Citation:

TILLEY, J. AND E. SLONECKER. QUANTIFYING THE COMPONENTS OF IMPERVIOUS SURFACES. USGS, Corvallis, OR, 2007.

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:

Since the early 1970's and the birth of the environmental movement, there has been a growing awareness of the complex relationships between the transportation infrastructure and environmental quality. One of the major environment to transportation relationships has been the potential for water quality degradation as a result of the storm runoff over paved highway surfaces. Concern over this source of water pollution has resulted in the enactment of several laws, executive orders, and government polices that are designed to minimize and mitigate the potential negative consequences of highway runoff. These include the National Environmental Policy Act, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, the Coastal Zone Reauthorization Amendment, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972, as amended, including the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and the Nonpoint Source Management Programs, as well as and many others. Under policies of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), environmental protection and enhancement are high priority program areas that stress the evaluation of highway related water quality impacts; avoiding, mitigating, or managing such impacts; and coordinating with other agencies to ensure that Federal environmental policies are placed in perspective with other primary highway missions. The FHWA, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) are currently cooperating on a number of research and development projects related to the minimization of water quality impacts from highway runoff. Past research sponsored by the FHWA identified and measured these various pollution sources and developed techniques to lessen their impact on water resources. This information has been used by project development personnel to plan and implement highway improvements that minimized the impacts of pollution. The improved understanding of pollution sources and solutions to water quality problems has greatly increased the States' ability to plan and construct highways with having minimal effects on water quality (Bank 1993). The issue of highway stormwater runoff and its consequences were refocused in the early 1990s by the emergence of a new environmental water quality indicator called impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces represent all materials and structures that inhibit the penetration of precipitation into the ground and divert its flow over the land surface and eventually into surface waters. In general impervious surfaces are manmade structures such and buildings, roads, parking lots, sidewalks and others.

Record Details: