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APPLICATIONS OF REMOTE-SENSING DATA IN ALASKA A Cooperative Program of the University of Alaska with User Organizations, Including Local, State and Federal Government Agencies ORIGINAL CONTAINS J. M. Miller SOLOR ILLUSTRATIogS Geophysical Institute University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 I(NASA-CR-156996) APPLICATIONS OF REMOTE N78-23533 1 SENSING DATA IN ALASKA: A COOPERATIVE' PROGRAM 01-TUE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA WITH USER ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING LOCAL, STATE Unclas AND- FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (Alaska Univ., G3/43 17723 ANNUAL REPORT Grant NGL 02-001-092 Period Covered July 1, 1975 - June 30, 1976 Prepared for: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of University Affairs Washington, DC 20546 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES 5 Coordination and Information Exchange Data Library 9 Data Processing Services 14 Training & Workshops 20 -Alaskan Needs for Resource Information 23 Cooperative Projects 25 USD1/Bureau of Indian Affairs 26 Applications of Thermal-Infrared Data 36 Alaska Department of Environmental 'Conservation 39 USDA/Soil Conservation Service-Range Inventory 44 Chugach'Native Corporation 45 BP-Alaska Inc. 46 North Slope Borough 47 USDA/Soil Conservation Service-Flooding 50 Corps of Engineers 52 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 53 Alaska State Troopers & U.S. Secret Service 56 Conferences and.Meetings Attended 60 CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 62 APPENDICES A - List of Publications B - Catalog of Alaskan Landsat Data C - Horizons on Display D - USDA Soil Conservation Service Reports E - Alaska Rural Development Council i INTRODUCTION Even more so than the private sector, agencies of federal, state and regional governments have an increasing need for detailed information in areas related to natural resources for policy formulation, program development and evaluation of results. Events in the national and inter national economic scene have focussed attention upon the exploration and development of natural resources, and parti cularly those related to energy production. The development of additional domestic sources of energy is a prime objective of the United State-s in this decade. There are compelling indications that vast oil and gas reserves exist offshore along the northern, western and southern coasts of Alaska. An assessment of the sometimes conflicting activities of divergent types of resource development requires a complete knowledge of the environmental setting so that each may be sensibly exploited while preserving most of the, values that are important to the others. The inventory and management of natural resources over vast areas lend themselves effectively to the application of remote-sensing data, especially where very divergent interests are involved such as is the case in Alaska. A goal of this grant is to develop these opportunities for satellite and aircraft sensor technology. Petroleum exploration and development offshore and onshore have a profound effect upon the adjacent land and its people. This is especially true for the confrontation in Alaska between the extractive industries and the tiny socio-economic structure of native villages in areas facing imminent develop ment. Remote sensing of the environment is a tool to help manage and control this development in a -timely fashion so that divergent interests can fit reasonably well with those values which best serve the indigeneous people, the nation, the land and sea and the total resources of the region being impacted. The Coastal Zone Management Act, the Alaska Statehood Act, the Alaska Natives Claims Settlement'Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments are examples of legislation on the federal level which are generating increasing demands for information relating to natural resources. Some vital state interests involve future oil and gas lease sales being planned for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) by the federal government (BLM) or by the state in state-owned offshore waters, or a joint effort by both the federal and state governments. These lease areas include the Gulf of Alaska, Lower Cook Inlet, Beaufort Sea, Bering Sea (Norton Sound), Bering Sea (St. George), Outer Bristol Basin, Aleutian Shelf, and Chukchi Sea. The environmental issues involved wi-th these proposed sale areas are complicated by conflicting interests. On one side the federal interests generally favor early dates for lease sales by 1978 in the order of most promising potential for petroleum discoveries. On the other side the State of 2 Alaska prefers a reordering of sale areas which takes into account the ability of on-shore communit'ies to adequately plan supporting facilities for exploration and development activities. The state also prefers a lease schedule which is considerably lengthened into the 1980's to allow com munities additional time to obtain information and plan for the onshore impacts. State agencies such as the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Fish and Game, the Depart ment of Community and Regional Affairs, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Commerce and Economic Enterprise and the Department of Revenue are being directed by the administration to define a state position on a modified leasing schedule based upon analysis of environ mental, technological, and socio-economic data. The need for a rational basis for both the ordering and the timing of the nine OCS lease sales should generate opportunities in the coming years to apply remote-sensing techniques to support State interests in some of the onshore areas to minimize the impacts and to draw upon the possible benefits of OCS leasing activities. Three factors are being studied relative to the revision of the leasing schedule: 1. the present and future economic benefits from oil and gas leasing (both public and private) 2. the present and future nationa.l energy and petroleum needs 3 3. the minimum environmental and social impacts that can be associated with petroleumexplor ation and development offshore. The revised schedule for lease sales which will be strongly backed by the State of Alaska will be only one aspect of the overall state position.. Consideration will also be given to stipulations in the announcement of-lease sales that long range analyses shall document the reasons that the sale will minimize social impacts on the public. Oil and gas resources are vitalto the nation and valuable to the state, and they will be developed. Fisheries resources are equally vital and are needed to feed people in Alaska and throughout the countries of the Pacific rim. Most of Alaska's prime timber resources are concentrated in coastal forests and are required for expanding urban develop ments. Prudent management of coastal-resources involves the siting and timing of production activities to utilize these resources without undue impact upon resources which compete for stability in the same ecosystem space. Decisions will have to be made by appropriate agencies to locate oil and gas facilities away from critical habitat and consolidating transportation routes into common corridors. These decisions will not be restricted only to state and federal entities, but will require that the state, federal, regional and local agencies work together to find common solutions -rather than fragmented and conflicting approaches. The development of the coastal-zone-related issues is generating an increasing need for information which is 4 greater in quantity of natural resource data, greater in quality of detail of data, and more frequent collection of data owing to the need to monitor certain aspects of programs. The array, detail and frequency of information acquisition required to develop natural resources and to implement and maintain the resulting programs demands improved techniques of data gathering, processing and interpretation which is conducive to the use of remote-sensing techniques. As Alaska, both in the state and federal domain, gears up to meet the energy-related issues facing the nation there will be a growing role for efforts which adapt state-of-the-art tools to solving existing problems. SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES There i-s a need for increased awareness by the user agencies of the current technical capabilities of satellite remote-sensing, the various ways of applying this tech nology, and how the agency can train their own people to use the new technology. Well-established communication links between the University and the users is the key to effective utilization of remote sensing by a-wide sector of public and private organizations. Each user should be aware of other uses of satellite technology to be able to benefit from the successes and failures of similar efforts elsewhere. ORIGINATL PAGE IS OF POOR QUAI= After years of minimal responsibility for management of the natural resources in Alaska, there is a growing oppor tunity for State involvement-in programs designed to protect, manage, and develop natural resources. Decisions that must be made as the State exercises its new prerogatives of more self-determination-requires access to large amounts of data which describe existing patterns of the distribution of natural resources. Such data are also needed to define models which can serve a predictive role to assist in the formulation of alternative policies designed to protect, manage and develop these resources. The recent need for resource information on the State level of government is also supported by a growing number of federal programs