COUNTY EXTENSION AGENTS

In cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Science and Education Administration, the Survey has projects underway in Colorado and Pennsylvania to test methods and approaches by which USDA County Extension Agents might assist in making earth sciences information available to primarily nonurban populations. Primary objectives are to demonstrate appropriate and transferable mechanisms and procedures that would increase the effectiveness of the Extension Agent by providing him with improved access to earth sciences information and expertise, and to document a series of case studies (specific onsite examples) as the basis for evaluating the need for and the effect of earth sciences information transfer in attacking local problems.

Colorado Demonstration Project

The Colorado project is being conducted by the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Service and addresses the task of providing information that is not readily assessible in meaningful form to those who need it for planning and decisionmaking. Three categories of information are treated:

• Resources. A need for authoritative information on mineral and water resources, particularly data and reports relative to water supplies, quality, and flow characteristics, has long existed.

• Hazards. Assistance to local governments in identifying and evaluating geological hazards is another area of need. Shrinking and swelling soils, subsidence, slope stability, seismic risk, flooding, and radioactivity are common geologic hazards in Colorado. General. General earth sciences information aimed at responding to such questions as whether Colorado is subject to volcanic eruptions, if gold mining will become active in the State, how long it will be before oil shale is developed, or what is the condition of the Ogallala aquifer is a third area of need. The approach being used involves the interaction of an information-transfer team with an advisory panel from the Colorado earth science community. The information-transfer team consists of a County Extension Agent on sabbatical, a graduate student in environmental geology, and an environmental geology professor. The advisory panel includes representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Colorado Geological Survey, and other groups of the Colorado earth

science community as appropriate to the pro-
blems involved.

The team will identify two or three local problems, such as geological hazards, specialized mapping, and water-flow characteristics, that require earth science input. With the assistance of the advisory panel, the team will then develop for each problem a plan and procedure covering, among other things, (1) identification of the type of information needed by, available to, and usable by Extension Agents, (2) procurement of the information from the earth science community and identification of information gaps, (3) analysis of the significance of the information to the specific problem, (4) transfer of the information in appropriate form to Extension Agents in the field and to the specific individuals or groups faced with the problem, (5) testing the usuability of the information by Extension Agents, and (6) evaluation of the effectiveness of the entire procedure in aiding in the solution of the problem. Pennsylvania Demonstration Projects

The Pennsylvania project is being pursued as a joint effort with the Cooperative Extension Service and the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, both of Pennsylvania State University. Specific project objecives are (1) to disseminate existing earth science information to lay persons and professionals for their use in development of environmentally sound and economical land use plans, (2) to evaluate new and existing earth sciences knowledge as it pertains to citizens, government, and industry, (3) to disseminate information concerning mineral and water resources and geological hazards related to gas and oil well exploration, deep and surface mining, and general earth sciences information, and (4) to develop a workshop that will serve as a source of information on local issues for local government officials and concerned citizens.

This project utilizes an Extension Agent serving four western Pennsylvania counties (Armstrong, Clarion, Indiana, and Jefferson) in the heart of western Pennsylvania's coal area where exploration for natural gas also is increasing. They are confronted with problems such as flooding, ground-water supply and quality, subsidence, slope stability, and environmental pollution. Two general categories of information are being addressed in this project:

• Availability and quality of water resources. Coal mining reportedly has contributed to loss of water in many household wells and to pollution of others. Recent drilling of gas wells reportedly has led to pollution of some

water supplies with barium and other contaminants. Towns in the area are in need of additional water supplies to support recent growth.

• Planning of development. Township and

county officials need to know probable areas of future coal development and oil and gas drilling to make a variety of planning decisions relating to new construction, zoning, and so forth. Similarly, areas of geologic hazards, such as landslides, coal mine subsidence, and floods, should be evaluated for this purpose, as should potential problems in disposal of waste products from mineral extraction.

The project Extension Agent will respond to requests for assistance from citizens and loqal government officials by utilizing the technical support of appropriate agencies to supply answers and assistance. In addition, the Agent will identify onsite problems which can be addressed through educational workshops for specific groups or the general public.

Geological information will be furnished by the faculty of the Geosciences Department of Pennsylvania State University and, as needed, by personnel of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, or other organizations. Supplementary assistance also will be available through Extension specialists in such disciplines as forest resources, agronomy, engineering, economics, and landscape architec

ture.

PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF RESULTS

The workshop project is evaluated on a continuing basis from questionnaires completed by participants at each workshop. Responses indicate that the workshops have been generally successful in providing participants with usable and useful earth sciences information and application techniques.

A final evaluation of the circuit-rider project currently is in progress. In a report at the end of the first year of the project, the circuit-rider geologist documented a number of activities indicative of the value of his services to the counties involved. In one instance, a site examination indicated that a large concrete or wood retaining wall proposed as a part of a housing rehabilitation program was not required, saving the landowner and the community a significant expense. In another, foundation conditions at an abutment site for a proposed $750,000 bridge were determined to be unstable. The river bank at the site

was being undercut, and the bank upstream and downstream showed evidence of recent and currently active sliding. The project was suspended pending further geologic investigations.

The Colorado and Pennsylvania County Extension Agent projects presently are in their early stages. Pennsylvania project personnel report, "A major objective of the project, to set up and improve channels for getting earth sciences information to people at local government levels, has already been accomplished. . . Participants. . . were enthusiastic about the positive effects already derived from project activity in strengthening connections and understanding among the geologist, Cooperative Extension people, and interested parties in the four counties involved."

Although each experimental approach appears
to be useful and to provide positive results, no
one approach provides a universal mechanism for
getting the job done. Numerous other methods
for technical information transfer are being used
operationally or experimentally in the Survey and
elsewhere in government. In all likelihood, many
different approaches will continue to be utilized
to accommodate the extreme variety of concerns
and capabilities of potential users of earth.
sciences information.

Spatial Data Research and
Applications

Earth scientists and natural resource managers
face ever-increasing information needs and mul-
tiple data sources as they conduct complex
research projects or face complicated manage-
ment decisions. Thanks to current advances in
computer-aided information handling and data
processing, geographic data which once appeared
only on maps now can be converted, or digitized,
into a computer-readable form and then merged
with other digitized scientific data to produce
new forms of information, such as computer-
generated images and maps that enable the user
to draw conclusions in a more timely and effi-
cient manner than has been possible.

Divisions of the U.S. Geological Survey currently are developing new applications of spatial data and have established a number of natural resource spatial data bases which possess the unique characteristics of map data in that they are stored and manipulated by locational position. To date, work on these data bases has concentrated primarily on data capture, verification, and file building.

During fiscal year 1981, techniques for merging and integrating disparate digital data sets, such as cartographic, geophysical, geochemical, geologic, hydrologic, and multispectral image data, were investigated and applied in diverse geographic environments. Among these projects were developing a digital geologic data base for the Nabesna Quadrangle, Alaska, mapping forest fuels in Montana, assessing irrigation potential in Oregon, and developing a planning unit data base in Arizona.

GEOLOGICAL DATA BASE IN ALASKA

To demonstrate the applicability of digital processing techniques to mineral resource investigations, a digital geologic data base was

prepared for use in an EROS Data Center advanced course in geologic applications of remote sensing techniques. The Nabesna Quadrangle Area of Alaska was chosen for this demonstration because diverse types of geographically related data are available for this region, it has a known mineral resource potential, and the current Survey mission under the Alaska Mineral Resources Assessment Program (AMRAP) calls for acquiring, analyzing, and interpreting data to evaluate mineral resource potential.

The Nabesna data base included Landsat multispectral scanner data, Defense Mapping Agency topographic data, and AMRAP data sets which include gravity, geochemical (for copper, lead, gold, chromium, and cobalt), geologic, mineral

Occurrence, and land status data. The data base was designed to show its usefulness in analyzing, merging, and integrating many types of data and to provide training course participants with a case example of geologic data base planning and management.

A geologic model for evaluating the potential for porphyry (disseminated, as opposed to concentrated, vein type) deposits of copper in the Nabesna area was developed from the data base.

The product was an image that incorporated all of the regional model parameters with the data base to identify areas of highest porphyry copper potential (fig. 1). The resultant areas then were tested against known mineral occurrences.

Field checking of this work took place in August 1981, and a report is being written. Plans are being developed to expand the data base to include adjacent potentially mineralized areas for refining the current porphyry copper model.

FOREST FUELS MAPPING IN MONTANA

A digital data base combining forest fuels and terrain information, which was derived from Landsat multispectral data and Survey elevation model data, was developed for a study site in the Lolo National Forest in western Montana. The project was designed to serve as input to a mathematical fire simulation model developed by the U.S. Forest Service, which provides sitespecific prediction of wildland fire behavior. Applications of the estimates provided by this model

range from realtime site-specific predictions of the probable rate of spread of a flaming front to broad-scale regional planning efforts.

Management and planning tools were improved for the Forest Service by using satellite data in combination with topographic data to determine the identity, location, and fire vulnerability (determined from a timber stand's slope and aspect) of three species. Merging this combined information on a computer with road-network data resulted in a data base for the Forest Service fire behavior model. Figure 2 is a map derived from the data base showing areas of greatest fire potential.