Innovative environmental management using remote sensing at the US Army's Yakima Training Center, Yakima, Washington

In response to increasing environmental management demands, and to preserve the US Army's Yakima Training Center (YTC) in a trainable condition, the US Army's Directorate of Environment and Natural Resources Directorate (DENR) has initiated projects to more effectively utilize advanced technology, including remote monitoring. A ten-year effort, conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is developing and applying customized remote sensing and GIS techniques in support of environmental management activities at the YTC. This effort has emphasized the use of satellite imagery for operationally mapping and monitoring vegetation and landcover on the YTC, but has also utilized and evaluated a number of airborne remote sensing systems including AVIRIS, AMPS, and HYDICE. This effort utilizes a ten-year database of satellite imagery, aerial photography, and high-resolution multispectral/hyperspectral imagery in combination with digital terrain elevation data, high-resolution lidar-derived elevation data, and ground truth data. This unique database provides landcover change information required for quantifying training-related environmental effects and is used for planning and determining the effectiveness of restoration efforts. The paper demonstrates the use of these databases for generating a variety of mapping products, including a vegetation map, fire and fire history maps, 1-, 5-, and 10-year change detection analyses, restoration planning and degradation maps. In addition, studies have been conducted to evaluate how high spatial and spectral data can be used for identifying and mapping noxious weed infestations, better quantification of training-related impacts on the environment, and technology transfer to other US Army installations.