1.

Sample Specific applications of GIS and RS

1.1. GIS Applications in Ocean Health Index
The Ocean Health Index (OHI) is a comprehensive framework for evaluating the health of the world’s
oceans. Using the best available data, methods, and analytical tools, OHI assessments synthesize data into
concrete scores organized around 10 goals for the sustainable use of healthy oceans:

 Food Provision,
 Artisanal Fishing,
 Natural products,
 Carbon Storage,
 Coastal Protection,
 Tourism & Recreation,
 Livelihoods & Economies,
 Sense of Place,
 Clean Waters, and
 Biodiversity.
The OHI team continues to assess ocean health yearly based on the sustainable delivery of this suite of
goals, scoring each goal on a scale of 0-100 based on current status, trend, and external pressures and
resilience measures.

Geographic information system (GIS) technology, which has long provided effective solutions to the
integration, visualization, and analysis of information about land, is now being similarly applied to oceans.
In recent years, our ability to measure change in the oceans (including open ocean, nearshore, and coast)
is increasing, not only because of improved measuring devices and scientific techniques but also because
new GIS technology is aiding us in better understanding this dynamic environment. This domain has
progressed from applications that merely collect and display data to complex simulation, modeling, and
the development of new research methods and concepts.

Areas of Focus

 Research and Exploration

o Seafloor mapping and sampling, geomorphological studies, and tectonophysics
o Benthic habitat mapping for estimating species abundance, identifying essential fish
habitat, and ultimately conserving sensitive or endangered areas
o Shoreline analysis, including calculation of rate-of-change statistics from multiple shoreline
positions to analyze historical shoreline change
o Climate change, including measuring or simulating the potential impacts of sea-level rise
on shorelines and wetlands, impacts of storms due to increasing ocean temperatures,
impacts to ecosystems due to increasing ocean acidification, and global energy transfer
o Hazards, including the analysis of risk and potential loss of buildings and infrastructure due
to hurricane winds, coastal floods, tsunamis, and nearshore or onshore earthquakes
 Ecosystems and Environment
o Coral reef health and structure, mangrove assessment, estuary restoration, interaction of
coastal ecosystem services, and management of seascape to optimize services
o Coastal and pelagic animal tracking and marine mammal genomics

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 o Marine debris mapping and tracking, especially in situ, as small plastics are not detectable
with satellite imagery
 Coastal Protection and Marine Spatial Planning
o National Ocean Policy Regional Ocean Partnership mandates
o Marine protected area design and designation
o Offshore wind, wave, and tidal energy development
o Beach and recreational fisheries access
 Fisheries and Aquaculture Management
o Mapping of US fishery management plans and boundaries of groundfish essential fish
habitat
o Analysis of trends in nearshore and estuarine capture of fisheries globally
o Aquaculture optimization and permitting
o Fish habitat and distribution for quote-based management systems
o Aquaculture-related disease and value tracking
o Analysis of fishery closure areas, protected resources, Gulf
o Coast Environmental Sensitivity indexes, at-risk species, and federal status to illustrate
some of the environmental impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill
 Recreation and Adventure
o Professional and amateur boat racing, voyages for various causes, and ocean-based
sporting events that can benefit from live, map-based tracking of assets and participants
o Crowdsourced data from recreational vessels

1.2. Invasive Species Management

While many "alien" plant and animal species are purposefully introduced into new areas as ornamentals,
livestock, crops, and even pets, these species can escape into other areas and threaten agricultural and
native ecosystems causing economic and environmental harm, or harm to human health. Increasingly,
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to track and manage the invaders, mitigate the potential rate of
spread and level of impact, and protect the native economy and ecosystem.

GIS applications in Invasive Species can examine five relevant categories of geographic information
including dispersal and transport, prediction and forecasting, mapping of current infestations, maps for
management and control tactics, and impact assessment and method of control. It address GIS for
studying the population ecology of a new species, niche requirements for species success, and the
monitoring and control of several different species of intentionally introduced invasive species, insects and
other animals that may also vector a disease, and invasive weed management from prediction to
management.

2. Applications of RS in Management of Renewable Resources

1.3. Soils
Over the past few decades, the Earth’s surface has witnessed major changes in land use. These changes
are likely to continue, driven by demographic pressure or by climate change. In this context, monitoring
tools are needed for maintaining a sustainable ecological status, improving soil conservation and water
resource management. Floods, excess runoff, soil erosion, and related contamination and disequilibrium of
the water and carbon cycles are, among others, key issues that are controlled and influenced by soil

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surface characteristics. The implementation of sustainable agricultural, hydrological, and environmental
management requires an improved understanding of the soil, at increasingly finer scales. Conventional soil
sampling and laboratory analyses cannot efficiently provide this information, because they are slow,
expensive, and could not retrieve all temporal and spatial variabilities.
In this context, remote sensing has shown a high potential in soil characteristics retrieving in the last three
decades. Different methodologies have been proposed for the estimation of soil parameters, based on
different remote sensing sensors and techniques (passive and active). For passive remote sensing, we can
consider four principal types of sensors:

(i) optical remote sensing with limited number of bands (e.g., SPOT, ASTER, LANDSAT..., etc.)
particularly adapted for vegetation cover description, land use analysis,

(ii) optical remote sensing based on hyperspectral sensors, particularly adapted for soil texture
description,

(iii)optical remote sensing with thermal infrared band, adapted for soil temperature estimation,
(iv) passive microwave remote sensing adapted to soil moisture and vegetation estimation.
For active remote sensing, different studies have shown a considerable potential for the characterization
of different soil parameters: moisture, roughness, and texture. Active remote sensing is particularly based
on two types of sensors: synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with high spatial resolution adapted to local and
regional studies and scatterometer sensor more adapted to global estimations of soil parameters.
Three types of methodologies are generally used for soil parameters estimation: empirical models based
only on satellite and ground databases, semiempirical models based on a mixture between physical
modelling and real data, and finally physical models based only on the description of radiative transfer
physics to analyze relationship between remote sensing signals and soil parameters.
These remote sensing studies concern particularly four soil parameters (moisture, roughness,
temperature, and texture).

(i) Soil moisture is a key parameter, influencing the manner in which rainwater is shared between the
phenomena of evapotranspiration, infiltration, and runoff.

(ii) Soil surface roughness is involved in the separation of water flow into infiltration and runoff.
Moreover, monitoring the evolution of surface roughness is a way to estimate erosion risk
particularly in agricultural areas.

(iii)Soil texture is one of the most important soil properties influencing most physical, chemical, and
biological soil processes. Hence, it is a key property for soil management.

(iv) Soil temperature is a key parameter in the description of evapotranspiration and surface-
atmosphere interface processes.
Based on this high potential of remote sensing to retrieve surface parameters, a high number of sensors
have been launched in the last years to improve different methodologies proposed to retrieve
operationally surface parameters. In this context, our principal objective of this special issue is to present
different studies illustrating quantitative analyses based on these different new sensors.

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 1.4. Geology
Remote sensing now, could help geologist much better especially for geological mapping. All geological
maps contain an image that describes the spatial distribution of the lithologies, symbols that describe the
structural relationships (folds and faults), and a stratigraphic column that describes the temporal
relationships of lithologies.
Methods for that study are; First, the identification of lithologic contacts, and their differentiation by
spectral signatures is complicated by mechanical breakdown of the lithologies into boulder fields, which do
not provide a homogeneous target for remote sensing. Different approaches to image segmentation
include spectral signature based MNF and edge detection algorithms.
Second, hyperspectral imagery records the spectral signature of weathered surfaces of the various
lithologies. Identification of a specific lithotype is rarely defined by reference to library spectra but more
commonly field acquired characteristic spectra. Third, establishing the stratigraphic and structural
relationships of rock units requires some knowledge of their three- dimensional distribution. Where
available topographic data provides the three-dimensional constraint and often assists in the definition of
lithological contacts.
Geologists have used aerial photographs for decades to serve as databases from which they can do the
following:

(i) Pick out rock units (stratigraphy)

(ii) Study the expression and modes of the origin of landforms (geomorphology)
(iii)Determine the structural arrangements of disturbed strata (folds and faults)
(iv) Evaluate dynamic changes from natural events (e.g., floods; volcanic eruptions)
1) Seek surface clues (such as alteration and other signs of mineralization) to subsurface deposits of ore
minerals, oil and gas, and groundwater.

2) Function as a visual base on which a geologic map is drawn either directly or on a transparent overlay.
With the advent of space imagery, geoscientists now can extend that use in three important ways:

3) The advantage of large area or synoptic coverage allows them to examine in single scenes (or in
mosaics) the geological portrayal of Earth on a regional basis

4) The ability to analyze multispectral bands quantitatively in terms of numbers (DNs) permits them to
apply special computer processing routines to discern and enhance certain compositional properties of
Earth materials

5) The capability of merging different types of remote sensing products (e.g., reflectance images with
radar or with thermal imagery) or combining these with topographic elevation data and with other
kinds of information bases (e.g., thematic maps; geophysical measurements and chemical sampling
surveys) enables new solutions to determining interrelations among various natural properties of earth
phenomena.

1.5. Hydrology and Water Resources

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Remote sensing provides a unique technological advantage in monitoring aquatic systems due to its ability
to capture data over large areas, and assorted spatial and temporal resolutions. Clear water provides little
spectral reflectance because longer wavelengths are absorbed and the reflected shorter wavelengths,
which sensors rely on for surface feature detection, are subject to higher atmospheric scattering. Due to
the absorption of longer wavelengths, deepest and clear water bodies appear dark on unclassified satellite
imagery.
Sensors, such as the Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) and The- matic Mapper (TM), were primarily
designed for land studies, and thus are not completely applicable to aquatic studies. Recent improvements
in sensor technologies have allowed for better spatial and spectral resolutions than previously available,
which may improve their usefulness to aquatic studies.
Landsat-7 data can be used to investigate the relationship between spectral values extracted from Landsat
Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) data and water clarity using Secchi disk transparency (SDT)
measurements The Secchi depth is inversely proportional to the absorbance of light by water and dissolved
or particulate substances, such as algal biomass.
Accessing water quality parameters on a regional scale provides a challenge in that regional remote
sensing requires that multiple remotely sensed images be combined from multiple dates or regions of
varying atmospheric influences (i.e., haze, cloud cover, etc.). Multitemporal image-to-image differences
are a result of atmospheric absorption and light scattering, which can be highly variable from one period of
time to the next. This difference can have a pronounced effect on the interpretation of imagery for trend
analyses when using multiple images that are collected on different days, months, or years.
Atmosphere corrections are necessary when using two or more satellite images collected on different
dates, such as imagery used in land use/cover change studies.
Without the appropriate corrections for atmospheric scattering and transmittance effects, successful
remote sensing of water quality parameters would not be accurately achieved from four Landsat TM
images.
These atmospheric limitations may be reduced by many recent technological advances. A few of the
newest sensors include IKONOS, the Earth-Observing System (EOS) Terra sensors, and the Landsat ETM+.
These sensors will ultimately employ more advanced data calibrations than was possible with some of the
older sensors.
However, the advantage of the older Landsat platforms is that they provide consistent historical data not
yet available from new sensors, and the temporal and spatial resolutions provided by Landsat MSS and TM
are still more effective in monitoring landscape changes. For example, since the early 1980s, remote
sensing techniques have become commonly used to detect wetland change.
However, few studies have taken advantage of the wealth of historical data available from the satellite
platforms that have been operating across several decades, and that are becoming widely available and
inexpensive. Images obtained using the Landsat MSS sensor presently represent our longest, continuous
satellite remotely sensed historic record.
The availability of newer data will, however, allow for the integration of cross-platform data in developing
band and image sharpening algorithms which will serve to fill in the gaps present in the older system data
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acquisitions (clouds, haze, etc.) and enhance the ability to develop multi-image calibrations for cross
referencing.
Furthermore, three of the main Terra sensors (MODIS—Moderate Resolution Im- aging Spectrometer,
ASTER—Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflectance Radiometer, and MISR—Multi-angle
Imaging Spectroradiometer) have been identified as being particularly useful in the remote sensing of
large-area land cover and land use changes and vegetation dynamics studies. However, aquatic remote
sensors have yet to see the production of sensors specifically designed to monitor aquatic environments.
Currently, Landsat provides one of our richest data sources for the remote sensing of historical changes in
large areas of wetlands, water quality, and aquatic plants. This is evident from the high revisit cycle, spatial
resolutions, and 30 years of operation provided by these sensors.

1.6. Agriculture
Plants have a particular way to reflect the electromagnetic radiation. This unique characteristic is known as
the vegetation's spectral signature. Reflectance of vegetation is very low in the blue and red regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum, slightly higher in the green region and high in the near infra-red.

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The normal growth process of a plant can be disrupted when it goes through a stress period. When in
stress, the plant is not functioning properly because of one or more causes. When a plant is stressed, it
usually expresses certain visible symptoms, but also some that are not visible to the human eye. Stress
symptoms may appear in all of the plants of the field or in some portions of the field, depending on the
cause.
Having information on potential crop yield at an early stage, is very beneficial for the farmer, but also for
countries that heavily rely on agricultural production, to satisfy the national needs for the crops and also
for income through exports.
Making estimates on crop yield, has been a farming practice for many centuries. Even today, experienced
farmers are able to make rough estimates of the final crop yield, just by looking at the plant vigour and
health status half-way through the season and taking into account the climatic conditions up until that
point. Estimates that are made nearer to the harvest season tend to be more accurate, as there is more
information about how the crops progressed through the season, and also there is less time for things to
go wrong.
Because of the particular manner vegetation reflects the electromagnetic radiation (see this page for more
information), we can assess the crop status by using remote sensing data. By combining these data with
additional data (such as the climatic conditions) in complex models, it is possible to estimate the final yield
of a crop field at a very early stage.
The remotely sensed data provided by sensors on-board the tractors have extremely high spatial
resolution, as they almost continuously collect data, as the tractor moves. For some practices, such as
dealing with weeds, this spatial resolution is very useful. However, other applications can be performed,
even with lower resolution data. In this case, as an alternative to data collected from the tractor, imagery
from satellite sensors can be used.
The QuickBird satellite is one such example. QuickBird has a 2.5 metre spatial resolution, and four bands in
the blue, green, red and near-infrared regions of the spectrum. Even though, it lacks bands in the short-
wave infrared (above 1100 nm wavelength), the presence of the red and near- infrared bands is
particularly useful for the computation of the most common vegetation indices and their use in agricultural
applications.

1.7. Vegetation
Vegetation is important because it provides a basic foundation for all living beings. Classifying vegetation,
using remote sensing, is valuable because it can determine vegetation distribution and occurrence and
how such factors as moisture, latitude, elevation above sea level, length of the growing season, solar
radiation, temperature regimes, soil type and drainage conditions, topographic aspect and slope,
prevailing winds, salt spray and air pollutants influence it. Remote sensing can also be used to detect and
prevent the spread of damaged and stressed plants.
Components that are involved in classifying vegetation include images received from satellites, remote
sensing images and airphotos, chemical properties and physical properties recorded for the vegetation
(including surface texture, roughness and local slope properties).

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Interpretation of satellite images of vegetation becomes easier if the researcher understands what plants
and tree species are native to the area, and what influences their growth and distribution. Seasonal
differences and plant transitional zones will influence the remote sensing image. Of course, if the money is
available, field work should still be undertaken, to provide specific information that can't be obtained from
the images.
There are several factors that influence the reflectance quality of vegetation on satellite and remote
sensing images. These include brightness, greenness and moisture. Brightness is calculated as a weighted
sum of all the bands and is defined in the direction of principal variation in soil reflectance. Greenness is
orthogonal to brightness and is a contrast between the near- infrared and visible bands. It is related to the
amount of green vegetation in the scene. Moisture in vegetation will reflect more energy than dry
vegetation.
Leaf properties that influence the leaf optical properties are the internal or external structure, age, water
status, mineral stresses, and the health of the leaf. It is important to note that the reflectance of the
optical properties of leaves are the same, regardless of the species. What may differ for each leaf, is the
typical spectral features recorded for the three main optical spectral domains; leaf pigments, cell structure
and water content.
Electromagnetic wavelengths affect different parts of plant and trees. These parts include leaves, stems,
stalks and limbs of the plants and trees. The length of the wavelengths also play a role in the amount of
reflection that occurs. Tree leaves and crop canopies reflect more in the shorter radar wavelengths, while
tree trunks and limbs reflect more in the longer wavelengths. The density of the tree or plant canopy will
affect the scattering of the wavelengths.
Within the electromagnetic spectrum, bands will produce different levels of reflectance rates. For
example, in the visible bands ( 400 - 700 nm), a lower reflectance will occur as more light will be absorbed
by the leaf pigments than reflected. The blue (450 nm) and red (670 nm) wavelengths include two main
absorption bands that absorb two main leaf pigments.
The images created by remote sensing will be influenced by these factors: quality, scale and season of
photography, film type and background. Other factors that influence vegetation classification are time of
day, sun angle, atmospheric haze, clouds, processing errors of transparencies/prints and errors in
interpretating the images.
Photographic texture (smoothness and coarseness of images), total contrast or colour, relative sizes of
crown images at a given photo scale and topographic location help to determine the cover types of
vegetation.
Aerial photographs, color infrared and black and white infrared photographs help to identify species
(plants and trees). Species are more easily distinguished if they occur in pure, even-aged stands. Through
the photographs, details of branching characteristics, crown shapes, spatial distribution and patterns of
species may show, providing useful data for the interpreter. This information can then be combined and
added to the remote sensing images. Regression equations can then be developed for each species or
species group for use in volume estimation.

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Different types of images will display diverse characteristics of vegetation. For example, AVHRR (Advance
Very High Resolution Radiometer) will include bands that produce different results:
 Band 1 of AVHRR will allow chlorophyll to be absorbed in a red wavelength. A low value indicates a
high concentration of chlorophyll.
 Band 2 of AVHRR includes infrared wavelengths (IR, RIR) and records the cell structure of the
leaves. High values are indicated by dark green signatures and more growth, while low values are
indicated by orange signatures.
Other satellites that successfully identify vegetation types include the Landsat MSS, Landsat TM, SPOT HRV
and RADARSAT. Satellite images can be combined with topographic data (ancillary data), to identify plant
species with relation to slope direction, sun angles and other
spectral characteristics. This is known as "Multitemporal Image Classification". The technique of combining
multispectral and ancillary information into a classification algorithm is referred to as "Multidimensional
Image Classification".

1.8. Range Lands:

1.8.1. Urban Analysis
Remotely sensed imagery in some cases may be the only reliable source for a sufficient monitoring.
Satellite acquired image data provide a synoptic overview for large regions recorded always with a
standardized and calibrated monitoring system. The imagery may be recorded frequently with a high
temporal resolution. Image archives store a large number of satellite remote sensing imagery starting in
the early 1970 and increase the data by daily means. These data are available mostly for free and enables a
historic view back to the past.
By analyzing ancient imagery time series of Land Use Land Cover Changes (LULC) can be generated and
then be used for the prediction of future development as well as for the verification of growth model
output. Several programs have been introduced to enable free access to image data even for less
developed countries.
Most artificial urban surfaces consist of concrete, tar, asphalt and burned clay, wood or metal plates (all
used for roofs). Other regions in urban areas appear more natural either not altered and covered by bare
soil or with vegetation. This mixture of different materials is often contained in one pixel, a so called
‘mixed pixel’. That makes it hard to detect and to differentiate clearly between objects surfaces and at
least objects themselves.
The ideal solution would be a hyper- spectral scanner with a large number of bands each with a small
bandwidth of 10nm. But these remote sensing systems are limited and mainly in an experimental stage.
Hyperion as a satellite sensor providing a 30m spatial resolution and 200 spectral bands each with a 10nm
bandwidth ranging from 400nm through 2500nm. Aviris, an aircraft mounted sensor system, provides a
ground resolution of 17m, 224 spectral bands each with a width of 10nm, ranging from 400nm through
2450nm. CHRIS (Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) is another experimental hyperspectral

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satellite recording images with a pixel size of 18m spatial resolution in individually programmable bands
each with a 10nm bandwidth.
Unfortunately, these three hyperspectral imaging systems are and not available for an operational use yet.
The sensor system with the highest spectral resolution available on a more or less operational base
nowadays is the ASTER sensor (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer)
offering 14 bands in the visible, infrared and thermal portion of electromagnetic energy). ASTER has been
launched in December 1999 as part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS). Designed primarily as an
experimental sensor, ASTER nowadays becomes a more and more operational system.

1.9. Transportation and Route Location and Hazard Monitoring

Episodic events are geologic and weather events that occur on an irregular, but periodic basis. Predicting
the intensity of these often-catastrophic events is tricky- too many false alarms and people ignore
warnings, while delayed information can result in avoidable tragedy. Episodic events include volcanic
eruptions, earthquakes, dust storms, wildfires, and other such dramatic phenomena.
Satellite remote sensing has been used for both early warning of human and natural disasters and for post-
disaster assessments. Images gathered during and in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake, flood,
fire, or any other natural or human disaster have dramatically extended the ability of international
organizations, government agencies, and information nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to quickly
gather, analyze, and distribute reliable. Images illustrate the extent of damage and locations that are
impacted, providing a vital tool for emergency responders and aid agencies to properly size up the
situation and develop appropriate responses. This information guides efforts on the ground such as
pinpointing still-passable roads and bridges and finding safe locations for mobile medical units or refugee
shelters.
Numerous small earthquakes, surface deformations, thermal changes, and the release of magmatic gases
are all indicators of an eminent volcanic eruption. Historically, due to the costs involved, only active
volcanoes were monitored; most volcanoes around the world are not monitored effectively, if at all.
Utilizing satellite-based methods for detecting activity has increased substantially, and advanced models of
volcanic processes are helping to interpret monitoring data. The challenges include first distinguishing
between magmatic, hydrothermal, and even atmospheric errors, and then figuring out which processes
will culminate in eruption.
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) uses the phase component of radar images to determine
the position of the Earth’s surface. Digital elevation models (DEMs) crucial in predicting pyroclastic flows
and lahars with centimeter-scale accuracy are produced from simultaneously recorded images from
different radars. Deformation is measured using time-separated images. Satellite data pro- vide a global
perspective, mapping tectonic strain across continents and allowing the exploration of volcanoes in
remote, underfunded, or inaccessible locations. Volcanoes long thought to be dormant or inactive have
been revealed as showing signs of activity. Space-based observations enable limited financial and staff
resources to be used more efficiently for locations that require detailed monitoring.
Thermal and radiant flux (power) changes—vital information taken from fumaroles and hot springs by
intrepid scientists—have been measured using infrared hyperspectral data. Using visible through short-
wave infrared (Vis-NIR-SWIR) optical spectra data recorded in the 900–2500 nm wavelength range by the
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ARTEMIS sensor (flown on the TacSat-3 spacecraft), Cipar and his colleagues estimated the temperature
and heat flux of an active lava lake within the Halema’uma’u crater of Kilauea caldera (Hawaii, US).
Elevated radiance in the NIR–SWIR wavelength regions recorded a portion of the blackbody radiation
function from small, hot areas of the lava lake, which were inverted to determine the temperature and
power output of the crater. Corrections in the NIR–SWIR were needed to account for absorption and
scattering by atmospheric constituents, primarily water vapor.
Monitoring gases—particularly SO2—contained within volcanic ash clouds through remote sensing has
yielded valuable information for air quality and public health, furthered the science in volcanology,
enabled char- acterization of aviation hazards, and validated the global circulation model (GCM) in climate
science. Sulfate in air pollution is well known for producing acid rain and fog, which in turn acidifies
vegetation and water bodies, and causes adverse health effects. Hyperspectral instruments are able to
easily detect SO2 and differentiate between volcanic sources (which typically are launched into the
stratosphere), and plumes from sulfate ore smelters, power plants, and industry (which are found at lower
altitudes of the boundary layer and troposphere.
Satellite data from thermal infrared instruments have been used to assess volcanic ash clouds and
dispersal for several decades, but in order to make reasonably reliable forecasts of ash concentrations, an
estimate of the thickness of the volcanic cloud is necessary. Volcanic ash is potentially dangerous for
aircraft because, among other problems, the micron-size silicate particles melt below the operating
temperatures of the engines, collect on turbine components, and block air flow to the point that engines
may potentially shut down.
Information is insufficient about the exact tipping point of atmospheric ash concentrations that would
cause engine shutdown; making judgments about aviation risk is further complicated by the differing
characteristics of jet engines, the amount of time spent flying through ash clouds, and the characteristics
of the ash cloud itself in terms of composition, particle size, spatial distribution, dispersion, particle
removal rates and patterns, etc. Consequently, aviation authorities typically use a very cautious approach.

1.10. Oil and Minerals

Ortho-rectified high-resolution satellite images are indispensable in the search for and the development of
new oil and gas fields and mineral deposits. Using airborne magnetic or ground gravity surveys to facilitate
interpreting subsurface features, geologists and engineers are able to narrow down the search area for
performing more detailed 2-D or 3- D seismic surveys for exploratory drilling.
Satellite imagery is also used to develop digital elevation models (DEMs) to plan the least environmentally
damaging route for pipelines, access roads, and facilities by creating a computer visualization of the site
area. The use of satellite remote sensing has greatly reduced the time and cost involved in recon-
naissance and the placement of oil wells. Remotely sensed spatial data also allow managers and
government officials the ability to monitor wellfields. and obtain information on the extent of oil spills and
how best to mitigate and remediate these areas.
High-resolution providers, such as GeoEye-1, WorldView-2, Worldview-1, QuickBird, IKONOS, SPOT-5,
LANDSAT 7 +ETM, and ASTER, have been extensively employed in the quest for surface indicators of
subsurface oil and gas along with risk assessment and well field monitoring (to identify security and
environmental problems).
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