ARS | Publication request: ASSESSING SOUTH TEXAS NATURAL RESOURCES WITH PAN-SHARPENED QUICKBIRD IMAGERY AND INEXPENSIVE SOFTWARE

Submitted to: Biennial Workshop on Aerial Photography, Videography, and High Resolution Digital Imagery for Resource Assessment Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings/Symposium
Publication Acceptance Date: December 22, 2005
Publication Date: March 15, 2006
Citation: Fletcher, R.S., Everitt, J.H., Yang, C. 2006. Assessing south Texas natural resources with pan-sharpened QuickBird imagery and inexpensive software. In: Proceedings of the 20th Biennial Workshop on Aerial Photography, Videography, and High Resolution Digital Imagery for Resource Assessment, Bethesda, Maryland. 2006 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary: Over the years, satellite imagery has been used to assess and monitor a variety of natural resources. Little information is available on the application of color-infrared satellite imagery with sub-meter spatial resolution (detail detected in the imagery) to assess natural resources in south Texas. ARS scientists at Weslaco demonstrated that color-infrared satellite imagery having sub-meter spatial detail (0.6 m or 0.7 m) was useful for assessing variability in agricultural fields and for monitoring changes occurring in a wetland area, a natural vegetation area, and a river infested with an invasive weed. The informaion provided in this paper should be beneficial to south Texas managers interested in using high spatial resolution satellite imagery for practical assessment of natural resources.

Technical Abstract: Little information is available on the application of pan-sharpened QuickBird satellite imagery to assess south Texas natural resources. The objective of this study was to show applications of pan-sharpened QuickBird imagery for assessing and monitoring natural resources in south Texas. The study also focuses on using inexpensive software to create the pan-sharpened imagery and on using freeware for general analysis of the data. Pan-sharpened QuickBird imagery provided adequate detail for assessing agricultural landscapes. Changes occurring in a wetland area, a natural vegetation area, and a river infested with an invasive weed were easily detected on pan-sharpened imagery used from different years. Line profiles derived with freeware provided valuable information on the image responses of the land-cover types. The commercial pan-sharpening software ($125 U.S.), integrated with freeware, provided inexpensive tools for practical assessment of the areas of interest. The information provided in this paper should be beneficial to managers interested in using high-resolution satellite imagery for practical assessment of natural resources.