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).