The vegetation index products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are designed to provide consistent, spatial and temporal comparisons of global vegetation conditions. The objective of this dissertation was to validate the robustness and global implementation of two MODIS VI algorithms, including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and "enhanced" vegetation index (EVI). Their performances have been evaluated in: (1) the normalization of canopy background (brightness) variations and the extraction of biophysical parameters across different canopy structures; (2) the characterization of seasonal vegetation profiles (phenological, intra-annual); and (3) spatial and temporal discrimination of vegetation differences (inter-annual). The validation was accomplished through multiple means, including canopy radiative transfer models which were utilized to extract pure vegetation spectra and "true" VI value free of background contamination for varying canopy structures and vegetation amount. The experimental field- and airborne-based radiometry and satellite imagery at multiple spatial resolutions were also coupled and scaled-up for comparison with coarse spatial resolution MODIS VI products to quantify characteristics of semiarid rangeland vegetation. The results showed that NDVI was advantageous in yielding biophysical relationships applicable across varying canopy types, but required knowledge of soils for biophysical estimations. The EVI provided biophysical relationships sensitive to canopy structure, thus requiring knowledge of canopy type for biophysical assessments. The MODIS VI products were successfully validated, radiometrically, by coupling field and the MODLAND Quick Airborne Looks (MQUALS) observations to high spatial resolution imagery (AVIRIS and ETM+), and appeared robust across the two parallel sites for depicting their ecological equivalents. MODIS multitemporal VI profiles were able to depict phenological activity, length of the growing season, peak and onset of greenness, and leaf turnover. Among the sensors tested, spatial resolution was found to be most important for discriminating the major land cover subtypes within the two parallel semiarid rangelands, and spectral resolution had major effects on capturing seasonal contrast due to atmosphere influences. The validation strategy utilized in this study to successively aggregate the integrity-inherent multiple fine spatial resolution data to the coarse MODIS pixel sizes appeared to perform well, thus showing potentials in the validation of other satellite products.

Multi-cultural demands of public lands in the United States continue to challenge federal land managers to address social and cultural concerns in their planning efforts. Specifically, these individuals lack adequate knowledge of cultural concerns as well as a consistent strategy for acquiring that knowledge for use in decision-making. Current federal approaches to cultural concerns include public participation, conservation partnerships, government-to-government consultations with American Indian tribes, cultural resource inventories, and landscape analysis. Since cultural knowledge arises from human-nature relationships and shared perceptions of natural environments, and landscapes are the ultimate expression of such knowledge, an exploratory methodology was developed for a different approach to understanding cultural concerns through landscape perceptions. Using cultural landscape theories and applications from the natural and social sciences, this study examined the landscape perceptions of four groups concerned with management planning of the Baboquivari Wilderness Area in southern Arizona: the Bureau of Land Management, landowners of the Altar Valley, recreationists, and members of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The methodology is based on a human nature relationships rather than cultural aspects or features. It takes a holistic approach that differs from other perception studies by including: emic aspects of data collection and analysis; a spatial component: triangulation of data collection through narrative and graphic descriptions; conducting ethnographic, on-site interviews; and consensus analysis and small-sample theory. The results include: verification of four cultural groups; two levels of consensus---in the population of concern, and in each group---that overlap in some aspects of landscape perception; descriptions of four cultural landscapes that illustrate similarities and differences among the groups, and include patterns and representations of spatial relationships; an effective methodology for revealing cultural concerns that are not identified through public forums, and with potential for application by agencies at the field office level.

I detta examensarbete undersöks möjligheten att kunna använda en positioneringsmetod som inte enbart förlitar sig på den uppmätta signalstyrkan. Istället används en metod som bestämmer från vilken vinkel en signal uppkommer ifrån. Den här tekniken kallas för direction-finding. När informationen om signalens vinkel fastställts används den i ett positioningsfilter som uppskattar positionen. Två tillvägagångssätt har använts i den här rapporten, ett där enbart vinkeln används och ett där både signalstyrka och vinkel används.

Ecosystem management is positioned as the modern paradigm of resource management. Fire management activities within the natural resource management agencies, under the adoption of an ecosystem management approach, supports an increased focus upon prescribed and manager-ignited fire programs. A review of past national fire policies and the effects they have had upon ecosystem conditions today further supports the role for prescribed fire. Under an ecosystem management approach, resource managers need to consider the effects of fire management activities over longer temporal and broader spatial scales. Examining the ecological, social, political, and economic aspects surrounding fire management activities on these scales will help ensure healthier ecosystems in perpetuity. Although the suppression of wildfires will remain a necessary component to fire management activities today, there needs to be an increased effort to reintroduce fire into ecosystems and to recognize fire as a natural component vital to maintaining ecosystem health.

<p> Sharp-tailed grouse habitat on the Dakota Prairie Grasslands are assessed by habitat structure with the use of the Robel pole to measure visual obstruction readings (VOR). The purpose of this study was to determine 1) if all selected ecological sites (loamy, thin loamy, and claypan) are biologically capable of producing high structure (VOR > 3.5 in) with 3 years of protection from livestock grazing and 2) if strong and consistent correlations exist between standing crop and visual obstruction among ecological sites and across years. Results showed that 1) all selected ecological sites were biologically capable of producing high structure, 2) strong correlations between standing crop and visual obstruction were not consistent among ecological sites and across years, 3) year effects were evident in plant community composition, and 4) 2,534 kg/ha (se &plusmn; 205.3) of standing crop provides the mean threshold to determine if the selected ecological sites are biologically capable. </p>

Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks totaling about 15,000 feet in thickness are exposed in the Cowboy Pass area in the Confusion Range. The Paleozoic sedimentary rocks are carbonates, with small amounts of sandstone and shale, and the Mesozoic sedimentary rocks are shallow water limestone and shale. Cenozoic deposits are alluvium, lacustrine beds and small amounts of volcanic material. The trend of major folds and faults changes sharply from northerly to northeasterly at Cowboy Pass, and this change is accompanied by minor faulting and folding. Major structures are the result of post Lower Triassic-pre Cenozoic orogeny. During Cenozoic time, high angle normal faults developed, accompanied by local volcanic activity. / text

In the generation of the standard GRACE gravity fields, the K-Band Ranging (KBR) system data is used in its range-rate mode. Because time derivatives attenuate the gravity signal relative to the data noise at the lower frequencies, it is thought that solutions using range data might have better low-degree (low-frequency) characteristics. The purpose of this work is to detail the methods required to generate range-based solutions, to determine some of the properties of these solutions and then to compare them to range-rate based solutions. It is demonstrated that the range-based solutions are feasible. Different subarc lengths and parameterizations were considered. Although, the most effective combination of subarc lengths and parameterizations are not picked, it is concluded that estimating the mixed periodic term along with bias, bias-rate, bias-acceleration and periodic terms degrades the quality of the range based solution and therefore should not be used. Further study is necessary to pick the optimal combination of subarc length and parameterization which would be used in the time-series analysis. / text

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The research accomplished in this dissertation used both mathematical and statistical techniques to extract and evaluate measures of landscape temporal dynamics and spatial structure from remotely sensed data for the purpose of mapping wildlife habitat. By coupling the landscape measures gleaned from the remotely sensed data with various sets of animal sightings and population data, effective models of habitat preference were created. Measures of temporal dynamics of vegetation greenness as measured by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite were used to effectively characterize and map season specific habitat of the Sonoran pronghorn antelope, as well as produce preliminary models of potential yellow-billed cuckoo habitat in Arizona. Various measures that capture different aspects of the temporal dynamics of the landscape were derived from AVHRR Normalized Difference Vegetation Index composite data using three main classes of calculations: basic statistics, standardized principal components analysis, and Fourier analysis. Pronghorn habitat models based on the AVHRR measures correspond visually and statistically to GIS-based models produced using data that represent detailed knowledge of ground-condition. Measures of temporal dynamics also revealed statistically significant correlations with annual estimates of elk population in selected Arizona Game Management Units, suggesting elk respond to regional environmental changes that can be measured using satellite data. Such relationships, once verified and established, can be used to help indirectly monitor the population. Measures of landscape spatial structure derived from IKONOS high spatial resolution (1-m) satellite data using geostatistics effectively map details of Sonoran pronghorn antelope habitat. Local estimates of the nugget, sill, and range variogram parameters calculated within 25 x 25-meter image windows describe the spatial autocorrelation of the image, permitting classification of all pixels into coherent units whose signature graphs exhibit a classic variogram shape. The variogram parameters captured in these signatures have been shown in previous studies to discriminate between different species-specific vegetation associations. The synoptic view of the landscape provided by satellite data can inform resource management efforts. The ability to characterize the spatial structure and temporal dynamics of habitat using repeatable remote sensing data allows closer monitoring of the relationship between a species and its landscape.

Research in global ecology has been concerned with the effect of vegetation removal in semi-arid regions including aspects such as plant succession and desertification and its impact on global change, specifically global warming. In addition, conditions along international borders often are presented as discontinuities in terms of vegetation and soil status. To better document these discontinuities in a semi-arid region, a multi-temporal study along the U.S.-Mexico border was conducted with a series of six Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images acquired over the 1992 growing season. Spatial and temporal variations across the border were analyzed with reflectance data. Spatial data was obtained from three different sampling size areas which included: the Parker Canyon grassland; the San Rafael Valley, a grassland combined with riparian areas and croplands; and the regional area along the Arizona-Sonora border including valleys and mountains, and diverse vegetation communities and soil conditions. These areas consisted of about 106 ha, 5,800 ha, and 738,000 ha, respectively, at each side of the border. Temporal data were obtained from the six TM images which were acquired in days of the year 162, 178, 194, 274, 306, and 322. Four remote sensing applications were considered for comparison studies on both sides of the border. These techniques included: (a) band comparisons, (b) albedo, derived from the discrete sensor band information, (c) vegetation indices, and (d) application of a linear mixing model. When comparing both sides of the border, significant differences were observed in most of the remote sensing techniques applied at the Parker Canyon area. Higher differences were found during the wet season with all of the applied techniques with the exception of albedo. The red band and albedo were the most important discriminants during the dry season. At the intermediate size, San Rafael Valley area, U.S.-Mexico differences followed the same pattern as Parker Canyon, but statistically, these differences were deemed insignificant. At the regional area, no differences were observed between the U.S. and Mexican side. The effect of pixel aggregation using the different remote sensing techniques and ground data from field campaigns in 1995 were also analyzed.