Figure 3. The Irrigation Development Potential for the northern 1 million acres of the Umatilla Basin of Oregon was determined using a composite mapping procedure and data representing land cover, landownership, soil irrigability, percent slope, and potential energy requirements. IRRIGATION ANALYSIS IN OREGON In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, Oregon, the Survey conducted a project to develop and test techniques using Landsat with related geographic data to evaluate irrigation agriculture in the 1.6-million-acre Umatilla River Basin in northcentral Oregon. Landsat data were interpreted manually to map the growth of irrigation from 1973 to 1979 and analyzed digitally to identify crop types under irrigation in 1979. The crop-type data were then used in conjunction with historical agricultural data and digital topographic and hydrographic data to estimate water and power use for the 1979 irrigation season. The final project task involved production of a composite map of land suitability for irrigation development based on land cover (from Landsat), landownership, soil irrigability, slope gradient, and potential energy cost data. Figure 3 identifies land parcels of various degrees of suitability. Analysis identified an annual irrigation expansion of over 10,000 acres per year. Also, for 1979, irrigation water use was estimated at 212,000 acre-feet for the 125,000 acres of irrigation, and irrigation power use at approximately 300 million kilowatthours of electricity. The water and power estimates, along with the composite map of land suitability for future irrigation development, provided the Corps of Engineers with a sound basis for evaluating expanding irrigation agriculture while monitoring its impact on other essential uses of Columbia River Basin land and water resources. LAND RESOURCE DATA BASE IN ARIZONA Because the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 requires the Bureau of Land Management to maintain an inventory of resources on public lands, this agency requires a low-cost, quick, and accurate method of inventorying vegetation on millions of acres of arid public land in the southwest United States. A Geological Survey project, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, was carried out to develop a digital data base for the latter's Grandwash Planning Unit in northern Arizona. The objective of the project was to demonstrate the flexibility of a digital data base to produce map overlays that could be incorporated directly into the Bureau's planning process. The initial data set developed during the analytic phase of the project contained a set of tables describing the vegetation and terrain conditions throughout the area and a digital data base containing Landsat spectral classes; elevation, slope, and aspect of the terrain in the project area; and vegetation information for sample areas within the project area. This data base then was merged with the digitized Grandwash Planning Unit administrative boundary and all roads within it. Using criteria applied by Land Management field personnel, the digital data base was manipulated to produce a set of map overlays showing the location of areas suitable for performing specific management activities. For example, to locate potential areas for allocating firewood permits, all sites within the Grandwash Planning Unit identified as firewood spectral class, which were at elevations between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, having less than 10 percent slope, and within 0.25 miles of a road, were located and produced at the same scale as the base map. These sites appear on figure 4 and indicate potential areas where firewood permits could be allocated. Other map overlays produced from this data base are being used to plan various management activities including firewood collection, wildlife reestablishment (Bighorn Desert Sheep and antelope), and range improvement. The spatially referenced digital data base provides the Bureau of Land Management with an information source that can be updated and revised easily, manipulated to produce planning information rapidly and economically, and used to produce various scales of map overlays that are cartographically accurate and statistically reliable. designing a water conservation plan. During 1980 and 1981, the Survey and NERBC presented the methodology for water suppliers in the text Before the Well Runs Dry: A Handbook for Designing a Water Conservation Plan. The handbook was designed and distributed through a series of workshops for water suppliers and public officials held in the New England States. The handbook addresses supply and demand aspects of water conservation planning. The water supplier is advised to consider his supply options for maintaining or increasing supply through such programs as leak detection and repair, evaporation suppression, and watershed management. To reduce demand, the water supplier is asked to consider regulation, education, and pricing for conservation. With each of these programs, the water supplier is apprised of the political, social, and financial impacts he needs to consider when implementing the water conservation plan so that the final plan is a comprehensive one meeting the water conservation goals of the community while assuring the necessary operating revenue and community support to make it work. Interest in the methodology for designing a water conservation plan has led to the design of a second series of workshops in cooperation with the Missouri River Basin Commission. Four workshops were held during June and August 1981 in Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, and Montana. These water conservation workshops addressed the water supply problems of Western communities and presented the material from the handbook in a group exercise format. Decision Information The Decision Information Display System become fully operational in fiscal year 1982. The Geological Survey has placed some coal data and over 1,000 water-related data sets into DIDS, including Survey water-use data covering a 25-year period and data derived from the Second National Water Assessment. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency has placed some Survey stream-quality data into DIDS. The Survey has supplied DIDS with the base map used for the display of world data and is redesigning the DIDS color palette. The Geological Survey has contributed to development of the prototype system and is in the process of acquiring a DIDS remote terminal system, which will be linked to the White House computer. In fiscal year 1982, the Survey will expand its efforts to supply earth science data and to provide technological support related to the production and display of thematic maps by computer. Landsat 3 RBV Image Shows Onshore oil and gas leases on Federal and Indian lands are supervised by the U.S. Geological Survey and involve well approvals, field inspections, and the collection of royalties. The Geological Survey conducts geological investigations, environmental analyses, and other studies related to the many aspects of exploration, development, and protection of these lands. Landsat 3 RBV (Return Beam Vidicon) imagery, with its synoptic and temporal coverage, provides a rapid, cheap, and accurate means of inventory and assessment of exploration activity directed toward these nonrenewable resources. The increased availability of Landsat 3 RBV imagery gives scientists and energy resource managers an important data base for accurate assessment and monitoring of oil and gas exploration and development. Regional maps of active oil and gas fields can be inspected adequately and revised using RBV imagery, thus reducing the need for expensive aircraft flying programs to only those areas where definitive revision is warranted. A Landsat 3 RBV image acquired on October 15, 1978, was analyzed for its usefulness in monitoring oil and gas exploration. The resolution. of 100 feet and the broad waveband enables relatively easy discrimination and analysis of surface features. The Ogallala Formation is flat-lying and forms the Mescalero Ridge (caprock), a broad terrace that is easily distinguished by tonal difference from the brighter surrounding Mescalero Sands and by the fact that it forms a prominent escarpment. The Ogallala Formation also appears darker than the underlying older rocks, and, consequently, any cultural feature, specifically drilling activity, which disturbs the surface, stands out in marked contrast to the darker surface of the Ogallala. The 1976 Geologic Atlas of Texas, Hobbs sheet, was obtained for specific location and number of oil and gas wells. The Atlas was compiled from maps made in 1954 by the Army Map Service using 1954 aerial photographs which showed a total of 1,131 oil and gas wells over an area of approximately 2,250 square miles. These data were overlayed on the Survey fopographic map of Hobbs, New Mexico, which was compiled in 1954 from 1954 aerial photographs and revised in 1973 from 1972 aerial photographs. An additional 208 wells were observed, making the total 1,339 (fig. 1). The information plotted then was overlayed on the Landsat 3 RBV image for transfer of the October 15, 1978, data. An additional 3,365 oil and gas wells were mapped from the 1978 image and the majority of the 1,339 previously mapped wells were confirmed. Thus, analysis of the RBV image showed an increase of about 250 percent over the 1973 total (fig. 2). However, many wells are less than 100 feet apart and may appear as a single site when there are actually two or more. Discrimination between oil and gas wells versus service wells, stratigraphic tests, core tests, and wells drilled for carbon dioxide is virtually impossible from an altitude of approximately 600 miles. The RBV image shows all well data and generally does not permit a distinction between types, although spacing of the wells may permit one to infer their probable purpose. In spite of these limitations, well data obtained from 1:250,000-scale RBV images provide substantial information for monitoring exploration activity. Standard products are available at the 1:125,000 scale which would provide a more accurate data base without losing resolution or geometric quality. Certainly, however, the RBV data can be used to identify areas where change has occurred and where lower altitude aircraft photography should be taken to provide additional details. Landsat 3 RBV data may play a significant role in all phases of oil and gas exploration as well as future development. The location of support facilities, such as access roads, pump stations, pipe lines, waste disposal sites, utilities, and refineries, also may be planned more efficiently based on the synoptic coverage and resolving capability afforded by spaceborne sensors, and the environmental impacts of these activities can be monitored effectively. LEA 11000 4000 о о 00000 3900 38601 FIGURE 1.-Enlargement of part of a U.S. Geological Survey [1° × 2°] 1:250,000-scale topographic map of Hobbs, New Mexico. Small circles are symbols representing number and location of oil and gas wells (1,339 total). 00 - о Q FIGURE 2.-Enlargement of part of 1978 Landsat 3 RBV image which shows an addition of 3,365 oil and gas wells. The high contrast (brightness) of disturbed drilling locations against dark Ogallala, New Mexico, caprock enable an accurate statistical count of exploration activity. Mapping and The Earth Resources Observation Systems technology training courses were conducted for 451 participants. At the EROS Data Center, Landsat digital data are converted to photographic images or duplicated on computer-compatible tapes. Modifications were made to the EROS Digital Image Processing System to provide increased flexibility of data formats available to users and to improve data delivery time. Black-and-white and color infrared photographic coverage from the National High Altitude Photography Program is being cataloged and archived at the EROS Data Center for reproduction and dissemination to users. User demand for this data continues to increase. |