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USGS · 70159094

Photo-optical enhancement of landsat imagery for land use in south-central Iowa

Abstract

Because the photographic laboratory at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory found it difficult to estimate what were the optimal color renditions of the Iowa landscape for land classification purposes, the Iowa Geological Survey developed its own capability for producing color products from digitally enhanced Landsat data. Research has now shown that efficient production of enhanced images requires full utilization of both computer and photographic enhancement . procedures. Experimental photo-optical enhancement techniques carried out at the EROS Data Center (EDC) for a Landsat-1, 29 August 1972 scene, proved to be more easily interpreted for land classification purposes than the EDC standard color composite. I.f digital processing can be minimized by using photographic enhancement techniques, then costs of enhanced products could be greatly reduced. Perhaps one of the major objectives of computer processing of Landsat data should be to produce high quality cosmetically enhanced (eliminate striping and line drops) data which has a range of digital values that can be completely recorded by film media. If digital processinq can distribute reflectance data throughout the entire recording ranqe of photographic film, then photographic enhancement techniques could be employed cheaply by users familiar with the type of information they wish to extract from the imaqery. Alternatively, if custom enhanced imagery is to be produced for users not having a photographic capability, different enhancements may be tried in an iterative fashion in the photographic laboratory, without having to reprocess digital data in the computer for each iteration. The savings in time and money should be considerable using this approach.

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90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 40.57224011776902° to 42.25291778330197° latitude; -94.95483398437499° to -92.1533203125° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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BibTeXRIS

James R. Lucas, James V. Taranik, Frederic C. Billingsley. 1977. Photo-optical enhancement of landsat imagery for land use in south-central Iowa. https://doi.org/10.3133/70159094

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Factors affecting benthic macroinvertebrate health in the City of Roanoke, Virginia, 2020–2023

Major waterways in the City of Roanoke (City) have failed to meet Virginia’s aquatic life designated use since 1996. Segments of the upper Roanoke River lack healthy benthic macroinvertebrate communities which prompted a total maximum daily load (TMDL) study by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) to identify the most probable stressor(s) causing the impairment. Excess fine sediment was identified as the most probable stressor impairing benthic macroinvertebrates on portions of the Roanoke River in 2006, and a watershed implementation plan published in 2016 required communities within the impaired watershed to implement projects that would reduce the load of fine sediment entering the Roanoke River. Additional benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and stream habitat assessments along the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek (a tributary to the Roanoke River that flows through the City) revealed continued impaired conditions, and subsequent stressor identification analysis was completed in 2023. Samples collected downstream of the City on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek generally showed more impaired conditions relative to samples collected at locations upstream of the City. Based on this evaluation, sediment and sediment-bound polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were identified as probable stressors while specific conductance, total nitrogen, and sediment metals were possible stressors in Tinker Creek; however, only a sediment TMDL target was identified to address impaired benthic macroinvertebrate communities. In the Roanoke River upstream of the Niagara Dam, sediment and total phosphorus were identified as probable stressors, sediment polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sediment PCB were considered possible stressors; however, the TMDL target was only for total phosphorus. The City partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2016 to continuously monitor water quality and streamflow conditions on a major tributary of Tinker Creek, Lick Run, and by 2020, four similar monitoring stations were installed on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek near the locations of benthic macroinvertebrate sampling. Monitored parameters included streamflow and/or gage height (water level), water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and turbidity. Turbidity is a measure of the relative clarity of the water and was previously used to model suspended-sediment concentrations at the monitoring stations. The City also contracted Kirk Environmental, LLP (KE) to collect benthic macroinvertebrate samples and stream habitat assessments near the locations of the water-quality monitoring stations. Identified benthic macroinvertebrates were used to calculate the Virginia Stream Condition Index (SCI), a multi-metric index composed of eight biological attributes that represent elements of the structure and function of the benthic macroinvertebrate community that measure diversity, composition, and tolerance to pollution. Study objective: In this report, benthic macroinvertebrate samples and stream habitat assessment scores collected at four locations on the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek by KE and the VDEQ between 2020 and 2023 were compared to measured water-quality and streamflow conditions prior to sampling to evaluate patterns between benthic macroinvertebrate health, water quality, and hydrology.

Virginia