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Applications of multispectral photography to water resources development planning in lower Mekong basin (Khmer Republic, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam)
The author has identified the following significant results. Skylab S190A photography used in a stereo mode is sufficient for defining the drainage divides and drainage patterns at the regional level. This data, combined with geologic information, define the boundaries and distribution of ground water recharge and discharge areas within the basin.
Aerial photography and information system technology were used to generate information required for the effective operation of three water-related programs in Michigan. Potential mosquito breeding sites were identified from specially acquired low altitude 70 mm color photography for the city of Lansing; the inventory identified 35% more surface water areas than indicated on existing field maps. A comprehensive inventory of surface water sources and potential access sites was prepared to assist fire departments in Antrim County with fire truck water-recharge operations. Remotely-sensed land cover/use data for Windsor Township, Eaton County, were integrated with other resource data into a computer-based information system for regional water quality studies. Eleven thematic maps focusing on landscape features affecting non-point water pollution and waste disposal were generated from analyses of a four-hectare grid-based data file containing land cover/use, soils, topographic and geologic (well-log) data.
The paper describes the use of aerial photography and information system technology in the provision of information required for the effective operation of three water-related programs in Michigan. Potential mosquito breeding sites were identified from specially acquired low altitude 70 mm color photography for the City of Lansing Vector Control Area. A comprehensive inventory of surface water sources and potential access sites was prepared to assist fire departments in Antrim County with fire truck water-recharge operations. Remotely-sensed land cover/use data for Windsor Township, Eaton County were integrated with other resource data into a computer-based information system for regional water quality studies. Eleven thematic maps specifically focussed on landscape features affecting non-point water pollution and waste disposal were generated from analyses of a four-hectare grid-based data file containing land cover/use, soils, topographic and geologic (well-log) data.
The Veggie vegetable production system was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014. Veggie was designed by ORBITEC to be a compact, low mass, low power vegetable production system for astronaut crews. Veggie consists of a light cap containing red, blue, and green LEDs, an extensible transparent bellows, and a baseplate with a root mat reservoir. Seeds are planted in plant pillows, small growing bags that interface with the reservoir. The Veggie technology validation test, VEG-01, was initiated with the first test crop of 'Outredgeous' red romaine lettuce. Prior to flight, lettuce seeds were sanitized and planted in a substrate of arcillite (baked ceramic) mixed with controlled release fertilizer. Upon initiation, astronauts open the packaged plant pillows, install them in the Veggie hardware, and prime the system with water. Operations include plant thinning, watering, and photography. Plants were grown on the ISS for 33 days, harvested, and returned frozen to Earth for analysis. Ground controls were conducted at Kennedy Space Center in controlled environment chambers reproducing ISS conditions of temperature, relative humidity, and CO2. Returned plant samples were analyzed for microbial food safety and chemistry including elements, antioxidants, anthocyanins and phenolics. In addition the entire plant microbiome was sequenced, and returned plant pillows were analyzed via x-ray tomography. Food safety analyses allowed us to gain approvals for future consumption of lettuce by the flight surgeons and the payload safety office. A second crop of lettuce was grown in 2015, and the crew consumed half the produce, with the remainder frozen for later analysis. This growth test was followed by testing of a new crop in Veggie, zinnias. Zinnias were grown to test a longer duration flowering crop in preparation for tests of tomatoes and other fruiting crops in the future. Zinnias were harvested in February. Samples from the second harvest of lettuce and the zinnia harvest are frozen on the ISS and will return with the next cargo return flight. Some challenges occurred in all tests, especially in the area of watering, with plants receiving insufficient or excess water leading to stressed growth. Zinnia plants were also challenged with fungal growth. Initial tests with Veggie have given us great insight into future crop production scenarios as we work to develop regular supplemental salad crop production on ISS and larger food production systems for our journey to Mars. Funding for this research comes from NASA's Space Biology Program.
Infrared and color photography for water inlet survey in Alaska
Aerial photography of water wave refraction for depth determination
An investigation of surface, volume, and bottom effects in Lake Superior is conducted. The objective of the reported study is the development of a reliable technique for the monitoring and the quantification of the water quality parameters associated with volume reflectance. Basic relationships are discussed together with details concerning the equipment used in the studies, the water quality on the basis of aerial photos and satellite imagery, and the effects of oil on sky-light reflection.
Wind tunnel photography for determining water droplet size in breakup of water jets
The use of aerial photography to determine the nature and extent of water pollution from carbonaceous materials is discussed. Flights were conducted over the Galveston Bay estuarine complex. Ground truth data were developed from field sampling of the waters in a region near the Houston Ship Channel. Tests conducted in the field were those for the following physical and chemical factors: (1) ph, (2) dissolved oxygen, (3) temperature, and (4) light penetration. Laboratory analyses to determine various properties of the water are described and the types of instruments used are identified. Results of the analyses are presented as charts and graphs.
The aim of the program discussed was to develop techniques for remotely measuring crop irrigation needs and predicting crop yields, with emphasis on wheat. Airborne measurements, using an IR line scanner and color IR photography, were made to evaluate the feasibility of measuring minimum and maximum (dawn and afternoon) crop temperatures to compute a parameter, termed 'stress degree day' (SDD) - a valuable indicator of crop water needs, which can be related to irrigation scheduling and yield. Crop canopy temperature measurements by airborne IR techniques revealed the superiority of thermal IR data over color IR photography. Water stress undetected in the latter technique was clearly detected in thermal imagery. Color IR photography, however, is valuable in discerning vegetation. The pseudo-colored temperature-difference images (and pseudo-colored images, reading directly in daily SDD increments) are shown to be well suited for assessing plant water status and, thus, for determining the irrigation needs and crop yield potentials.
Remote sensing techniques are being used in Minnesota to study: (1) forest disease detection and control; (2) water quality indicators; (3) forest vegetation classification and management; (4) detection of saline soils in the Red River Valley; (5) corn defoliation; and (6) alfalfa crop productivity. Results of progress, and plans for future work in these areas, are discussed.
Satellite imagery from two EREP passes over the Rappahannock Estuary of the Chesapeake region is analyzed to chart colored water types, to delineate color boundaries and define circulatory patterns. Surface observations from boats and helicopters concurrent with Skylab overpass define the distributions of suspended sediment, transparency, temperature, salinity, phytoplankton, color of suspended material and optical ratio. Important features recorded by the imagery are a large-scale turbidity maximum and massive red tide blooms. Water movement is revealed by small-scale mixing patterns and tidal plumes of apparent sediment-laden water. The color patterns broadly reflect the bottom topography and the seaward gradient of suspended material between the river and the bay. Analyses of red, green and natural color photos by microdensitometry demonstrate the utility of charting water color types of potential use for managing estuarine water quality. The Skylab imagery is superior to aerial photography and surface observations for charting water color.
The author has identified the following significant results. Three Skylab earth resources passes over Puerto Rico and St. Croix on 6 June and 30 November 1973 and 18 January 1974 resulted in color photography and multispectral photography and scanner imagery. Bathymetric and turbid water features are differentiable by use of the multispectral data. Photography allows mapping of coral reefs, offshore sand deposits, areas of coastal erosion, and patterns of sediment transport. Bottom sediment types could not be differentiated. Patterns of bottom dwelling biologic communities are well portrayed but are difficult to differentiate from bathymetric detail. Effluent discharges and oil slicks are readily detected and are differentiated from other phenomena by the persistence of their images into the longer wavelength multispectral bands.
The author has identified the following significant results. Water truth observations, NASA aerial photography from an altitude of 60,000 feet, and ERTS-1 imagery made off the South Texas coast showed a mutually consistent pattern of water turbidity in the Gulf of Mexico. At the time of the measurements, plumes of turbid water were being formed by ebb-tidal discharges from the bays through tidal passes and were being diverted southward by the coastwise drift. The occurrence of the bands of turbid and relatively clear water suggests the existence of large scale helical circulation cells having axes almost parallel to shore with the outer turbid band probably being a zone of surface divergence and bottom water upwelling. The impingement of a turbid water mass onto the shoreline suggests that some, and perhaps most, of the suspended sediment in nearshore waters may not have been stirred up from the nearshore sea floor but may have traveled long distances in the water mass, perhaps even having remained in suspension from the time of its entry into the Gulf tidal inlets such as Aransas Pass.
The author has identified the following significant results. During the summer of 1972, huge mats of duckweeds (Lemnaceae) appeared on Lake Pontchartrain, a shallow estuary in southeastern Louisiana. In color infrared photography, duckweeds show a characteristic light lavender color, unlike algal mats or water hyacinth, as observed in low level aerial photography. Although at least five species are present in the area, most water coverage is by Lemna minor and Spirodela oligorrhiza. ERTS-1 imagery shows many areas of bayous, swamps, and marginal waters of Lake Pontchartrain covered with duckweeds. Subsequent passes show a seasonal decreases in duckweeds.
A method was developed to quantitatively delineate waste concentrations throughout waste effluent mixing zones on the basis of densitometric measurements extracted from aerial photography. A mixing zone is the extent of a receiving water body ultilized to dilute a waste discharge to a concentration characteristic of a totally mixed condition. Simultaneously-acquired color infrared photography and suspended solids water samples were used to quantitatively delineate the mixing zone resulting from the discharge of a paper mill effluent. Digital scanning microdensitometer data was used to estimate and delineate suspended solids concentrations on the basis of a semi-empirical model. Photographic photometry, when predicated on a limited amount of ground sampling, can measure and delineate mixing zone waste distributions in more detail then conventional surface measuring techniques. The method has direct application to: (1) the establishment of definite and rational water quality guidelines; (2) the development of sampling and surveillance programs for use by governmental and private agencies; and (3) the development of design and location criteria for industrial and municipal waste effluent outfalls.
Research objectives during 1972-73 were to: (1) Ascertain the extent to which special aerial photography can be operationally used in monitoring water pollution parameters. (2) Ascertain the effectiveness of remote sensing in the investigation of nearshore mixing and coastal entrapment in large water bodies. (3) Develop an explicit relationship of the extent of the mixing zone in terms of the outfall, effluent and water body characteristics. (4) Develop and demonstrate the use of the remote sensing method as an effective legal implement through which administrative agencies and courts can not only investigate possible pollution sources but also legally prove the source of water pollution. (5) Evaluate the field potential of remote sensing techniques in monitoring algal blooms and aquatic macrophytes, and the use of these as indicators of lake eutrophication level. (6) Develop a remote sensing technique for the determination of the location and extent of hydrologically active source areas in a watershed.