring of large areas economically prohibitive.

Our goal: To use data from three satellites (Landsat-7, Quickbird, and Radarsat) to characterize coastal margin vegetation, coastline morphology, and coastal forests of the US Great Lakes.

Specific objectives are to use remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to:
1) improve mapping of coastal environments and forests in the Great Lakes basin,
2) provide data for the development of ecological risk assessment indicators, and
3) generate important background information for ecosystem characterization of ecological response variability.

These data will be valuable for improving basic inventory and monitoring of coastal areas, wetlands and forest environments. The data will provide critical decision support for watershed health issues and for improving models of wildlife use of these ecosystems.

Satellite Photos	Scientific Abstract	Obtaining Satellite Data
	Reports (Choose one) 2002 Report 2003 Report Powerpoint presentation general

Researchers:
Gerald J. Niemi, PhD, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth
Carol Johnston, PhD, Center for Biocomplexity Studies, South Dakota State University
Peter T. Wolter, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth
Terry Brown, PhD, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth

Funding:
Funding for this project is provided by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)