The South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Program is an intergovernmental effort to reestablish and maintain the ecosystems of south Florida. One element of the restoration effort is the development of a firm scientific basis for resource decision making. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is one of the agencies that provides scientific information as part of the South Florida Ecosystem Program (SFEP). The program, which was begun in fiscal year (FY) 1995, provides multidisciplinary hydrologic, cartographic, geologic, and biologic data that relate to the mainland of south Florida, the Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys and Reef ecosystems.

The objective of this project is to provide color infrared (CIR) digital orthophoto coverage for the entire south Florida ecosystem area. The main advantage of a digital orthophoto is that it gives a measurable image free of distortion.

Therefore, the digital orthophoto for the ecosystem will provide a multiuse base map for identifying natural and manmade feature areas and for determining their extent and boundaries; the map can also be used for the interpretation and classification of these areas.

Project Applications

DOQ can be used for various applications. As a layer is a GIS, it can be used for revising vector files planimetric maps, identifying and classifying vegetation and timber stands, routing and analyzing habitat, preparing environmental impact assessments, and planning for emergency evacuation. It can also be used for flood analysis, soil erosion assessment, facility management, and ground water and watershed analysis. One application specific to the ecosystem is as a compilation base for mapping land use in wetlands.