Rangeland Ecology & Management

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THE HERBAGE ASSESSED REMOTELY TO PREDICT ENVIRONMENTAL RISK (HARPER) PROCESS IMPROVES EFFECTIVENESS OF RANGELAND MONITORING
Author
Guenther, Keith S.
Larsen, Royce
Doran, Karen
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

Monitoring herbage that exists in the fall after grazing or during drought situations on large rangeland pastures is an important but time-consuming process. The HARPER process improves the accuracy and efficiency of field time required for monitoring of rangelands by utilizing LANDSAT 8 satellite imagery to identify areas of unacceptably low herbage and areas of high herbage. The process is somewhat similar to the widely used comparative-yield herbage assessment process. The difference is that instead of identifying herbage classes and training rangeland managers to estimate the percent of a limited number of small 1 foot square plots that are within a given herbage class, the rangeland manager uses information that is generated by a satellite that has been trained to estimate the percent of � acre plots for the entire pasture that are within each identified herbage class. The HARPER process requires five steps. The initial identification of representative herbage classes for the rangeland area being monitored. The development of signatures based on identified herbage classes. Acquisition of recent Landsat 8 imagery, that is now available at no charge every 16 days. Classification of imagery that can be done with ESRI on desktop computers. Field review of the classified imagery to verify consistency of the classification. Initial results indicates the HARPER process that uses Landsat 8 imagery increases the rangeland managers ability to identify and map areas of undesirably low herbage levels while also locating and identifying areas of high herbage. Surveys on large areas with difficult access can be evaluated as easily as road side areas. Multiple evaluations at 16-100 day intervals, at relatively low cost, can be conducted once the initial herbage classes have been identified and signatures developed.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV