page 6
daily nebraskaa
monday, august 29, 1977
Satellites, aircraft inventory Nebraska's wetland
By John Ortmann
When the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
recently decided to inventory every wetland within the
77,000-square-mile area of Nebraska, it turned to remote
sensing.
Traditional ground-survey methods would have taken
too long and been too expensive, according to associate
professor Paul Seevers. Seevers, a research scientist
working for the Conservation and Survey Division of the
Institute for Agriculture ' and - Natural Resources, said
remote sensing, using satellites and aircraft, would do the
job in less than a year at a fraction of the cost.
Seevers said remote sensing may be divided into two
categories:, that done from aircraft and that done from
satellites.
Landsat I and II satellites,' launched from Cape
Kennedy, use electronic scanners to record the earth's
surfact, Seevers said. Digital data then is transmitted to
one of three receivers in the United States, or one each in
Brazil and Canada, he said. .
The division then buys the raw data from the Eros
Data Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., Seevers said, where data
is available to the general public.
Satellite data
; Seevers said the satellite data comes in four bands:
visible red, visible green, near-infra red and very near
infra red. Using computers the images then can be viewed
in black and white or simulated color, he said. v
Seevers stressed the satellite data lacked the fine detail
needed for keeping track of small objects.
"You have to maintain your data within the limits of
resolution," he said. He added satellites are fine for
spotting such large objects as center-pivot irrigation
systems. The division can prepare an up-to-date inventory
of center pivots in about three months using data gathered
during the summer months, Seevers said,
"It would be impossible to inventory one particular
thing in the state of Nebraska from the ground," Seevers
said. He added there is no ground access to large parts of
the Sandhills and other areas of the state. He said remote
sensing avoids this problem.
Falling water tables
Seevers explained another project just getting underway
which he hopes will spot falling water tables by reduction
of lakes surface areas. Two lakes each in Holt and
Sheriden counties have been equipped with ground
testing instruments, Seevers said.
If the ground and satellite data show similar results,
satellites may replace ground testing in the future, he said.
Seevers said because most hayland in the Sandhills is
sub-irrigated by ground water, falling water tables have a
diect relation on the "ability of the rancher to support
himself.
"It looks reasonable right now " Seevers said, but he
added ground-test results need to be studied first.
Seevers said aerial photography provides the great
detail needed in land classification studies. The division
began to classify land into 27 urban and agricultural
categories several years ago when federal land use legis
lation was pending in Congress, Seevers -Classifying
continues
The legislation was not passed, but the division con
tinues to classify land for Nebraska's Natural Resource
Districts, he said. Each square mile of land is laid out in
10-acre plots and the dominant use for each plot is
identified. Seevers said color maps of each Natural
Resource district can then be made showing great detail.
Seevers and two students began testing aerial photo
graphy this summer as a method of monitoring crop
diseases and fertility problems. Missions were flown over
experiment station fields. Data will be correlated, with
that gathered by people on the ground, Seevers said.
Seevers said an evaluation of the technique will be made
early in 1978.
Seevers said he thinks the technicme will show a
correlation but he is not sure it will prove economical for
the average farmer. m
The division's remote sensing activities are financed in
part by a matching grant from the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA), Seevers said. NASA
pays 70 per cent while the University of Nebraska
provides the rest of the $200,000 grant, he said. Seevers
said Nebraska Air National Guard pilots and aircraft are
used on the photography missions.
Seevers said he regards remote sensing as a tool to be
used by experts in various fields rather than an end in
itself. ;.
Replacement sought
.for student affairs ,,
The office for student affairs hopes to have an assistant
vice chancellor by Oct. 1, according to Vice Chancellor
for Student Affairs Richard Armstrong.
" Ron Gierhan, former assistant vice chancellor for stu
dent affairs, left UNL in mid-August to accept a position
as vice president for student affairs at the University of
Western Illinois at Macomb,
Until a replacement is hired, that office will remain va
cant, Armstrong said, A new assistant may not be appoint
ed until Oct, 1,
"I'm not going to appoint an acting assistant vice chan
cellor during the interim," Armstrong said. "Advertise
ments for the job appeared in newspapers last weekend
(Aug. 20-21). Applications must be in by Sept; 9,"
he said.
Armstrong's assistant will be responsible for budget
preparation and coordination, personnel management,
staff studies, annual reports, publications and special
programs, including Title IX (which prohibits sex dis
crimination in schools), the handicapped act and the
privacy act, he said.
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