Through a cooperative agreement between the Navy, Air Force and Army, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), the military have been aggressively inventorying and mapping wetlands on installations throughout the United States and Territories since 1990. The wetlands maps (1:24,000 scale) are being prepared by utilizing Global Positioning Systems (GPS) for establishment of accurate ground control, extensive field work, and photographic stereo-compiling with analytical photogrammetric stereo instruments. The digital data is converted to a Geographic Information System (GIS) in order to make automated analysis possible, and to merge existing base comprehensive planning maps with the wetlands data. This paper further describes an updated field data collection methodology incorporating GPS, GIS and pen-based computers for actual field data collection.
Today's technology provides the wetlands ecologist with the tools to not only take his digital planning maps, digital NWI maps and U.S. Geological Survey Digital Line Graphs (DLG) to the site, but to pin-point his precise position utilizing real-time differentially corrected GPS receivers onto these digital maps. With this technology, the ecologist can accurately delineate the wetlands boundaries, and conduct an inventory analysis without returning to his office. Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, was the subject installation for this study. NAS Fallon had previously conducted an engineering scale (1:50 and 1:200 scale) mapping effort of the installation with six inch contours. A traditional 1:24,000 scale wetlands mapping effort was not a desirable end scale to make effective use of the engineering scale planning map. To achieve desired results, new technology was incorporated to meet the goal. This paper further discusses the use of this developing technology to achieve the desired end results for the wetlands researcher.
Anthony C. Curtis
Esri
Redlands, CA
Telephone: (909) 793-2853 x2163