Environment Earth ObservationServices A NASA INITIATIVE IS SPURRING PRIVATE INVESTMENT AND EXPANDING COMMERCIAL REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY FOR More and more ocean-going vessels are taking ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND advantage of the streams of information RESOURCES MANAGEMENT beamed to them by weather satellites of several nations _ information about cloud formations, storms, weather paths, ocean current patterns, winds, temperatures and even _ for those equipped with special receivers _ positioning data. It's valuable information. Long distance yachts, for example, use it to find the best winds and best currents for a speed edge, or for shaving time off a voyage through precise satellite-aided routing. Commercial fishing boats use the information to locate upwellings, areas of temperature differences that indicate the presence of certain species of fish. And all mariners can sail safer by using the information to locate and avoid severe storms. A small but growing industry supplies marine operators _ and land-based users too the satellite receivers and image processing systems needed to acquire and interpret the data. Among these companies, one that is making a name for itself is Systems West, Carmel, California, whose motto is "We bring affordable weather technology to the world." Systems West's compact, lightweight, easy to operate weather data microprocessors, the company declares, cost about one-third the price of conventional machines. The marine market has been a major target for Systems West, due in part to the fact that the company was able to expand its expertise in that area through participation in NASA's Earth Observation Commercialization Applications Program (EOCAP). This effort, managed for NASA by Stennis Space Center, provides government co-funding to encourage private investment in, and broaden use of, NASA-developed technology for gathering and analyzing information about Earth and ocean resources. EOCAP seeks increased innovation in the commercial applications of largely proven remote sensing technologies and supports the transition of such innovations to the commercial marketplace; it is, essentially, a NASA- ThecommercialfishingboatDakota managed effort to generate expanded spinoff carriesitsownSystemsWestweath- benefits to both industry and the user public. ersatellitedataprocessingstation, Systems West was among the first whoseinformationguidesthecrew EOCAP participants. The company's EOCAP tothemostproductivefishing < project involved development of both software waters.SystemsWestdeveloped theequipmentasaparticipantin and hardware for a shipboard system that NASA'sEOCAPprogram. receives, processes and displays images from polar orbiting satellites. 82 Compantyechniciancsheckouta Systems West SystemWsestMode5l300ground now markets a family stationw,hichreceiveasnd of microprocessor- processedsatafromgeostationary ..... based systems for weathesratellites. processing data from both polar orbiting and geostationary satellites. Typical of the line is the Model 4000 Marine Weather Satellite Information System, which offers auto- matic, unattended operation and allows users to view real-time images of weather systems, day and night, of areas covering as much as four million square miles -- or to zoom in on a few square miles for closer analysis of specific matters of interest. The images that appear on the color monitor allow mariners to locate subtle cur- rents and eddies and optimize vessel speed to save time and fuel; to interpret wind direction and frontal movement; to improve safety with pictures and data on severe storms; or to use 256 colors or 64 shades of gray to identify sea surface temperature ranges and ANASAPROGRAHMELPEADCOMPANY pinpoint fishing areas promising the best catch. DEVELOAPLINEOFCOMMERCIAIMLAGE The company's product line is by no means limited to shipboard PROCESSINSGYSTEMS systems. The "affordable" and easy to use characteristics of Systems West equipment have built a market for the company among developing nations with small budgets and few trained weather station personnel; customers include Peru, Bangladesh, Mexico, Colombia and the Azores. Systems West also offers small tactical units for military operations and desktop models for local airports and rural/regional weather bureaus. Systems West was formed in 1986 by space and weather expert Kenneth W. Ruggles, who is now president; electronics engineer Dick Reins; and retired Navy captain Bill Hubert, a specialist in marine technology. They saw an opportunity to bring down the cost of satellite weather stations by developing special software to enable satellite image processing by per- sonal computer. The EOCAP program, says Systems West's president Ken Ruggles, not only created a new line of commercial systems for weather processing, it also provided a signifi- cant boost to the company's technological capability. (Continued) 83 Environment Earth ObservationServices . _ . ._ .., _..._.', • In the 1970s, NASA pioneered research in satellite remote sensing technology with the Landsat family of Earth resources monitoring satellites. The Landsat technology was commercialized in the 1980s and that step spawned an expansion of the complementary technology of airborne remote sensing. NASA's EOCAP program represents a new step toward broadening the benefits of remote sensing technology, a step that not only fosters new applications of the technology but also gives participating companies an opportunity to improve their technical expertise. EOCAP was launched late in 1987 and since that time NASA has selected more than 30 proposals from industry and universities for co-funding contracts to develop new remote sensing applications and equipment. Here are some additional examples: San Diego State University (SDSU), teamed with Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), Redlands, California; ERDAS, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia; and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), a regional planning agency, to demonstrate a Thiscompositiemageofanareain cheaper, easier way to derive information on regional land use and land development. SanDiegoC,aliforniaisacomputer Accelerating change in the San Diego area- and in many other areas- makes it generaterdepresentatioofntheland difficult to keep geographic information systems (GIS) up to date. The team, headed by usechangetshatoccurredovera two-yeasrpan,obtainebdycom- principal investigator Douglas Stow, SDSU associate professor, is applying satellite imaging biningsatelliteimageraycquiredin and image processing techniques to GIS updating. 1986and1988.PartofanEOCAP The project employs a system known as ARC/INFO Live Link, an integration of a projectledbySanDiegoState processing program developed by ERDAS, Inc. and a computerized GIS developed by ESRI. Universittyh,eimageshowsnewly Commercial activities include marketing the Live Link system and County-in-a-Box, which completecdonstructio(nred),areas includes geocoded satellite image data that can be used with Live Link to update GIS data wherelandusechange(dgreen) andareatshatdidnotchange layers. The cost effectiveness of Live link and County-in-a-Box has been demonstrated by (blackg,rayw,hite). SANDAG, which used these products for land use and other applications, such as mapping vegetation distribution and preserving wildlife habitats in San Diego County. Another of the early EOCAP efforts involves Professors Greg S. Biging of the University of California at Berkeley and Russell G. Congalton of the University of New Hampshire, who applied remote sens- ing technology to commercial forest inven- tory. They demonstrated that satellite data, used in conjunction with ground data, can produce forest classifications of the same or better accuracy than can be obtained by traditional techniques apply- ing aerial photography. A completely accurate comparison of satellite observa- tions and aerial photo interpretation has not hitherto been available. 84 The project isbeing conducted jointly with Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI), Anderson, California, a major California timber company. Biging and Congalton assembled the computer programs and analysis techniques developed in the EOCAP effort into a processing package called CALFIRST (California Forest Inventory and Remote Sensing Technology). CALFIRST is undergoing pilot testing on SPI land in the Sierra Mountains, using some 300 test sites ranging in size from 50 to 250 acres. The first year's results showed that CALFIRST can discriminate forest species, size class and density for the mixed conifer species stands in northern California better than _= professional aerial photography interpreters. Shownanalyzinfgorestimagery, The University of California at Berkeley team plans to market CALFIRST to forest ProfessoGrregS.Bigingofthe companies and government agencies using several technology transfer routes, including the UniversitoyfCaliforniaatBerkeley University of California Extension Service. Commercialization is being aided by two consult- headsateamdemonstratinthgat ing firms whose job it is to take the technology developed under the EOCAP program and satellitedatacangeneratfeorest move it into the marketplace; they are Pacific Meridian Resources, Emeryville, California and classificationwsithequalorbetter accuractyhantraditionaalerial VESTRA Resources, Redding, California, photographteychniques. both engaged in remote sensing and natural resources management activities. In another EOCAP pro_ect, Research Planning, Inc. (RPI), Columbia, South Carolina, in cooperation with Stennis Space ...... Center and the University of South Carolina, Ill has developed advanced techniques for "envi- ronmental sensitivity" oil spill mapping. Traditional techniques for develop- ing Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps for oil spill response are expensive, often inaccurate and unavailable in many parts of the world. The RPI/EOCAP project sought an advanced method of providing decision makers with timely, highly accurate, kkandsatimageshowsthespreadofaPersianGulf0ilslickthat occurredduringthewar-causesdpillofFebruar1y991.Research more readily updatable and more compre- hensive ESI maps incorporating satellite PlanningI,nc.developeadremotelsyensedinformatiosnystemfor prioritizingprotectivmeeasuredsuringoilspills. remote sensing and GIS technologies. RPI successfully achieved that goal and the company demonstrated the efficacy of its system in February 1991, following the oil spill in the Persian Gulf that occurred during the Gulf war. Dr. Jacqueline Michel, RPI vice president, headed an effort to provide remotely sensed information to military and civilian officials involved in assessing the damage potential of the oil slick and identifying the natural and socioeconomic resources threatened by the spill. As a result of its EOCAP work, RPI is marketing a commercial ESI product that focuses on oil spill response, coastal zone development and environmental assessment using remote sensing and GIS technology. • 85