June 6, 2003

 

Remote Sensing Takes to the Air in NDSU Extension Geospatial Program

County agents of the North Dakota State Univerity Extension Service are using remote sensing techniques such as aerial photography and satellite imagery in education projects this summer across the state.

The agents, participating in the NDSU Geospatial Education Program, are using aerial photography and satellite imagery in a variety of applications including crop and range management, forestry, community development and youth education, according to NDSU extension specialist, John Nowatzki. Nowatzki coordinates the NDSU Geospatial Education Program. Approximately 60 extension personnel are participating in the program.

Participants in the program have found high-resolution satellite imagery to be too costly for most projects requiring remote sensing, and lower cost aerial photography is not readily available in North Dakota. "The only available low-cost remote sensing imagery is Landsat satellite imagery, however Landsat imagery is only 30-meter resolution, which is not precise enough for applications such as crop and range management," Nowatzki says. "The NDSU Geospatial Education Program decided to purchase an agricultural digital camera to provide high-resolution, low-cost images for use in educational and research for the participants’ projects."

The NDSU Ag and Biosystems Engineering Department is making the remote-sensing camera available for use in the geospatial projects. The camera takes pictures in a similar spectral range as Landsat satellite images so the images can be used to display vegetative indexes as well as delineating unique or unusual areas. The resolution is dependent on the flight elevation and camera lenses. If the camera is flown at 3500 feet above the ground the images have a 1-meter resolution.

"The camera mount fastens the camera to the wing struts of a small plane. The camera mounts allow it to be attached to several types of airplanes to get pictures at various locations across the state," Nowatzki says. "Extension staff will work with local pilots to obtain the images they need." The camera is controlled by software installed on a laptop computer. In many instances, Extension Service staff will operate the computer and camera in the plane as the pilot maneuvers into position.

The participating NDSU Extension Service personnel use geographic information systems (GIS) computer programs to overlay other map layers such as digital soils, field boundaries and crop yield maps on the remotely sensed imagery.

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Source: John Nowatzki, (701) 231-8213, jnowatzk@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu