James S. Aber

Challenge of Infrared Kite Aerial Photography

Abstract Kite aerial photography (KAP) involves the use of large kites to lift compact camera systems for capturing images of ground features. Our goal has been to develop equipment and techniques for infrared kite aerial photography. Attempting to conduct infrared photography from kites has proven to be a considerable challenge for several reasons. Among the most important limitations are those inherent in infrared film and conventional cameras. Infrared film has no ISO speed rating, and camera light meters do not measure infrared energy in the scene. Furthermore, KAP equipment should be relatively compact, rugged, light weight, and inexpensive. We have designed, built, and field tested two KAP rigs based on the Canon EOS RebelX camera, which is a 35-mm, full-featured, SLR camera. Our first rig is a dual-camera setup, in which the cameras take simultaneous color-visible and color-infrared photographs. This rig has radio control of the camera shutters. Camera tilt and pan positions are set manually prior to each flight. The second rig is for a single camera (color-infrared only); the rig has full radio control for pan, tilt, and shutter. The dual-camera rig weighs 1.5 kg, and the single-camera rig is just over 1 kg. Based on considerable field testing, we have determined appropriate manual light settings under full-sun conditions–1/250 shutter speed and f-9.5 aperture. Our preliminary results suggest that infrared KAP may be valuable for detailed investigations of vegetation, soils, and other environmental features.

Characterizing Wetland Landscapes: A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Remotely Sensed Data at Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas

Generalized wetland landscape characterization efforts using remotely sensed satellite data have typically employed land-use and cover-classification routines with mixed results. This study argues that such classification routines are, at times, limited in their ability to capture the fluctuating spatial configuration of water and terrestrial features unique to wetland environments. Rather, we recommend the use of a multitemporal imaging approach, which records land-cover variability based directly on land-surface feature reflectivity signals. Using Landsat Thematic Mapper data and small-format aerial photography, this study monitors wetland change over a period of 15 yrs. at the internationally recognized Cheyenne Bottoms wetland site in central Kansas. Noticeable fluctuations in wetland cover resulting from both variable precipitation patterns and changing stewardship activities are observed. In addition to documenting generalized spatial trends, the multitemporal method effectively monitors plant vigor, while high spatial resolution small format aerial photography aids in monitoring cattail growth trends and is used to coordinate targeted management efforts at controlling this invasive plant. Our results suggest that multitemporal remote sensing methods are well suited to capturing qualitative information on change in wetland and other similar environments observing fuzzy and often shifting transitions between land and water.

Small-format aerial photography for assessing change in wetland vegetation, Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas

Abstract Cheyenne Bottoms is a Ramsar wetland site in central Kansas, where the Nature Conservancy (NC) has undertaken an effort since the mid-1990s to maintain and restore marsh and wet-meadow habitats for migrating shorebirds and waterfowl. Small-format aerial photography was conducted using kites and a helium blimp in order to document changing water and vegetation conditions during the years 2002–2005. Pictures were taken repeatedly throughout the growing seasons with various film and digital cameras from heights of 100–150 m. Invasive cattails (Typha sp.) are a major concern; the spread of cattail thickets during the 1990s reduced the open marshes on which migrating shorebirds depend for feeding. The NC adopted a strategy in which drought episodes are exploited for control of cattails. During our study, a drought cycle took place. Both color-visible and color-infrared images depict the impact of changing water level on cattails, which over the course of two years (2002 to 2004) were largely eliminated from the NC marshes. Dead cattail thickets were removed subsequently (mowing and burning), and these zones were restored into open marsh that supports beneficial emergent wetland vegetation—Scirpus, Eleocharis, Sagittaria, etc. Small-format aerial photography provided high-resolution, multi-view-angle imagery that depicts the consequences of NC management practices on marsh habitat conditions.

Chapter 19 – Golf Course Management

This chapter discusses golf course management. Golf course management is a sizable and rapidly growing industry worldwide. Golf courses represent a type of landscape architecture in which the topography, soils, drainage, and vegetation are altered greatly from natural conditions. In many situations, the maintenance of turf requires substantial use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, as well as frequent irrigation, mowing, and soil treatments. Golf is growing in popularity around the world, and golf courses represent substantial human alterations of the natural environment. Small-format aerial photography is especially useful for golf course managers to visualize and evaluate the effectiveness and impacts of their practices. Low-height, large-scale images, particularly color-infrared photographs, depict vegetation conditions related to irrigation, mowing, and applications of fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, and other treatments.

Origin of Elblag Upland, northern Poland, and glaciotectonism in the southern Baltic region

Abstract Elblag Upland is a complex glaciotectonic landform located near Gdansk Bay in northern Poland. We conducted surface, subsurface, and remote-sensing investigations to elaborate the internal structure and morphology of the upland. The upland covers some 390 km 2 and rises more than 150 m. Elbląg Upland consists almost entirely of Pleistocene strata, many of which are strongly deformed, anomalously thick, and situated high above their normal levels. These deformed sediments were derived from source basins located to the northeast and possibly west of the upland. Elbląg Upland was created by North Polish (Vistulian = Weichselian) ice advances, which pushed locally from the northeast and possibly the west. The upland was then overridden by ice coming from the north-northwest. We propose that glaciotectonic deformation occurred as a result of ice-lobe advances — possibly surges — over unconsolidated and unfrozen sediments, in which high pore-water pressures existed in confined aquifers. Surges may have been either local or regional in character, and surging may have taken place repeatedly during Vistulian glaciation. Glaciotectonism played a prominent role in shaping the southern Baltic basin, which represents a geomorphic end-product of multiple Pleistocene glaciations.

Challenge of Infrared Kite Aerial Photography: A Digital Update

Kite aerial photography (KAP) is a means to acquire large-scale, highly detailed imagery for various environmental applications. Previous color-infrared KAP was developed for film-based cameras, but is now effectively obsolete. The authors have built a KAP rig and field tested a digital color-infrared camera, the Tetracam ADC, which produces results that are generally comparable with color-infrared film photography. Field testing was conducted at the Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve of The Nature Conservancy in central Kansas. The resulting images are high-contrast photographs that depict emergent vegetation in bright red-pink colors and show water bodies nearly black, as would be expected in color-infrared imagery. Color-visible digital cameras produce better apparent spatial resolution, whereas the Tetracam ADC camera provides an extended spectral range into the near-infrared. For detailed environmental field investigations involving kite aerial photography, a combination of color-visible and color-infrared cameras is recommended for improved results overall.

Wetland environments: A Global Perspective: Aber/Wetland environments: A Global Perspective

Wetland Environments A Global Perspective A complete study of wetland environments requires the assessment of their physical and biological attributes, properties and functions of these ecosystems, and the economic, political and social aspects that mediate their use globally. Wetland Environments: A Global Perspective | Wiley Wetlands swamp, marsh, bayou, tundra and bog are places that are rarely visited and often misunderstood but they have, in fact, conspicuous roles in the physical, biological and cultural geography of the world. They are intrinsically beautiful environments where one may see the natural and essential values in the interaction of water, soil, vegetation, wildlife, and humans. Wetland environments: A Global Perspective | Wiley Online ... A complete study of wetland environments requires the assessment of their physical and biological attributes, properties and functions of these ecosystems, and the economic, political and social aspects that mediate their use globally. Wetland Environments: A Global Perspective: Aber, James S ... Wetland Environments: A Global Perspective Kindle edition by Aber, James S., Pavri, Firooza, Aber, Susan. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Wetland Environments: A Global Perspective. Wetland Environments: A Global Perspective 1, Aber, James ... They are intrinsically beautiful environments where one may see the natural and essential values in the interaction of water, soil, vegetation, wildlife, and humans. Wetlands occur at the confluence of unique terrestrial, hydrological and climatic conditions that give rise to some of the most biodiverse regions of the world. Wetland Environments: A Global Perspective by James S ... Description. Wetlands swamp, marsh, bayou, tundra and bog are places that are rarely visited and often misunderstood but they have, in fact, conspicuous roles in the physical, biological and cultural geography of the world. They are intrinsically beautiful environments where one

Applications of kite aerial photography: Biocontrol of salt cedar (Tamarix) in the western United States

Abstract Salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb.) is a small shrubby tree that is taking over wetland and riparian habitats in the western United States. Biocontrol experiments are underway based on the Chinese leaf-eating beetle, Diorhabda elongata deserticola, as a means for controlling salt cedar. Kite aerial photography and ground observations were conducted in 2003 to document the effects of beetle biocontrol on salt cedar at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation study site near Pueblo, Colorado. High-resolution August images provided clear visual evidence of salt cedar defoliation by beetles, and the images were suitable for quantitative analysis. This approach could be employed successfully to monitor other types of biocontrol study sites.

Pre-Wisconsinan glacial database and ice limits in the central United States

Abstract A geographical information systems (GIS) database has been compiled for pre-Wisconsinan ice margins and related glacial geomorphology in the central United States. The GIS database was assembled from various published and unpublished sources; it includes glacial margins of different ages, meltwater channels, pre-glacial (buried) valleys, preglacial drainage divides and related features. The original database was created in Tosca/Idrisi format and subsequently reformatted into Arc/Info export format for wide application. The glacial margins have been incorporated into the global database on extent and chronology of glaciation. For this database, many more ice-margin positions have been mapped than ever described before, especially in eastern Nebraska and southern Iowa. Many of these ice margins are recognised on the basis of preserved meltwater drainage routes, which are situated in two positions-parallel and normal to ice margins.

Monitoring Forest Cover Trends in Northeastern Kansas through Historical and Multi-Temporal Satellite-Image Analysis

Abstract This study documents a management history for two forested sites at Fort Leavenworth military reservation in Leavenworth County of northeastern Kansas. Additionally, we monitor forest cover change in the study area through the application of a single-band, multi-date satellite image analysis method. We use existing land use records and information from key informants to reconstruct a history of forest use. Our examination reveals that while the past witnessed significant timber felling from these forests, more recent ‘benign neglect’ management approaches have contributed to a resurgence in the growth of woody species. To monitor more recent trends in forest cover change, we successfully employ a multi-date image analysis method using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data from 1987, 1992 and 1997. Furthermore, a cursory comparison between this technique and routine land use classifications reveals significantly more information on the direction of change and vegetation health from the multi-date method.