BUREAU OF MINES
James Paone
Under a Bureau of Mines contract, the entire Anthracite Region
of Pennsylvania was overflown in 1974 with aerial photography and
thermal infrared radiometry. The imagery derived was used to pro-
duce an atlas of mining activity depicting strip mined areas, refuse
piles, fires in both abandoned mines and refuse piles, and impound-
ments and other water bodies. This is the first known production of
an atlas in which thermal sensing served an integral purpose with
aerial photography.
ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Ed Westcott
Energy, environmental and computer scientists at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory are' developing techniques for combining information for
various sources, including Landsat data, U.S. Defense Mapping Agency
topographic tapes and Census tapes, to identify disturbed (stripmine)
areas in Appalachia. The identified areas are superimposed on the
digital terrain model to create a three dimensional computer plot which
depicts the erosion impact of stripmining on rivers and streams.
Aesthetic impact analysis is evaluated by producing computer generated
perspective views for various aspect angles.
ENGINEER TOPOGRAPHIC LABORATORIES
Robert P. Macchia
Major photogrammetric activities of the U.S. Army Engineer
Topographic Laboratories include the following items:
1. The Analytical Photogrammetric Positioning system (APPS)
and the Modified APPS (MAPPS) use analytic photogrammetric techniques
and a precomputed photographic data base to provide targeting and
surveying capabilities in the field. The MAPPS comprises a laser
interferometer stereocomparator, a modified Bausch and Lomb Micromark,
and an on-line calculator to determine absolute ground coordinates,
elevations, distances, and other geodetically related measurements from
the measured photographic coordinates.
2. Considerable progress has been made in the mathematical
modelling of radar backscatter from realistic terrains to lead to a
better understanding of radar imagery for more precise interpretations
for mapping of geographic information. The models will predict
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