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REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS IN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING: APPLICATION TO THE WASHINGTON I-405 CORRIDOR.
Impact/Purpose:
To demonstrate commercial and fiscal benefits of remote sensing products and spatial information technologies in planning transportation infrastructure development and construction.
Description:
In transportation project design and development, environmental studies often occur late in the planning process, causing project delays, cost increases due to unforeseen changes in alternatives, duplication of effort, and poor public perception of the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) decision process. Appropriate use of environmental data can enhance the NEPA process for this project by providing visual aids in public discussions, providing consistent information from planning through environmental documentation and permitting, and providing the basis for sound analysis and modeling. The I-405 corridor is the second most traveled corridor in Washington State and one of the three Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) NEPA Reinvention Pilot Project areas in the State. The primary study area will extend one to three miles on either side of I-405, between Seattle and Lynwood. The project will use remote sensing technology to enhance preliminary biological review, facilitate preparation of Environmental Impact Statements, and expedite subsequent project-level environmental review and permitting. Proposed deliverables will include: data sets (e.g., image data sets and land use classifications), software procedures (e.g., image and GIS data integration), and comparison of existing information sources and remotely sensed data (e.g., in terms of cost and benefits of alternative data sources and methods, data quality, and applicability). an EPA advisory team is working with WSDOT on this project.