National Resources Inventory Research Articles

Resource Inventory—Sheet, Rill and Wind Erosion

ABSTRACT THE National Resource Inventories (NRI) carried out by the Soil Conservation Service in 1977 provide statistical data on sheet and rill erosion for all nonfederal land in the United States (excluding Alaska) and data on wind erosion in 10 Great Plain States. The data were ob-tained by visiting plots and randomly selected points to gather information for use in the Universal Soil Loss Equation and Wind Erosion Equation models. The NRI show that soil lost by sheet and rill erosion annually amounts to 3.5 billion metric tons (t). About one-half of this loss is from the 167-million-ha cropland base; the most sloping 26 percent contributes 79 percent of the cropland erosion. In 19 states and the Caribbean Area, estimated average annual cropland sheet and rill erosion exceeds 11.2 t/ha. In four states and the Caribbean Area the rate exceeds 22.4 t/ha. The 219 million ha of nonfederal pastureland and rangeland account for 1.4 billion metric tons of soil lost from sheet and rill erosion. The loss on nonfederal forest land is about 395 million t; the average annual rate is 2.6 t/ha, but the rate is six times higher on grazed than on nongrazed forest land. Soil lost by wind erosion, estimated for 209 million ha of land in 10 Great Plains States, annually amounts to 1.4 billion t. About 61 percent of this loss is from cropland and 38 percent is from rangeland. The estimated average annual rate of wind erosion on cropland exceeds 11.2 t/ha in three of the 10 states.

Conversion of Noncropland to Cropland: The Prospects, Alternatives, and Implications: Discussion

American Journal of Agricultural EconomicsVolume 62, Issue 5 p. 1091-1092 Specific Session Conversion of Noncropland to Cropland: The Prospects, Alternatives, and Implications: Discussion Pierre Crosson, Pierre Crosson senior fellow Resources for the FutureSearch for more papers by this author Pierre Crosson, Pierre Crosson senior fellow Resources for the FutureSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 December 1980 https://doi.org/10.2307/1240322AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume62, Issue5December 1980Pages 1091-1092 RelatedInformation

Remote Sensing as an Aid to the Inventory and Management of Natural Resources

An analysis is given of the extent to which modern remote-sensing techniques might be used to facilitate the inventory and management of such renewable natural resources as timber, forage, and agricultural crops and of such nonrenewable resources as minerals and fossil fuels. The first part of the paper seeks to clarify both the terms and the concepts that are applicable to the fast growing field of remote sensing. This is followed by a discussion of the various basic considerations that enter into the acquisition and analysis of remotely sensed data. There is an analysis of both the feasibility and the desirability of using data acquired by LANDSAT and other remote-sensing vehicles in the making of globally uniform inventories of various kinds of natural resources. There follows a tabulation of recent and representative applications and the citing of various references in which additional examples are fully described and well illustrated with remote-sensing imagery. Although the paper may appear to be justifiably optimistic, it concludes with some words of caution on the difficulties that can arise whenever there is an overstatement of remote-sensing capabilities and an understatement of remote-sensing limitations. The numerous specific examples of LANDSAT applications that are given in this paper pertain primarily to work done in Canada and the United States.

Landsat, Computers, and Development Projects

Data provided by earth-orbiting satellites and analyzed through specific computer techniques are rapidly providing policy-makers around the world with new information on the location and extent of their countries' renewable and nonrenewable resources. Development projects utilizing remote sensing technology are being supported, for example, by the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and other international funding agencies. The Inter-American Development Bank is financing a natural resources inventory of five countries in Central America, and this will require the application of remote sensing in the analysis of 33 Landsat images covering the area. Although the Landsat program remains experimental in nature, studies pertaining to its follow-on aspects will ensure continuation of the program so that developed and developing countries will be able to maintain better control of the management of their natural resources.

Novel approach to community noise monitoring

Numerous small cities and towns in New Jersey have been preparing Natural Resource Inventories (NRI). These NRI's document the present environmental, sociological, historical, and other facets, of the communities' quality of life. One parameter in the NRI is sound quality. A comprehensive survey to document sound levels in residential, commercial, industrial, and other land-use areas is necessary. The cost to accomplish these surveys using sophisticated equipment and trained personnel can be quite prohibitive. This is especially true if the community is large. In three New Jersey communities an alternate approach was used. Through a series of public meetings, community residents were made aware of the NRI and particularly the sound quality aspects. Volunteers were trained in the use of sound level meters and a simple measurement procedure similar to the SAE method for measuring construction site noise. The data resulting from measurement made by the volunteers allowed a mapping of sound levels in the community. The mapping provides guidance to planners and may aid in the development of a national community noise ordinance sensitive to the existing sound quality of the township. Typical results are presented for one township, in New Jersey. [Work supported by EPA.]

An Applied Geographer in Latin America

Y OU'RE not one of those developers, are you? Carl Sauer asked me in 1972. My answer was a somewhat uncomprehending but truthful no. The ensuing discussion ranged over Missouri extension agents who wooed farmers away from crop rotation with ammonium nitrate, side effects of the Green Revolution, dooryard gardens in the tropics, and in general. I have only begun to gain a philosophical and theoretical basis for understanding the significance of Mr. Sauer's question. Ivan Illich triggered my awareness of the convergence of the social and environmental problems generated by conventional approaches to in the Third World.' Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen has contributed most to my understanding of why the application of conventional economic theory has exacerbated these same problems.2 Accepting the irresistibility of the pressure for on one hand and the lack of survival value of the North American model so eagerly proffered and desired on the other, I looked for a coherent framework for evaluating and presenting more viable alternatives. Howard T. Odum provides such a conceptual model, which appeals to the geographer because of its spatial and temporal dimensions and which also brings to bear powerful physical and ecological principles for problem analysis.3 The Second Law of Thermodynamics, or Entropy Law, is the underlying principle, and it can readily be applied to evaluation of alternatives. Work, associated with the and maintenance of structure in any system, involves the dispersion of a comparable amount of energy as waste, or entropy. In a much broader sense, the entropy generated can conceptually include such side effects as pollution, erosion, and loss of cultural values. Odum uses energy as the common denominator for evaluating complex system processes. Net energy calculations allow the true cost of a project to be evaluated and compared with alternatives. If the sum of the energies expended and those lost as a result of entropic side effects exceeds the benefit gained from a project, then no development has occurred. The net energy yield is negative. Much of what passes for is positive only in isolation and in a limited temporal and spatial framework. Costly hydroelectric projects that inundate agricultural valleys and reduce the productivity of downstream levees and fisheries are obvious examples of projects suitable for net energy analysis. My philosophical goal in consulting is to partially bridge the gap between the type of lowtechnology qualitative I believe to be viable and the process actually under way. The first opportunity came through a short-term contract financed by the Organization of American States (OAS) with the National Office of Natural Resource Evaluation (ONERN) in Peru. Parenthetically, both ONERN and the granting department in OAS were organized by an applied geographer, Wolfram U. Drewes (now with the World Bank). ONERN is highly respected for its work in natural resource inventory and evaluation. It provides basic data on soils, geology, hydrology, and forest resources throughout Peru, with particular emphasis on the expansion of irrigation in the coastal valleys. In 1974, ONERN became explicitly and officially involved with the environment. My role has been to help define a functional strategy to fulfill the extremely broad and nebulous mandate given by the enabling legislation. A major conceptual difficulty that had to be faced in ONERN was the close identification of

The thinking man's inventory of natural resources

To the world at large, the problems of energy supply and demand have tended to obscure the need to focus attention on what is happening in the nonfuel minerals area. But to those of us in the business, the problems are no less compelling and largely similar. Nonfuel minerals demand for the year 2000 is estimated to constitute approximately two‐thirds of total minerals demand in the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that by the year 2000 U.S. dependence on imports will be complete for 12 commodities and over 75 percent for 19 others.

Evaluation of ERTS Imagery for Vegetation Interpretation in British Columbia

ERTS imagery has provided a means of surveying the natural resources on the earth’s surface by multiband, small-scale sequential imagery. This is a new tool for taking an inventory of natural resources. It requires evaluation for different purposes. The imagery was evaluated for distinguishing vegetation communities. Nonforested land could be easily separated from forest land and some distinctions could be made within these broad categories. Cut-over forest land, some meadows, grassland and highly developed urban land (towns) could be separated within the nonforested land. Differently aged forest stands, either from fire or reforestation, could be distinguished within the forested areas. Tree species could not be separated except through knowledge of successional patterns in some areas. Major forest types were generally not separable. The results and conclusions are tentative because equipment for image analysis was not available and only two sets of imagery of study areas were available: one in mid-May and one in mid-August.

A NATURAL RESOURCE EVALUATION OF ERTS‐1 IMAGERY OF THE CENTRAL AFAR REGION IN ETHIOPIA

AbstractSystem corrected multispectral imagery of the Central Afar region in Ethiopia provided by the ERTS‐1 satellite was evaluated for the purposes of natural resource inventory under the headings of geology, vegetation, soils and land use. The methods and results of image interpretation are discussed in detail and the following general conclusions may be drawn. The ERTS‐1 imagery provides a synoptic view of the region that is very nearly orthographic. A colour composite print of multispectral bands 4, 5 and 7 is superior to any of the individual black and white bands for natural resource interpretation. Exploratory soil, vegetation and land use maps and reconnaissance geological maps can be constructed rapidly. The small percentage of forest and agricultural land in this particular area enhances the geological value of the image. Satellite imagery is a valuable addition to the more conventional forms of aerial photography for agricultural studies provided that the study area covers at least 10 000 km2. Ground control was acquired between October 1972 and May 1973.

URBAN GEOCODING

ABSTRACT “Geocoding” includes a broad array of activities associated with systems of referencing data spatially. Urban geocoding has developed rapidly in response to preparations for and utilizations of the United States 1970 Census of Population and Housing. Geographic Base Files which represent the street system as a dual network, street segments and areas, are a powerful tool with which to relate data. Current work is directed at making geocoding available to planners, managers, and scholars, and at exploring applications of geocoding to the land parcel level and to natural resource inventories and analyses.

Photogrammetry Aids Solution of Environment Problems

Photogrammetrists are engaged in the recognition, location, and description of environmental problems and the surveillance of completed environmental projects. Various types of aerial photography and airborne sensors are used to define problem areas. Mapping by photogrammetric methods provides engineers with basic data. Additional cooperation between environmental specialists and photogrammetrists is needed to utilize existing 5001s. Examples of stream pollution, flood plain, and wetlands delineation and the inventory of natural resources by photogrammetric methods are given.

Report of the Committee on Rainfall and Runoff, 1934–35

The past year has witnessed an unprecedented amount of statistical and research work in hydrology. This has been due, in a large measure, to a recognition by the Federal Government of the need for an inventory of public natural resources and a policy for their rational use or control. As agencies to this purpose the National Resources Board and the Mississippi Valley Committee were established. Later the duties of this Committee were enlarged to a nation‐wide field. The Mississippi Valley Committee then became the Water Planning Committee of the National Resources Board. The United States Geological Survey, Water Resources Branch, with special assistants, was delegated to make studies in hydrology.

Fire-Resistant Construction of Buildings: An Informal Discussion

The inventory of natural resources prepared by President Roosevelt's Conservation Commission has opened new lines of thought and investigation to the Engineering Profession as well as to other departments of the social fabric.