Comparison of Satellite Imagery and Conventional Aerial Photography in Evaluating a Large Forest Fire

The 1976 Horry County forest fire consumed approximately 37,000 acres of woodlands. The burned area was located in the northeastern coastal plain of South Carolina with the boundary being generally based on a triangle where the northern boundary is S. C. Highway 90, the southern boundary is the intracoastal waterway, and the western boundary is Highway 501. It burned for a total of six days before being pronounced out on April 15, 1976. A trail of smoke could be seen at one time rising to the northeast for 40 miles over North Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean. This area was dominated by forests even though there were very few high-quality timbered areas. Included in this area are three distinct forest types, the Carolina Bays, with their evergreen shrub bogs or \u27pine pocosins\u27, the -cypress-tupelo gum, and the old beach sandy ridges that would probably naturally climax to oak-hickory, but currently are being managed for southern pines. The day after the fire was declared out, color infrared aerial photographs were taken of this area. From these aerial photos, a planimetric map was made and an overlay was constructed classifying the area into unburned, slightly burned, moderately burned, and intensively burned, based on image color and density. Intensively burned areas were found to be totally charred and had very little reflectance. They appeared blue to black in the color infrared photographs. Moderately burned areas contained some mortality and considerable scorched vegetation when appeared blue to green on the photographs. Slightly burned areas had no mortality but had some signs of scorching in the crown and burned understory material. It appeared green with shades of red throughout, while unburned areas appeared red

Genetic Analysis of the Iowa Beef Tenderness and Carcass Evaluation Project

Steers from the Iowa Beef Tenderness and Carcass Evaluation Project were harvested and carcass data, including Warner-Bratzler shear force values, were collected. The heritability estimate of Warner-Bratzler shear force in this data set was 0.45, and the genetic correlation between tenderness and marbling score was -0.40. Steers with more marbling were more tender. Heritabilities for feed consumed per pound of gain and for feed consumed per day were 0.25 and 0.26 respectively. These traits were highly correlated with gain, but had no relationship to each other. The heritability of dressing percentage was 0.52. These preliminary estimates can be expected to change as more data are collected

Ribeye Area Trends in Yearling Angus Bulls

Ultrasound carcass data from yearling Angus bulls were analyzed to determine trends in ribeye area. Bulls with a heavier scan weight had larger ribeyes. Also, bulls with an increased amount of 12-13th rib fat had larger ribeyes. The most efficient bulls with the largest ribeyes had the greatest amount of external rib fat

Ribeye Area Trends in Yearling Angus Heifers

Ultrasound carcass data from yearling Angus heifers were analyzed to determine trends in ribeye area. Heavier heifers at scanning had larger ribeyes. Also, heifers with an increased amount of external rib fat had larger ribeye areas. The most efficient heifers with the largest ribeyes had the greatest amount of 12-13th rib fat

Heritability and Correlation Estimates of Carcass Data from Angus-Sired Steers

Carcass data including Warner-Bratzler shear force, marbling score, hot carcass weight, 12-13th rib fat, and ribeye area from 589 Angus-sired steers in the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Carcass Merit Project were analyzed to estimate heritabilities and genetic correlations. Genetic parameters were estimated using the sire/maternal-grandsire model with the relationship matrix. The heritabilities for tenderness, marbling, hot carcass weight, ribeye area and rib fat were .25, .29, .79, .59, and .07, respectively