7
a high
nd State
ating funds or personnel. As before, at the District management level, re
mote sensing remained the only possible alternative technique which could con
ceivably provide so much information in such a short time without an increase
marily depen-
field level
after al 1
, the devel-
nomical 1y
these in-
extensive
ext line of
in budget requirements. Despite its conception in panic and its birth in
dire poverty, a technique utilizing small scale color infrared photography
flown at vegetation peak-of-green was developed which satisfied both the re
quirements for resource data quality and data scope and also made it possible
to meet the severe time constraints set for the completion of the project.
With some alterations as a result of experience, this basic technique is now
in use by the Bureau of Land Management for similar purposes over many addi
tional millions of acres in Montana — as well as being adopted for use by
other groups and agencies in Montana and other parts of the country.
s were at
- the on-
times in
technique.
enefited to
p ractical
b) the field
a of his in-
af his future
f 1973, a
ahy technique
in the state
1973
stem. A re-
4 and the
re failures
/ to find
■- but in
i ty survived,
ons which
METHODS
"Low-Stage" 35mm Aerial Photography System
The development of both the basic equipment and the techniques developed
in this study have already been reported in detail (Meyer, 1973 i Meyer, Cos-
griffe and Linne, 1973)* Further tests and experimentation, however, by the
field personnel involved in the statewide applications test in the field sea
son of 1973 greatly increased the operational and applications base of this
system.
"Middle-Stage" 23 x 23cm CIR Large Area System
The parameters of the development and initial application of this tech
nique on the 400,000 hectare Decker-Birney potential coal-stripping study area
in SE Montana were largely dictated by circumstance. Only limited funds were
available to hire the Montana Highway Commission's photo aircraft which had
a service ceiling slightly under 25,000' — a fact which dictated the minimum
scale of the photography; only two rolls of Aero infrared film were available
-- barely enough to complete the coverage of the area from the maximum alti
tude of the aircraft; the interpretation and mapping techniques had to be based
upon the capabilities of available (borrowable) equipment; and the time which
:ed, work
n the spring
:he vast
srgely under
immediate
¡stock for-
:creat ion
for deter-
under
i of the sur-
n the Mon-
'.iding de
es of land
her oper-
could be spent upon training, interpretation, field checking and manuscript
preparation was dependent upon the total time available to do the total job
(about 4 months) and the number of technical personnel who could be spared
from their usual tasks to submit to training and actually perform the work
(1 man full time for 3+ months and 1 man part-time for 2£ months).
Again, as with the "Low-Stage" system, the development of the "Middle-
Stage" has been reported upon in detail (Meyer, Cosgriffe and Linne, 1973 \
Cosgriffe, Linne and Meyer, 1973).