Citation:

Benger, M J. THE EPA REMOTE SENSING ARCHIVE: A UNIQUE AGENCY RESOURCE. Presented at EPA Science Forum 2004, Washington, DC, June 1-3, 2004.

Impact/Purpose:

The objectives of this task are to:

Assess new remote sensing technology for applicability to landscape characterization; Integrate multiple sensor systems data for improved landscape characterization;

Coordinate future technological needs with other agencies' sensor development programs;

Apply existing remote sensing systems to varied landscape characterization needs; and

Conduct remote sensing applications research for habitat suitability, water resources, and terrestrial condition indicators.

Description:

Often environmental issues need to have a historical perspective, to look back into the past.
Remotely sensed imagery is one way to see the land and what happened in a previous time. The EP A is often responsible to look into the past to facilitate a better future for the environment and all of its inhabitants. There is a little known facility located in Las Vegas, Nevada which can open up this window to the past. The EP A's Environmental Photographic Interpretation Center (EPIC), a field station of the Landscape Ecology Branch, has been completing historical reports on sites all around the country for over 30 years at the request of the Regions. These analysis reports are usually a compendium of aerial photographs covering a specific site for a specific period of time. All of the project materials, including aerial photography dating back to the early 1900's, reside at the EP A Remote Sensing Archive. Increasingly, geospatial data from research projects are finding their way to the Archive as well. This facility once a disparate collection of materials has been inventoried, barcoded and organized into a one-of-a-kind collection of irreplaceable remote sensing data. This facility has over 5,500 rolls and 75,000 cut-frames of aerial photography, over 4,250 reports, and over 4,000 CD-ROMS of digital data from various sensors including Landsat Thematic Mapper, IKONOS, A VIRIS, Hyperion, and Hymap. The inventory is now managed by specialized library software and the database is increasing daily. This valuable resource is available for EP A employees would you like to know more about this facility and how to access the valuable information it contains?

Record Details: