Get reliable rangeland science

The Environmental Protection Agency is developing rangeland ecological indicators in twelve western states using advanced remote sensing techniques. Fine spectral resolution (hyperspectral) sensors, or imaging spectrometers, can detect the subtle spectral features that make vegetation and soil discrimination possible. This study will use hyperspectral remote sensing data, such as NASA’s Airborne Visible-InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), a system capable of 5 to 20 meter spatial resolution. Airborne and satellite remote sensing will provide vegetation mapping at the species level, soil types and characteristics, and landscape information such as erosional features. Vegetation community structure, spatial distribution, and health can then be determined and combined with climatic data to classify rangeland condition and identify disturbed regions. Accurate determination of rangeland vegetation and soils is required to establish reliable landscape indicators. Rangelands in the West encompass a range of ecological conditions or states from healthy to at risk to degraded. This gradient of conditions can be quantitatively determined and used to develop landscape indicators. Vegetation communities differ over the gradient of rangeland conditions. Soil attributes such as organic matter content, salinity, moisture, mineralogy, and physical condition influence and are influenced by vegetation cover. The water quality of the watershed is directly impacted by these rangeland variables. Imaging spectroscopy can detect these variables and allows for landscape scale assessment and monitoring of stressors to water resources in the West. Potential research with the Bureau of Land Management, US Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Geological Survey will correlate remote sensing data with ground measurements. The long-term goal of this work is to develop a methodology using current technologies for use with the forthcoming hyperspectral satellite platforms scheduled for operational service within the next 2 to 3 years.