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Discusses remote sensing principles and applications and the status and needs of remote sensing education in the United States. A summary of the fundamental policy issues that will determine remote sensing's future role in environmental and resource managements is included. (Author/BC)

Landscapes result from the interaction between nature and society. To understand current landscapes, it is essential to disentangle this interaction; to accomplish this, an historical approach is necessary.Here we focus on the interaction between humans and lakes during thelast century in two sites in Wisconsin, USA, a state where lakes, inexcess of 10,000, have played an important role in the evolution of the landscapes they belong to. We draw contrasts between the two localities, which are set in landscapes that differ in their physiographic setting, environmental history, and current structure. One, in northern Wisconsin, is a forested recreational lake district; the other, in southern Wisconsin, is dominated by agricultural uses and urban and suburban development. We contend that a common development in both localities has been the increase in the value that society attaches to lakes. As a consequence, lakes are playing a bigger role in the evolution of the terrestrial landscapes surrounding them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imaging radar systems have a unique potential for monitoring certainbiophysical characteristics of forest ecosystems, but the extent andlimitations of this technology for forest management applications have not been assessed. An ongoing series of studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Affiliated Research Center (ARC) is addressingthese applications, using dual-wavelength, multipolarization ShuttleImaging Radar-C (SIR-C) imagery for a variety of sites in the western Great Lakes region. The initial research focused on the combinationof optical and radar data for land-cover mapping; this developed into an investigation of biometric applications of radar imagery, deriving various stand parameters of interest to forestland managers. A third question is now being addressed - how the complex mosaic of foresttypes in the region affects the accuracy of interferometric radar-based estimates of elevation. Further research is needed on practical applications of multiwavelength radar systems for monitoring changing conditions in natural and managed forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An image-based moving map display was created for the Voice Activated Poor Visibility Emergency Response System (VAPERS). VAPERS is a commercial retrofit package designed to enhance the operation of fire fighting equipment deployed at military and commercial airports. The system was designed and tested at Truax Field (Madison, WI) and TyndallAFB (Panama City, FL). The moving map was based on one-meter digitalorthophotography, systematically aggregated to lower resolution displays and organized in a tiled TIFF format. Each resolution layer was enhanced with vector data deemed desirable by emergency vehicle operators. Given the availability of differenct data sources at each site,the protocols for producing the moving map varied. The successful demonstration of VAPERS is discussed in terms of its future commercialization and potential future enhancements for the moving map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lake ice breakup dotes from 1980 to 1994 for 81 selected lakes and reservoirs in the U.S. upper Midwest and portions of Canada (60 deg.N,105 deg.W to 40 deg.N, 85 deg.W) were determined employing analysis of 1,830 archival images from the visible band (0.54 to 0.70 mu m) ofthe GOES-VISSR. The objectives were to investigate the utility of monitoring ice phenology as a climate indicator and to assess regional trends in lake ice breakup dates. The dates of imagery represented the range available in the national archive at the time of this study. Comparison of satellite-derived breakup dates with available ground reference data revealed a mean absolute difference of 1 3.2 days and amean difference of -0.4 days, well within the natural variability inlake ice breakup dates (sigma (approx.)= 1 12 days) for a single lake over time. The predominant spatial trends of mean ice breakup datescan be attributed to latitude and snowfall (R2 = 93 percent). Analysis of the pooled data for all 81 lakes revealed a significant (p < 0.001) trend toward earlier ice breakup dates. All of the individual lakes exhibiting significant trends toward earlier ice breakup from 1980 to 1994 are located in southern Wisconsin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fundamental changes are taking place in the world of remote sensing with respect to three primary developments. First, a new generation of space-borne sensors will be able to deliver high spatial and spectral resolution imagery on a global basis. Technical advances are making previous restrictions on data scale, resolution, location, and availability largely irrelevant. Second, economic restructuring of the remote sensing community will transform the control and distribution ofimagery and imagery-derived information generally away from government and into the private sector. Third, the development of a digital, global information infirastructure, such as the Internet, will allow for rapid global distribution of information to a worldwide user community. The combined effects of these developments could have significant legal and ethical consequences for all remote sensing professionals. For example, remote sensing technology could soon develop the capability to generate and deliver a level of information detail that could violate common societal perceptions of individual privacy, and a number of direct legal and ethical consequences could result. This paper reviews the legal background of remote sensing and current developments in satellite surveillance and information technology, and outlines a number of legal and ethical issues that could be of future concern to the remote sensing community. Self regulation of the profession is central to maintaining the appropriate balance between the rights of the individual and the economic interests of the remote sensingcommunity and the nation as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]