Coordinated Environmental Monitoring

The Mid-Atlantic RESAC works with multiple partners in the context of the National Environmental Monitoring Initiative to support integrated ecosystem assessment. The objectives of pilot NEMI Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment are to develop and test methods for integrating information collected at multiple temporal and spatial scales (i.e., site-specific, temporally intensive, process-level data; annual to semi-annual regional surveys and inventories; and complete coverage by remote sensing). Central to this concept is the need for better-resolution mapping of environmental conditions and land use.

An integrated approach is being taken by the Chesapeake Bay Program in its Tributary Strategies programs in all States in the catchment. Instead of looking at individual point sources or localized non-point sources, watersheds are being treated as integrated systems. The Tributary Strategies involve government at all levels, local businesses, landowners, conservation groups, and citizens. In order for integrated watershed management to be successful, there are significant data needs. The Mid-Atlantic RESAC, acting as applications specialists, assists the Tributary Strategies participants and helps meet many of these needs by bringing together advanced research techniques. The most important needs are for detailed land use/land cover data, but include climate as well as land surface models.

For example, a Mid-Atlantic RESAC partner, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, is responsible for advising the public regarding air quality action alerts. Nearly every major American city regularly violates the Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. Some of the same nitrogenous air pollutants that generate photochemical smog also contribute to nitrogen saturation of forest ecosystems and over-nutrification of the Chesapeake Bay. The UMD Department of Meteorology (Regional Atmospheric Measurement and Modeling Program) has been working with MWCOG on pollution problems using surface and airborne measurements, ozone forecasts, and chemical transport models. The project has broad support, many customers, and is growing rapidly in scope. However, the current level of performance of the forecasts and models can only be improved by a more detailed understanding of the mesoscale (mid-Atlantic area) circulation. Accurate representation of concentrations and deposition fluxes make use of the improved information on land use, soil moisture, and atmospheric properties.

Other specific areas which may be addressed using land use/cover data and associated models include those described in previous sections; agriculture (cropping patterns, concentrated livestock operations, nutrient management, irrigation, conservation easements, and riparian zone management), forestry (resource inventory, stand quality and health, reforestation, harvesting, and natural and anthropogenic disturbances), urban growth (expansion patterns and trends, zoning, recreation, and construction effects), and the biological resources of the Mid-Atlantic region (fish and wildlife affected by habitat quality and fragmentation).

Landcover Mapping   Ecosystem Modeling   Planning and Urban Growth   Land Manager Information System    Outreach