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REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS ON USDA NATIONAL FORESTS 
Thomas Bobbe 
Project Leader, Liason and Technical Support 
USDA Forest Service - Nationwide Forestry Applications Program 
2222 West 2300 South 
Salt Lake City, Utah 84119 
ABSTRACT 
The management of National Forest land requires current and accurate natural resource information. The 
USDA Forest Service uses a variety of remote sensing systems to provide resource managers the information 
required to address National Forest management issues. Conventional 9"x9" large scale photography continues 
to be the most common type of photography used in the field. Small scale high altitude aerial photography 
is being used to prepare orthophoto maps, and to create and update topographic maps. The NASA ER-2 high 
altitude aircraft and sensors such as the Large Format Camera, Optical Bar and Metric Mapping cameras are 
used for forest pest management projects, and creating and updating resource inventories. In addition, the 
Forest Service utilizes small format cameras (35 mm and 70 mm) and airborne video systems to provide low 
cost, near real time imagery for monitoring applications. 
The Forest Service also utilizes airborne electro-optical sensors such as Multispectral Scanners, Thermal 
Scanners and SPOT and LANDSAT satellite imagery to provide large scale coverage for a number of resource 
monitoring and inventory applications. The Forest Service has recently initiated a program to develop 
procedures and methods for incorporating remote sensing information into GIS data bases.