Multispectral (approx. 4-12 bands)

Many wildlife species reside in sensitive habitats that make detection and monitoring difficult. For waterfowl, measuring brood production can serve as an early indicator of habitat quality and provide important insight into understanding overall ecosystem drivers. Early and comprehensive detection of duckling production and brood counts can inform recreational hunting, ecosystem function, and community composition.

The western United States Gulf of Mexico coast provides important habitat for migrating and wintering waterfowl and shorebirds. The Gulf Coast Joint Venture, comprised of staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Ducks Unlimited, is one of 25 migratory bird Joint Ventures in North America and is focused on advancing conservation of priority bird habitats in this region.

Accurate maps of seasonal habitat for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) across broad extents are of paramount importance to conservation efforts in sagebrush ecosystems across the Great Basin, particularly for habitat assessments and mitigation efforts. However, the ability to model sage-grouse habitat at fine spatial scales necessary for microhabitat assessment is constrained by the spatial and spectral resolution of most remotely sensed measurements of vegetation composition.

Waterfowl rely on continent-wide wetland networks supporting migratory pathways that connect important breeding and wintering grounds. Locally, wetland habitat availability is affected by water policy and regional environmental characteristics that result in substantial annual variation in the quantity and quality of habitats available to waterfowl and other waterbirds. 

Waterfowl populations within California's Central Valley are unusual among most North American waterfowl populations in that the region contains both resident and migratory populations of several species. The region supports 60% of the waterfowl and waterbirds that stopover for at least part of the year along the Pacific Flyway, a major north-south migratory pathway. The Central Valley also produces 8% of the entire Nation's crops and over half of California’s $50 billion agriculture cash receipts.

Provisional actual evapotranspiration (ETa) products derived from Landsat and weather data are now available for public download at a global extent for all Landsat data from 1984 onward. Landsat ETa is crucial for measuring water use and critical hydrologic components of the water budget for agricultural and natural landscapes at a higher spatial resolution.

Irregularly flooded wetlands supply important ecosystem services, such as providing habitat for fish and wildlife, enhancing water quality, ameliorating flooding impacts, supporting coastal food webs, and protecting coastlines from erosion. Mapping irregularly flooded wetlands is a daunting challenge given their expansive coverage and dynamic nature.

Actual evapotranspiration (ET) estimation using remote sensing and weather data is an active research activity by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists interested in delivering consistent and useful nationwide ET information. This information is important when measuring critical hydrologic components of the water budget for agricultural and natural landscapes across space and time.

Water use estimates are valuable to the Navajo Nation in adjudicating water rights and informing other environmental policy decisions. Estimates of actual evapotranspiration (ETa), precipitation (PP), and consumptive use (CU) of riparian vegetation assist decision making by natural resource managers. The objectives of this project were to estimate the riparian land cover area for trees and shrubs, calculate their corresponding daily and annual water use, and derive riparian CU in acre-feet (AF).

The San Carlos Apache Tribe wants to learn more about the historical characteristics of their woodlands, savannas and grasslands so they have a target for restoration efforts.