Training

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GEOSPATIAL DATA FOR ENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTS AND
VULNERABILITY STUDIES

• Towson Universitys NASA/Raytheon/Synergy Project
• Dr. John M. Morgan, III
• David A. Sides
• Dr. Frederick W. Kutz

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SYNERGY PROJECT GOALS

• Develop additional uses for NASAs Earth
  Observing System for end user communities outside
  of global change research
• Demonstrate how an Infomart can be used to
  provide an end user community with easy access to
  remotely sensed data
• Involve state and local government agencies in
  the project to ensure that it reflects actual end
  user needs
• Towson Universitys project, which focuses on
  landscape characterization in the mid-Atlantic
  region, is one of 11 Synergy projects across the
  country
• Information regarding the other Synergy projects
  can be found at
• www.earth-outlook.com

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PHASE 1

• Tasks completed from March 1, 2000 to February
  28, 2001
• Acquired and processed 36 Landsat 7 scenes for
  2000 for the 7 jurisdictions which comprise the
  Chesapeake Bay watershed (imagery also acquired
  for 3 additional states)
• Developed an impervious surface map for the
  Chesapeake Bay watershed via a supervised
  classification of the Landsat imagery
• Developed empirically derived impervious surface
  coefficients using large-scale planimetric data
  for selected counties in the watershed
• Developed a map of watersheds showing the impact
  of impervious surfaces
• Developed a web site to serve as an Infomart
  for the Landsat 7 data, impervious surface map,
  and related data (http//chesapeake.towson.edu)
• Initiated a ground truth data collection effort
  using K-12 teachers and their students 75 GPS
  receivers were distributed
• Developed lesson plans for K-12 teachers

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CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED
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IMPERVIOUS SURFACES MAP
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CHESAPEAKE BAY AND MID-ATLANTIC FROM SPACE
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PHASE 2

• Tasks completed from March 1, 2001 to January 31,
  2002
• Acquired 36 Landsat 5 scenes for 1988-1990
• Developed an impervious surfaces map for 1990 in
  order to map the extent of urban growth
  (1990-2000 change) and to generate sprawl
  metrics
• Developed high resolution impervious surfaces map
  using IKONOS imagery (1 meter panchromatic and 4
  meter multispectral imagery)
• Generated forest fragmentation statistics for
  Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic subwatersheds
• Expanded the Chesapeake Bay from Space web site
  to include basic and advanced ArcIMS applications
• Developed a free, low-end GIS software package
  (MapViewerTM) for use with the Synergy project
  data (http//cgis.towson.edu/mapviewer/
• Expanded the ground truth data collection effort
  with K-12 teachers and their students an
  additional 75 GPS receivers were distributed
• Developed additional lesson plans for K-12
  teachers

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BASIC VIEWER
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ADVANCED VIEWER
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PHASE 3

• Phase 3 tasks (March 1, 2002 through February 28,
  2003)
• Acquired 36 Landsat 7 scenes for 2002
• Remapping land cover for the entire 10
  jurisdiction region
• Developing special applications based on the
  Infomart data
• Conducting information workshops for federal,
  state, and local government agencies
• Expanding the Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic
  from Space web site to include new, custom ArcIMS
  applications
• Creating commercial products in an effort to make
  the Infomart financially self-sufficient
  (sustainability)
• Coordinating continued GPS data collection by the
  150 K-12 teachers and their students who have
  participated in the project nearly 10,000 ground
  truth data points have been collected to date
• Developed additional lesson plans for K-12
  teachers

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GEOSPATIAL DATA (AVAILABLE)

• Landsat data for 1990, 2000, and 2002 (7 bands
  each)
• Various products derived from Landsat data
• Color composites
• NDVI
• Unsupervised classification)
• Ecoregions
• Land cover (1990, 2000)
• Land cover change (1990-2000)
• NWI wetlands
• Streams
• Subwatersheds

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GEOSPATIAL DATA (FUTURE)

• 2003 Landsat data
• Agricultural land cover
• Vegetated/non-vegetated buffers
• Elevation, slope, and slope aspect
• ASTER data for selected watersheds
• 12.5 meter PAN/TM fusion product (for sale)

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SYNERGY 4 (2003)

• Phase 4 tasks (March 1, 2003 to February 28,
  2004)
• Acquire 2003 Landsat 7 imagery for the
  ten-jurisdiction region
• Acquire ASTER imagery for selected watersheds
• Develop agricultural land classification using
  Landsat imagery (joint effort with the USDA
  National Agricultural Statistical Service)
• Launch Watershed MapperTM application
• Develop Clip, Zip, and Ship ArcIMSTM application
• Work with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to
  disseminate information about the Synergy
  project, and to incorporate the Synergy project
  in various Alliance programs (RestoreCorps,
  Watershed Citizen Engagement and Monitoring
  Program)
• Develop ArcIMS applications that incorporate data
  from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys
  Mid-Atlantic Inventory and Assessment (MAIA) and
  Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) programs
• Develop GIS-based odor model for the District of
  Columbia Water and Sewer Authority

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SYNERGY 4 (CONTINUED)

• Ensure that our Infomart is ADA compliant
• Market Pan/TM fusion product
• Coordinate continued ground truth data collection
  by teachers and their students

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WATERSHED MAPPERTM

• Advanced ArcIMS viewer
• Provide watershed organizations with Web-based
  GIS tools (including the ability to add and edit
  geospatial data)
• Display a host of geospatial data (including data
  collected by the watershed organization) in a
  Web-based interface
• Display detailed watershed profiles
• Display real-time data from the U.S. Geological
  Survey and other sources of water
  quantity/quality data
• Enable printing of custom maps for a watershed
• Application being prototyped using the Jones
  Falls Watershed

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WATERSHED MAPPERTM
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CLIP, ZIP, AND SHIPTM
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IMPORTANCE OF TOWSONS SYNERGY PROJECT

• Towson Universitys Synergy project benefits
  include
• A large amount of Landsat 5 and 7 data, and other
  geospatial data, are available for free download
  via the Infomart
• Towsons Infomart is content rich and includes
  information on
• Imperviousness, urban sprawl, forest
  fragmentation, and agriculture
• A tutorial on remote sensing and digital image
  processing
• Towsons MapViewerTM package encourages use of
  the Infomart data by local governments, citizen
  groups, and others who lack the resources to buy
  expensive commercial GIS software
• Towson has developed basic and advanced ArcIMS
  applications which provide Internet access to a
  large amount of geospatial dataThe availability
  of frequent land cover maps will enable local
  governments and citizens groups to monitor local
  watershed changes
• Towsons involvement of K-12 teachers and their
  students in ground truth data collection helps
  meet a Bay Agreement goal and will most likely
  have the effect of fostering citizen
  participation in the future

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SOME IMPORTANT LESSONS LEARNED

• Despite the availability of very large-scale
  digital orthophotography, there is a great deal
  of interest in Landsat 7 imagery by state and
  local government agencies in the Mid-Atlantic
• Synoptic view
• Effective way of monitoring landscape change
• Lower cost for periodic updates
• Few state government agencies, and even fewer
  local government agencies, are familiar with
  remote sensing and digital image processing
• There are many government agencies and other
  groups who would like to have access to digital
  geospatial data but who do not have the resources
  to purchase expensive commercial software and to
  build databases
• K-12 teachers and their students provide a
  largely untapped resource for ground truth data
  collection

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FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Dr. John M. Morgan, III, Professor and Director
• David A. Sides
• Dr. Frederick W. Kutz
• Center for Geographic Information Sciences
• Towson University
• 8000 York Road
• Baltimore, Maryland 21252-0001
• [phone]
• [phone] (fax)
• http//cgis.towson.edu/
• This presentation will be available for download
  at
• http//cgis.towson.edu/downloads/reva-maia.ppt