Abstract
The Role of ArcGIS in Assessing Worldwide Narcotics Production Track: Defense and Intelligence Author(s): Wendy Wilson, Jacqueline Luders Each year, the U.S. Government is required to produce an estimate of illicit narcotics crops grown worldwide. The estimates are essential for gauging the progress that countries like Afghanistan are making in combating narcotics production, a major threat to stability around the world. Earth Satellite Corporation supports the U.S. Government in this endeavor with a customized imagery-based Area Frame Sampling methodology for crop estimates. This presentation will focus on the integration of ArcGIS with this methodology to aid in estimate production. Specialists incorporate the tools available within the ArcGIS suite as well as customized Visual Basic scripts to help with a variety of tasks, including defining potential crop growing areas, merging and manipulating shapefiles, reprojecting vector layers, and converting vector layers to raster layers. This presentation will detail the ways in which ArcGIS has made the estimates more accurate and timely while enhancing them with an assortment of cartographic products. Wendy Wilson Earth Satellite Corporation 6011 EXECUTIVE BLVD STE 400 Rockville , MD 20852 US Phone: 240-833-8200 E-mail: wwilson@earthsat.com Jacqueline Luders Earth Satellite Corporation 6011 Executive Blvd. Suite 400 Rockville 20852-3837 US Phone: 301-231-0660 E-mail: jluders@earthsat.com |