GEOSPATIAL DATA FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS AND VULNERABILITY STUDIES

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2. GEOSPATIAL DATA FOR ENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTS AND VULNERABILITY STUDIES Towson University’s NASA/Raytheon/Synergy Project Dr. John M. Morgan, III David A. Sides Dr. Frederick W. Kutz

3. SYNERGY PROJECT GOALS • Develop additional uses for NASA’s 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 University’s 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

4. 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

5. CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED

6. IMPERVIOUS SURFACES MAP

7. CHESAPEAKE BAY AND MID-ATLANTIC FROM SPACE

8. 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

9. BASIC VIEWER

10. ADVANCED VIEWER

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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)

14. 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 Agency’s 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. WATERSHED MAPPERTM

18. CLIP, ZIP, AND SHIPTM

19. IMPORTANCE OF TOWSON’S SYNERGY PROJECT • Towson University’s 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 • Towson’s Infomart is content rich and includes information on … • Imperviousness, urban sprawl, forest fragmentation, and agriculture • A tutorial on remote sensing and digital image processing • Towson’s 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 • Towson’s 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

20. 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

21. 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 (410) 704-3887 (410) 704-3888 (fax) http://cgis.towson.edu/ This presentation will be available for download at: http://cgis.towson.edu/downloads/reva-maia.ppt