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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Tucson, Arizona » SWRC » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #138558
Title: EFFECTIVE DELIVERY OF GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION TO RANGE MANAGERS 1469

Author
item Biedenbender, Sharon
item Marsett, Robert
item Heilman, Philip - Phil
item QI, J. - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Submitted to: Ecological Society of America Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/25/2002
Publication Date: 11/15/2003
Citation: Biedenbender, S.H., Marsett, R.C., Heilman, P., Qi, J. 2003. Effective delivery of geospatial information to range managers. Ecological Soc. of Am. and Soc. for Ecological Restoration Annual Meeting, Aug. 4-9, Tucson, AZ, Oral Presentation Abstracts, p. 320.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: To help manage the extensive rangelands of the western United States, an affordable, accurate, timely and user-friendly method for monitoring rangeland forage production over large areas is needed. In the past, efforts to use remotely sensed geospatial data have had limited effectiveness. One reason for this lack of success has been the inability to provide appropriate information to end-users in a meaningful and user-friendly format. In the past, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images or unsupervised classifications have been distributed to range managers, most of whom are not remote sensing scientists or geospatial analysts and therefore lack the skills, time, and inclination to successfully interpret this data. One of the purposes of the Rangeland Analysis Utilizing Geospatial Science (RANGES) project is to provide land managers with information that is meaningful to their discipline, presented in a user-friendly format. To accomplish this, we have solicited end-user input on the usefulness of remotely sensed information types (herbaceous cover, evergreen overstory, mesquite overstory, forage biomass, forage height), delivery formats (GIS layers, electronic atlases, and paper maps), and delivery means (regular mail and the Internet) We have evaluated the users¿ responses and incorporated them in our program.