Precise Land Research Articles

Resolution vs. image quality in pre-tsunami imagery used for tsunami impact models in Aceh, Indonesia

Land cover roughness coefficients (LCRs) have been used in multivariate spatial models to test the mitigation potential of coastal vegetation to reduce impacts of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia. Previously, a Landsat 2002 satellite imagery was employed to derive land cover maps, which were then combined with vegetation characteristics, i.e., stand height, stem diameter and planting density to obtain LCRs. The present study tested LCRs extracted from 2003 and 2004 Landsat (30m) images as well as a combination of 2003 and 2004 higher spatial resolution SPOT (10m) imagery, while keeping the previous vegetation characteristics. Transects along the coast were used to extract land cover, whenever availability and visibility allowed. These new LCRs applied in previously developed tsunami impact models on wave outreach, casualties and damages confirmed previous findings regarding distance to the shoreline as a main factor reducing tsunami impacts. Nevertheless, the models using the new LCRs did not perform better than the original one. Particularly casualties models using 2002 LCRs performed better (δAIC>2) than the more recent Landsat and SPOT counterparts. Cloud cover at image acquisition for Landsat and low area coverage for SPOT images decreased statistical predictive power (fewer observations). Due to the large spatial heterogeneity of tsunami characteristics as well as topographic and land-use features, it was more important to cover a larger area. Nevertheless, if more land cover classes would be referenced and high resolution imagery with low cloud cover would be available, the full benefits of higher spatial resolution imagery used to extract more precise land use roughness coefficients could be exploited.

No Mākou ka Mana: Liberating the Nation by Kamanamaikalani Beamer (review)

Reviewed by: No Mākou ka Mana: Liberating the Nation by Kamanamaikalani Beamer Lorenz Gonschor No Mākou ka Mana: Liberating the Nation, by Kamanamaikalani Beamer. Honolulu: Kamehameha Publishing, 2014. isbn cloth, 978-0-87336-293-1; paper, 978-0-87336-329-7; ix + 268 pages, maps, tables, photographs, notes, references, index. Cloth, us$30.00; paper, us$15.00. Three decades ago, historian David Routledge reflected on the shortcomings of previous works of Island history and postulated for future works of Pacific history to be valuable, “not only that the Islands must constitute the environment but that Islanders must be the main actors. The history must not only be Island-centred but Islander-oriented” (“Pacific History as Seen from the Pacific Islands,” Pacific Studies 8 [2]: 90). While this “Islander-oriented” school of Pacific history has for the last couple of decades been dominant in Australian, New Zealand, and South Pacific universities, until recently it had been all but absent from the historiography of Hawai‘i. Thanks to the work of an emerging school of Hawaiian scholars, a comparable approach to history writing has finally made its way to the islands in the north. Although a few earlier pioneers whose research moved in similar directions should be acknowledged, Kamanamaikalani Beamer’s No Mākou ka Mana: Liberating the Nation provides a well-written outline of this new line of thought and may serve as a milestone in Hawaiian historiography. In the introduction, Beamer states that in pronounced contrast to previously dominant narratives of the “fatal impact” type in which Hawaiians were portrayed as passive objects or victims of Western interests and actions, his work is “not concerned with what missionaries or foreigners did for, or to, ‘Ōiwi [aboriginal Hawaiians], but rather what ‘Ōiwi did for themselves, in the midst of depopulation and the constant threats of colonialism” (12). When looking at the Hawaiian Kingdom from this angle, or in the author’s words, through “‘Ōiwi optics,” the perspective on the postcontact development of Hawaiian society and politics shifts radically. Applying ‘Ōiwi optics shows a continuity of traditional concepts of statecraft in the Hawaiian Kingdom, selectively appropriating Western ideas and technologies in a hybridized form in order to transform classical Hawaiian governance into a modern nation-state while maintaining Hawaiian identity. Before analyzing this hybridization process, the book provides a detailed introduction to traditional Hawaiian statecraft. Beamer identifies three main principles of governance that shaped precontact Hawaiian polities, namely (1) mō‘ī, a supreme ruler at the head of each traditional polity; (2) palena, fixed and very precise land boundaries dividing the land into units such as moku (district) and ahupua‘a (land division usually extending from the uplands to the sea); and (3) kalai‘āina, the administration of the territory through the distribution of those bounded land units by a mō‘ī among his supporters. To show the complexity of the land system, the book provides beautiful reproductions of various maps produced by Hawaiian Kingdom surveyors during the nineteenth century. The same quality marks the various Hawaiian and [End Page 591] British archival documents the author deploys, many of which are reproduced in high resolution, giving the book a very exciting outlook. Based on these sources, some hitherto unknown or not well interpolated in the writing of Hawaiian history, Beamer continues in the subsequent chapters to analyze how the modern Hawaiian state was built on these classical foundations and augmented through the selective appropriation of Western elements. Starting with speculations about Hawaiian engagements with the outside world before Captain Cook, based on evidence in Hawaiian-language sources, the book further contextualizes the unification of the archipelago by Kamehameha I given the precedence of the attempted archipelago-wide conquest by his distant ancestor Kalaunuiohua generations earlier. A focus on Kamehameha’s early diplomatic relations with Great Britain and his use of British sailors as advisors and negotiators with foreign powers further exemplifies the author’s use of ‘Ōiwi optics as a corrective lens on a critical period in the political history of Hawai‘i. The story closely tracks and engages with Kamehameha II’s 1823–1824 voyage to London to continue the relationship with Great Britain that his father had started; Kamehameha...

Agricultural policy effects on land cover and land use over 30 years in Tartous, Syria, as seen in Landsat imagery

This study pursues a connection between agricultural policy and the changes in land use and land cover detected with remote sensing satellite data. One part of the study analyzes the Syrian agricultural policy, wherein, certain regional targets have been selected for annual citrus or greenhouse development along with tools of enforcement, support, and monitoring. The second part of the study investigates the utility of remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS) to map land use land cover changes (LULC-Cs) in a time series of images from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) from 1987, 1998, 2006, and 2010 and Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) from 1999 to 2002. Several multispectral band analyses have been performed to determine the most suitable band combinations for isolating greenhouses and citrus farms. Supervised classification with maximum likelihood classifier has been used to produce precise land use land cover map. This research demonstrates that spatial relationship between LULC-Cs and agricultural policies can be determined through a science-based GIS/RS application to a time series of satellite images taken at the same time of the implemented policy.

Characterizing Compaction Variability with an Electromagnetic Induction Sensor in a Puddled Paddy Rice Field

Paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) fields are repeatedly puddled at water saturation to loosen the top soil and to form a uniformly compacted plow pan required to reduce losses of water and nutrients. In paddy growing conditions however, the non-invasive detection of compaction variation within the plow pan layer is challenging. This paper evaluates a proximal soil sensing based methodology to identify areas compacted by different intensities of puddling to support precise land preparation of paddy rice fields. Therefore, a 1.6-ha alluvial paddy field of silt loam texture (Aeric Haplaquepts) located in the Brahmaputra floodplain of Bangladesh was selected. Three areas within the field were variably puddled and characterized by soil properties and soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa). The Floating Soil Sensing System (FLoSSY) employing the EM38 electromagnetic induction sensor was used to record the ECa of the soil for each of the puddling intensities. The effects of plow pan compaction on water percolation losses and paddy yield were assessed. The results show that the variably puddled areas had significant differences in soil bulk density which was linked to the soil penetration resistance. Spatial comparison of ECa data sets showed that the ECa values increased systematically under increased puddling. Sufficient soil compaction could be identified when percolation losses were significantly the lowest and paddy yield was significantly the highest. It was concluded that a non-invasive ECa survey using electromagnetic induction based soil sensing allowed the detection of soil heterogeneity linked to soil compaction caused by puddling, which offers an interesting potential for precision puddling and land preparation in paddy rice fields.

Water balance estimation in Anthemountas river basin and correlation with underground water level

Estimation of annual water balance is critical for water management and developmental planning in the area of Anthemountas river basin. In the framework of LIFE04/ENV/GR/000099 project and in continuance to prior projects in the area, the average annual water balance was estimated using the annual precipitation and water consumption. The statistic relationship between elevation and precipitation measured at different stations in the greater area, was applied to the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (accuracy 20X20m) and the spatial distribution of annual precipitation is calculated for the Anthemountas river basin. Consumption of underground water was analytically calculated based on the different types of agricultural activities as annually reported by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Domestic water consumption was also calculated. Evaportranspiration is estimated analytically using two different methods (Thorthwaite’s and Turk’s). Both methods gave similar results. Moreover the spatial distribution of infiltration and runoff coefficients were calculated taking into consideration the different geological features, since they determine the maximum value of the infiltration coefficient, and the CORINE land coverage classification assuming no infiltration at builded areas. All the above were calculated and presented in raster format using the ESRI ArcGIS 9 environment. The correlation between the negative water balance and the drop of the underground water level, as this was pictured through underground water level measurements in the past decade, was discussed and evaluated. To further understand the relationship between the negative water balance and the spatial distribution of the underground water level drop, the most consuming wells in the Anthemountas river basin are distributed and categorized based on consumption estimates. Future work should assess more precise land coverage dataset in order to produce spatial distribution of evaportranspiration. At the same time, precise precipitation datasets, that will be produced by the meteorological monitoring network, that is to be established in the LIFE04/ENV/GR/000099 project framework, will provide more accurate estimates of precipitation distribution. This will lead to the determination of more accurate estimates for both infiltration and runoff in the basin. Data monitoring, assessment and water balance estimation are valuable tools in a step-by-step procedure towards the achievement of sustainable use of water in the river basin of Anthemountas.

Land leveling and changes in soil properties in paddy fields of Guilan province, Iran

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impacts of land leveling on some of soil properties. Land leveling as an effective strategy for paddy land management is one of the most important programs run by the Ministry of Jihad-Agriculture in Guilan province, northern part of Iran. Precise land leveling improves irrigation application, fertilization efficiency, and uniform soil moisture for germination. Also, it increases yields and cultivable lands and reduces delivery losses. Running land-leveling projects, however, leads to such disadvantages as severe soil alteration and consequently disruptions to the soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. Based on statistical analysis, on the one hand land, leveling led to significant increases (P < 0.01) in bulk density, clay percentage, and EC, and on the other hand, it resulted in significant decreases (P < 0.01) in the soil organic matter, silt percentage, NPK, pH, soil respiration, bacterial community, and microbial biomass carbon. Microscopic images of buried slides indicated that there was a reduction in the soil microorganism communities and diversities as well. With regard to the management of paddy fields, despite beneficial impacts of land leveling, the results indicate that due to malperformance of the project, which is a consequence of the use of inappropriate machinery and/or nonremoval of surface soil and its re-diffusion, most of soil-desirable properties are reduced and are not revitalized even after 4 years.

Threats on Grassland Ecosystem Services: A Case from Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve

Change in ecosystem balance is increasing rapidly by means of humanly devised over and above natural activities to be precise land use change, deforestation, species invasion, and even the lack of sustainable management within and beyond protected area. Invasion of woody perennials and invasive alien species, human intervention together with improper management practices possibly generated substantial impacts on all major ecosystems of Shuklaphanta grassland. To acquire baseline information and understand ecosystem invasion, random line transects of 1000m were taken to get quadrats of 1m2, 25 m2 and 100 m2 in four different habitats within Shuklaphanta grassland. The result showed that the importance value index (IVI) and prominence value (PV) of woody perennials were high coupled with significant PV of invasive species. Ecosystem services change was prevalent in the study area and high possibility to change into forest vegetation. Invasive species, shrubs, and large trees encroachment consequently invited alteration challenge on preferable habitats formed on assemblage of major grass species. The disrupted ecosystem services amplified pressure on both prey and prey base species including swamp deer, antelope, one-horned rhinoceros, Asiatic elephant, royal Bengal tiger, Bengal florican and other threatened species. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 2 (2012) 159-166 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i2.7729

Zeeman Effect of Sm Atoms by High-Resolution Diode-Laser Spectroscopy

High-resolution atomic-beam diode-laser spectroscopy in Sm I has been performed. Zeeman spectra have been measured for the three optical transitions at different external magnetic fields and well resolved at the magnetic fields of stronger than 6.0&#x2009;mT. Using the known precise Land&#xe9; -factors of the ground multiplet, the Land&#xe9; -factors of the upper 4f66s6p&#x2009;&#x2009; and levels have been determined, and their precision has been improved compared with the reference values.

Key variables for the identification of soil management classes in the aeolian landscapes of north–west Europe

At present, spatially very detailed data sets can be obtained about soil, landscape and crop variability. However, there is a need to select independent key properties to identify management classes needed for precise land management. In a previous study performed in the European loess belt, topsoil pH, apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) and elevation were identified as key properties. In this study we enlarged the number of soil properties by including gamma ray measurements and employed a similar methodology to a field in the sand belt of northern Europe. Based on a principal component analysis we identified the same three variables as key properties. This was surprising given the big differences in landscape topology and pedogenesis between the loess and sand areas. These three key variables were used to delineate management classes using a fuzzy k-means with extragrade classification procedure. This classification was evaluated by mapping the wheat grain yield in the year 2006. A multiple regression model could be constructed that predicted yield from ECa and elevation well (Radj2=0.88). To analyse the influence of ECa on crop yield in depth a boundary line analysis was conducted. The boundary line could be modelled with an excellent Radj2 of 0.98. It was concluded that ECa, elevation and pH are generic key variables for the delineation of management classes of the aeolian landscapes of north–west Europe. Given its integral nature and strong relationship with crop performances, the authors plea to upgrade ECa from a “secondary” (proxy) source of information to a “primary” variable which can be used directly as a basis for detailed soil mapping of the bulk soil.

Water saving vs. farm economics in cotton surface irrigation: An application of multicriteria analysis

Improving surface irrigation systems for cotton in Ras-El-Ain district, Northeast Syria, needs finding alternative solutions that provide for both water saving and farm economic benefits in a context of small and family farms. Multicriteria analysis was used to evaluate and rank a set of furrow and border irrigation alternatives, with and without precise land leveling, that were created with the decision support system SADREG. This approach allowed to consider various criteria, mainly water saving and farm economics. Results show that both graded furrow and border alternatives are acceptable, with a slight advantage for graded furrows. Alternatives without land leveling have shown to be more appropriate when focusing farm economic results, while alternatives including land leveling were selected when priorities were assigned to water saving. These results relate with higher costs of alternatives that consider land leveling. Equipment for appropriate control of inflow rates was considered for all cases. The improved alternatives may lead to savings of 20–28% of irrigation water and increasing the irrigation water productivity from present 0.31 to 0.44kgm−3. When the same alternatives were ranked for a 20% deficit irrigation their rankings changed, with reduced ranks of alternatives requiring land leveling. This is due to the fact that yields and yield values are reduced with deficit irrigation, thus making it less favorable to select alternatives that imply higher costs. The study shows that adopting more advanced but more costly irrigation technologies aimed at water saving requires appropriate economic incentives, training of farmers and an institutional framework able to support the sustainable use of water in irrigation.

Global transcriptional analysis of primitive thymocytes reveals accelerated dynamics of T cell specification in fetal stages

T cell development constitutes a multistage process allowing the dissection of events resulting in cellular commitment and functional specification in a specialized microenvironment. This process is guided by the appropriate expression of regulatory genetic factors like transcriptional activators or repressors which are, in part, dependent on instructive signals of the microenvironment. To date, it remains unclear whether exactly the same genetic mechanism acts in adult compared to fetal T cell development. In order to directly compare T cell commitment during adult and fetal differentiation, we isolated subsequent stages of intrathymic subpopulations starting with early canonical T cell progenitors up to irreversibly committed T cell precursors. The genome-wide analysis revealed several distinct gene clusters with a specific pattern of gene regulation for each subset. The largest cluster contained genes upregulated after transition through the most primitive pool into the next transitory population with a consistently elevated expression of elements associated with ongoing T cell fate specification, like Gata3 and Tcf7, in fetal progenitors. Furthermore, adult and fetal T cell progenitors occupied distinct “transcriptional territories” revealing a precise land map of the progression to final T cell commitment operating in different developmental windows. The presence and/or elevated expression of elements associated with an ongoing establishment of a T cell signature in the most primitive fetal subset is highly suggestive for an extrathymic initiation of T cell specification and underlines the fundamental differences in fetal versus adult lymphopoiesis.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00251-012-0620-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Biofuel greenhouse gas calculations under the European Renewable Energy Directive – A comparison of the BioGrace tool vs. the tool of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels

The European Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED) requires biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 35% compared to fossil fuels in order to count towards mandatory biofuel quota or to be eligible for financial support schemes. This reduction target will rise to 50% in 2017. For biofuel producers this implies that they want or need to calculate their emissions. The purpose of this paper is to compare two calculation tools for economic operators that are on their way to the market: the “BioGrace tool” and the ”Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) GHG tool” for GHG calculations under the Renewable Energy Directive (both of which are freely available). Greenhouse gas emissions from four production pathways were calculated: ethanol from wheat, ethanol from sugarcane, biodiesel from rapeseed and biodiesel from palm oil. In addition, three land use change (LUC) scenarios were calculated: for expansion of the biofuel cultivation area to grassland and to forest (10–30% canopy cover) and for improvement of agricultural practices. Both tools follow the methodology of the European Renewable Energy Directive and exactly the same input data along the production chain was used. Despite this, the results were significantly different. GHG emissions of the pathway ethanol from wheat were 21% lower when calculated with the BioGrace tool than with the RSB GHG tool. Differences were most pronounced in the cultivation phase with 20% deviation between the tools for biodiesel from palm oil and 35% deviation for ethanol from wheat and sugarcane. In practice this means that an economic operator can enhance the GHG performance of his biofuel by 20–35% by using a different calculation tool without improving the production process. We identified the use of different standard values in the two tools, in particular for the production of N-fertilisers, for chemicals and electricity and one methodological choice regarding the calculation of field N2O emissions as source of these differences. This methodological point is not specified in the Renewable Energy Directive, giving economic operators and tool developers free choice. GHG emissions from land use changes varied by −14% to 49% due to differences in carbon stock data, methodological differences in allocation and a lack of precise land use type definitions.We conclude from the results that there is a need for a deep harmonisation in the calculation process that goes beyond the methodological framework set up in current legislation. These findings are relevant because they show a policy gap, a regulatory gap that needs to be addressed by policy makers in order to guarantee a level playing field on the market and to create an incentive to improve the GHG performance of biofuel production.

Land price maps of Tokyo Metropolitan Area

The spatial distribution of land price is indicative of the urban structure of a region. However, since most information on land price is in the form of point data and not area data, a certain process must be established for the creation of a land price map. The authors have already developed a computer-aided system that enables the creation of precise land price maps on the basis of residential land price data for metropolitan areas in Japan at low cost but with precision. In this paper, the system is applied to Tokyo metropolitan area and creates several land price maps using the officially assessed land prices provided by the Japanese government and data from the land price surveys conducted by prefectural governments.

Estimation of erosion in tectonically active orogenies. Example from the Bhotekoshi catchment, Himalaya (Nepal)

The inaccessibility of active orogens such as the Himalayas renders detailed field studies on a large scale impossible. The integrative application of several remote sensing techniques in combination with ground truth information provides an alternative to assess the acting processes during erosion in tectonically active orogens. This study was carried out in the catchment area of the Bhotekoshi River, which drains both the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan Range. On the basis of stereogrammetric digital elevation models (DEMs) extracted from ASTER data and from aerial photographs, in combination with multispectral analysis, it is possible to appraise the nature of erosive processes. River networks are extracted from DEMs and their gradient, channel densities and flow path geometries are calculated and integrated in the erosion estimation model. In this study a modified Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and the Vegetation cover–Surface material and Drainage density (VSD) index have been tested for their suitability in the Himalayas. Using classifications methods – Maximum Likelihood (MLC), Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Object Based (OBC) – precise land use mapping can be carried out and affiliated with typical erosion rates. Long‐term total erosion has been estimated using power law stream analysis. We show that the erosion models tested here underestimate erosion in tectonically active regions.

Maximum likelihood classification combined with spectral angle mapper algorithm for high resolution satellite imagery

The generation of precise land cover classification maps is an important application of high resolution satellite multispectral imagery. In this study, Spectral Angle Mapper algorithm (SAM) was used to extract the spectral characteristics from multispectral imagery. The spectral angle between neighbouring pixels was calculated. The distribution of spectral characteristics was derived from the average and variance of the calculated spectral angle in a 3×3 window of the image. The extracted spectral characteristics were combined with original multispectral imagery, and the data were classified by the maximum likelihood method. This approach was applied to Quickbird multispectral imagery. The extracted spectral characteristics highlighted boundaries between different types of land cover. The method proposed in this study exhibits an increase in overall classification accuracy relative to the original maximum likelihood method.

EFFECTS OF URBAN HEATING ON DEVELOPMENT OF THE NERIMA HEAVY RAINFALL BY A CLOUD RESOLVING MODEL COUPLED WITH A PRECISE LAND SURFACE MODEL

In this study, effects of urban heating on development of the Nerima heavy rainfall on 21 July 1999 in Tokyo were investigated by a coupled model of a cloud resolving model CReSS and a precise land surface model SiBUC (CReSiBUC). Four numerical simulations were carried out for the rainfall event. The first simulation had realistic land cover, second one had imaginary land cover (urban area is changed into paddy field), the third one had imaginary land cover (urban area is enlarged) and forth one had realistic land cover and imaginary anthropogenic heat. From those simulation, it was found that changes of distribution of urban and anthropogenic heat amount greatly affected on the positions and amounts of rainfall.

東北平坦水田における大区画化と直播栽培による低コスト作業技術の開発 第２報 レーザー光を利用した高精度均平化技術の開発

1) Preparation for large scaled paddy fields and utilization of direct rice seeding cultivation are expected to be the key technologies for the low cost and labor saving large farm rice cultivation.To achieve this, the technique of land leveling for field operations have to be developed.A precise land leveling operation by a wheel tractor with laser-beam emitter and recever in a wet paddy field are developed.2) The automatic measur ament system of a rice paddy field surface level by a tractor that we developed was highly practical.After measured data are stored in a memory of handheld computer the standard deviation of a field height value is shown on the display. Also, measured data are exported to the personal computer and by RC232C, the contour map of the paddy field is draw quickly, which is useful for the land leveling work.3) Considering the relation between rice seed germination and water depth in the field, the priciseness of the field leveling for direct rice seeding is required to be under 1.5cm of standard deviation (s. d.). To realize this preciseness, a prototype leveling aparatus consisting a laser emitter, a laser receiver and dry land leveler pulled by a tracter, was developed and was tested the performance.The results of land leveling test at a field of 1ha indicated that the elevation difference of the field of 16cm was improved to that of 92% of ±2.5cm (1.58cm s. d.) after leveling work. The working efficiency was 0.57hour/10a. For a precise leveling work, the of the soil water content should be under the plastic limitation, under which less amoumt of soil adoheres to the blade of the leveler.The performance tests of the laser assisted leveling aparatus for a paddy harrowing work revealed that for an accuvate operation only a blade should be controlled by a hydaulic cylinder according to a laser beam.Since large amount of soil can not be handled by the aparatus, the leveling for a paddy harrowing work is recomended for a fine leveling work after a rough leveling work.

Environmental monitoring of land and sea surface using multisensors

This study deals with the problems to acquire the features of land and sea surface environments from multiple satellite sensor data. The Seto Inland Sea area of Japan characterized with remarkable population increase was selected as an intensive study area. An emphasis was put on environmental parameters such as land cover and surface temperature information from multiple sensor data. A modified maximum likelihood method using the multi-layer classification image was applied to LANDSAT/TM data of two different dates for producing a precise land cover change map of a regional scale. The capability for land cover change detection of NOAA/AVHRR data was investigated using the combined data set of AVHRR and LANDSAT/TM. The discriminative capability of the spectra of AVHRR was evaluated on the basis of the regression analysis between the land cover classes retrieved from TM data and the spectral feature of AVHRR. Fairly good correlation was obtained for the vegetation and non-vegetation class, which suggests a possibility for the detection of the land cover change due to urban development using NOAA/AVHRR data. While sea surface temperature was extracted from MOS-1/VTIR data by applying the split window method. These multiple sensor data were made into environmental data base combined with GIS data which can be effectively utilized for monitoring and assessment of natural environments.

Air transport in northern Canada

Aviation is playing an increasingly important role in developing the resource potential of northern Canada. It is the most common means of supplying the oil rigs on Melville Island, the mining camps in the Mackenzie Mountains, and the meteorological stations on the pack ice. New technology has increased both capability and capacity. Pipe and drilling equipment can now be flown non-stop from southern Canada to airfields on the Queen Elizabeth Islands; helicopters able to carry two tons then distribute the equipment to well sites. Very rapid and precise land surveying can be conducted using the Bell Jet Ranger helicopter. Recently, a 16 640 km2 region of northern Alberta was surveyed in less than five days.