Location: Southwest Watershed Research Center
Project Number: 2022-13610-013-027-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jan 19, 2024
End Date: Jul 31, 2024
Objective:
Western and Central States have repeatedly requested the ability to distinguish woody canopy cover values for specific species, not just be provided with "total canopy cover" values that current tools like RaBET (Rangeland Brush Estimation Tool) and RAP (Rangeland Analysis Platform) provide. In 2021/2022, under a Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) Grazing Lands (GL) agreement, ARS-Tucson was able to provide this for mesquite. The process and timing varies by species, and this FY23 funding will go toward expanding the work to focus on detection and mapping of woody species of interest (e.g., creosote, acacia, pinyon-juniper, eastern red cedar) encroaching on rangelands. The objective of the project is to using LiDAR and other remote sensing products in data fusion to identify and classify unique rangeland woody species.
Approach:
We anticipate that collaboration between parties will greatly advance the capabilities of RaBET. Improving these capabilities will require completing Task 1. Task 1 is the development of methodologies using LiDAR and other remote sensing products in data fusion to identify and classify unique rangeland woody species within at least 2 of the MLRAs provided within RaBET.
