Farmer and Land Manager
Information Systems

Land management is ultimately in the hands of individual farmers and land managers at the local scale. The Mid-Atlantic RESAC works with partners to develop improved information systems to enable managers to increase their knowledge base with the intention of minimizing environmental damage yet maximizing the useful products.

Several research projects in the Mid-Atlantic RESAC partnership are concerned with the use of advanced sensing systems and analytical techniques to measure vegetation condition, crop stress, crop production and near surface growing conditions. We are providing these data for test areas in an enhanced precision information system. The condition of the vegetation is assessed using remotely sensed measures of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, air temperature, vapor pressure deficit and surface moisture. These services are provided on an experimental basis and, if successful, will be extended elsewhere on a commercial basis. Mid-Atlantic RESAC partners are also involved in developing a system for the collection, processing, and management of imagery and ancillary data to be used by the agricultural community for field-scale to regional monitoring purposes. For example, EarthSat has undertaken a demonstration of Landsat land cover mapping that showed the ability to provide habitat maps to indicate appropriate and inappropriate areas for chemical application. The Mid-Atlantic RESAC uses this baseline to assemble a precision environmental database for the region. An Internet Map browser server will be used as the front end to allow the user to select their area of interest.

Of particular interest to any farmer or land manager is the weather. The UMD Meteorology Department, a Mid-Atlantic RESAC partner, has recently developed a mesoscale model that can resolve local topography, land-water contrast, heat islands and their associated circulation (e.g., Bay breezes), resulting in improved prediction of precipitation and severe weather. The UMD Geography Department is adding a land surface model driven by land cover information to provide more realistic specification of important land surface properties (vegetation, surface moisture, roughness, reflectivity and emissivity). The model forecasts are also used to address air pollution problems, such as photochemical smog, acid deposition, the flux of N and other pollutants to the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed, and fine particulate matter and haze. The National Weather Service will receive data at much greater temporal and spatial resolution than those currently available and NOAA will be provided with surface winds, water level and waves over the Chesapeake Bay and coastal regions. Forecasts are to be provided to local TV stations together with various advanced visualization tools.

Landcover Mapping   Ecosystem Modeling   Planning and Urban Growth   Integrated Monitoring    Outreach