| |
|
|
EPA
continued to apply remotely sensed imagery, tools,
and technologies to a wide range of environmental
applications in FY 1998. EPA's Environmental Photographic
Interpretation Center (EPIC) utilized current and
historical aerial photography to research and identify
past and current hazardous waste and other environmental
problems. In FY 1998, EPIC produced hundreds of aerial
photographic products on hazardous sites around the
country. Scientists at EPIC used AVIRIS data sets
to identify and evaluate polychlorinated biphenyl
(PCB)–contaminated soils at a Superfund site
in Massachusetts and hazardous wastes from a munitions
activity at Yorktown, Virginia.
|
EPA
scientists also used imaging spectroscopy to research water
quality issues in the Chesapeake Bay and to characterize
the environmental impacts from mining operations in the
western United States. EPA and NASA scientists jointly researched
the utilization of the NASA-JPL topographic SAR and aerial
photography with softcopy photogrammetry for Digital Elevation
Model construction.
Internationally,
EPA personnel participated on an environmental task force
that completed a remote-sensing GIS data base for the Priobskoye
area of the Russian Arctic. EPA analysts used the data base
to provide ecological risk assessment information on oil
and gas exploration in the region.
In
FY 1998, Government and university scientists, including
NASA, the USGS, and EPA, participated in the EPA Advanced
Measurement Initiative external grants program by preparing
proposals to evaluate a variety of remote-sensing technologies
and their application to EPA needs. EPA awarded funding
to five proposals:
- Application
of the SeaWiFS for Coastal Monitoring of Harmful Algal
Blooms
-
Field Test of Buoy-Stationed Oil Spill Remote Sensing
for Potable Water Sources
-
Remote Assessment of the Location and Quality of Mine
Drainage Using Spectral Reflectance
-
Remote Sensing Technology to Support Toxics Release Inventory
-
Validation of Aerosol and Optical Parameters from the
Multi-Angle Imaging Spectrometer on NASA's AM1 Satellite
with Ground Measurements from Interagency Monitoring of
Protected Visual Environments and the Clean Air Status
and Trends Network
|
