On a larger scale, another current project is examining satellite imagery 
for land resource inventory in semi arid environments, Recent severe 
droughts in the semi arid lands of Africa have resulted in an extension 
of the desert areas, and in order to monitor these changes it is necessary 
to develop more effective surveys methods, The first stage of the project 
has been the evaluation of regional or reconnaissance scale natural 
resource maps of part of the Sudan Sahelian-Savanna zone, compiled from 
the manual interpretation of orbital imagery, and their comparison with 
maps of the same area from aerial photographs and terrestrial survey 
techniques, When this is completed attention will be paid to the other 
aims of the study which are determining the level of resource detail that 
can be extracted from orbital imagery, evaluation of certain digital and 
Video systems as interpretative aids in resource mapping, and developing 
a methodology for the interpretation of orbital imagery and compilation 
of thematic maps that is tailored to the needs and resources generally 
available in most developing countries, 
Peripheral Research 
As well as the mainstream research activities described above, certain 
projects have considered problems peripheral to those particular fields 
of study, One project, for example, (Preston 1974, Preston and Collins 
1974) has investigated automated data systems in photographic remote 
sensing with a major conclusion being that the widespread practice of 
using only spectral data in automated analysis imposes severe limitations 
on the operational ability of any given system, 
A second project has considered the development of soil waste management 
strategy, Whereas other waste disposal research has been involved with 
locating potential landfill types (see above), this latter project has 
been concerned with long term waste management policy of a typical Waste 
Disposal Authority, Account has been taken of the estimation of future 
waste production and the assessment ofthe effects of different systems of 
waste management, and although no comprehensive model of overall waste 
management has been produced, several systems have been produced which 
improve markedly on existing ones and which are being adopted by the 
strategic decision maker, 
Conclusions 
As has been mentioned previously, research in the Remote Sensing Unit has 
been problem orientated and usually conducted in close co-operation with 
an external (usually planning) agency. In many instances this research 
has developed into contract work whereby the Unit has carried out surveys 
of the type described above for the interested authority. In addition 
photogrammetric plotting has been undertaken for particular sites of 
interest, while photo interpretation of selected aerial photography has 
been used for planning enquiries. These activities are useful not only 
for giving financial support to the Unit, but for educating the environ- 
mental planning and resource management fraternity as to the advantages 
and suitability of using remote sensing for solving their problems. 
Assuming one regards remote sensing as a tool and not an end in itself, 
this educational aspect is important for it is the only effective way to 
"spread the word": the potential user must be shown that remote sensing 
^an truly be used for surveying earth resources and the endangered 
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