The usefulness of ERTS-1 satellite imagery as an information source for a statewide inventory of Michigan's land resources is documented. The project is currently relying on photointerpretation of MSS photography and computed processed results. The first task completed was a 1:500,000 scale land use map of the state in four classes: urban, forest, water, and agriculture and other. This map was constructed from existing (pre-ERTS-1) information sources including federal, state and county maps, and aerial photography. An ERTS color IR photomosaic for the entire state will also be constructed at a scale of 1:250,000. The Institute is currently working on tape processed data that will include both recognition data as well as a UTM coordinate addressing capability so that the final tape can be inputed directly into computerized land use and transportation corridor analysis models

Sellman, B.

English

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Paper L 26 
LAND RESOURCES SURVEY FOR THE STATE OF MICHIGAN 
Buzz Sel I man, Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 
ABSTRACT 
This study is designed t o  document t h e  usefulness of 
ERTS-1 satellite imagery as an information source f o r  a 
s t a t e f i d e  inventory of Michigan’s land resources. The 
p r o j e c t  is cur ren t ly  re ly ing  on photo in te rpre ta t ion  of 
MSS photography and computed processed r e s u l t s .  
t a s k  completed was a 1:500,000 scale land use map of t h e  
state i n  four  classes: Urban, Forest ,  Water, and Agricul ture  
and Other. 
information sources including federa l ,  state and county maps, 
and aerial photography. An ERTS color  I R  photomosaic f o r  the 
e n t i r e  state will a l s o  be constructed a t  a scale of 1:250,000. 
The I n s t i t u t e  is cur ren t ly  working on tape  processed d a t a  
that w i l l  rnclude both recogni t ion da ta  as w e l l  as a UTM 
coordinate addressing c a p a b i l i t y  s o  that t h e  f i n a l  t ape  
can be inputed d i r e c t l y  i n t o  computerized land use and 
t ranspor ta t ion  cor r idor  ana lys i s  models. 
The f i r s t  
This map was constructed from e x i s t i n g  (pre-ERTS-1) 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Tke S t a t e  of Michigan, through the S t a t e  Planning Division of the 
Bureau of Program and Budget, has been funding a broad-based program 
t o  make it a more e f f e c t i v e  counci l  f o r  land use and land resource i s s u e s  
confronting decis ion makers a t  the state l e v e l  of government. 
program 3ncludes e f f o r t s  a t  def ining problems as well as a l t e r n a t i v e s  
t o  e f f e c t  more p o s i t i v e  decfs ions as t o  how we i n  Michigan are going t o  
treat our land resources. The Environmental Research I n s t i t u t e  of 
Michigan is p a r t i c i p a t i n g  in  this program t o  a s c e r t a i n  how remote sensing 
systems might e f f e c t i v e l y  cont r ibu te  t o  the process of land use and land 
resource analysis.  
This 
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2. CURRENT REMOTE SENSING PRODUCTS 
The f i r s t  of several  tasks  undertaken at  the  I n s t i t u t e  w a s  t o  map 
T h e  procedure chosen was 
land use fo r  the  e n t i r e  state a t  a scale of 1:500,000, using f i v e  classes:  
Water, Forest, Agriculture, Urban, and Other. 
t o  overlay a base map of the state with a square gr id  corresponding t o  
one mile square and a l loca te  the e n t i r e  square t o  that class which 
dominated (50% +) the cell. 
Heavy re l iance  was t o  have been placed on ex is t ing  sources for  the 
c l a s s i f i ca t ion  e f f o r t ,  espec ia l ly  regional and county land use maps, 
aerial photography and state and federal  mapping sources. 
r e ly  heavily upon ex is t ing  information sources f e l l  f a r  shor t  of expec- 
ta t ions.  
land use map and only half  of these had su f f i c i en t ly  va l id  information t o  
be useful  f o r  our mapping project.  
e i t h e r  because they were too out-of-date o r  because the information content 
could not be adequately val idated as t o  accuracy. 
ea r ly  i n  this e f f o r t  t o  map but  four c lasses ,  namely, Water, Forest ,  Urban, 
and Agriculture and Other (combined). 
The plan t o  
Less  than a quarter  of Michigan's 83 counties have a generalized 
Other sources had t o  be excluded 
Thus we were forced 
Figures 1 and 2 show the results of t h i s  work, displaying our 
c l a s s i f i ca t ion  scheme for  the lower and upper peninsulas respectively. 
The w a t e r  and fo re s t  categories are d i r ec t  t ransfers ,  using the one 
square m i l e  cell  decision procedure, of U. S. Geological Survey thematic 
masters produced or ig ina l ly  a t  a sca le  of 1:250,000. 
an acceptable compromise given that no other  adequate sources was  readi ly  
avai lable  f o r  this task,  espec ia l ly  i n  the case of fo re s t  cover. 
areas mapped Urban were generated using aerial photography supplied by 
the  MtcWgan Department of State IIsghways. 
over a l l  c i t i e s  i n  Michigan of 5000 population o r  greater  i n  1970. 
the map accurately depicts  urban development as of t ha t  date. 
of urban development is a l so  being mapped fo r  1963, using the same 
procedures and da ta  soruces. 
was mapped by a process of elimination, comprising those areas not already 
c l a s s i f i ed  as Water, Forest o r  Urban. 
This represented 
The 
The photography was  col lected 
Thus, 
The extent  
The f i n a l  class, Agriculture and Other, 
The f inished map is both valuable and instruct ive.  Its value lies i n  the  
systematic procedures used durings i t s  construction. It is ins t ruc t iona l  
i n  pointing out that while considerable t i m e  and resources a re  spent on 
inventories and mapping a t  a l l  leve ls  of government, no attempt has been 
made t o  s t ruc tu re  data  col lect ion,  analysis ,  and synthesis ,  so t ha t  the  
resu l t ing  product can serve as an input t o  information systems needed i n  
the decision making process. Departments, agencies and planning groups 
have not yet  agreed on uniform formats concerning general purpose land 
c lass i f ica t ion ,  although this process, together with a uniform base 
mapping program, is now underway i n  the State of Michigan. 
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FIGURE 1 
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The I n s t i t u t e  a l so  plans t o  construct a 1:250,000 scale color I R  
photomosaic of the S ta t e  of Michigan from ERTS-1 MSS photography (Bands 4, 
5 and 7). 
can be accurately mapped, againat those which are discernable, from 
photointerpretation of the  color I R  mosaic. This e f f o r t  is not ye t  
complete s ince the col lect ion of usable ERTS data  was hampered by 
extremely poor weather conditions over much of Michigan t h i s  pas t  f a l l .  
These two products, together with in te rpre ta t ions  of RB-57 photography f o r  
more detai led inventories i n  urban areas, form the bas is  of our current 
products from remote sensed imagery. 
The mosaic w i l l  be analyzed t o  document those classes  t h a t  
3. ONGOING RESEARCH 
The I n s t i t u t e  has begun a pro jec t  t o  make ERTS processed tape data  
more readi ly  ava€lable and usable by various agencies within the state. 
The program involves not only the  solut ion t o  data  analysis  and synthesis,  
e.g., land use inventory, but  a l so  includes the  requirement t h a t  t he  data  
be addressable f o r  computer storage,  r e t r i eva l ,  and addi t ional  mensuration. 
The I n s t i t u t e ,  together with the  Michigan Department of S ta te  
Highways, is cooperatfng on a project  t o  use ERTS processed data  tapes 
as a d i r ec t  input t o  t h e i r  computer-based transportation models. The 
goal is t o  produce a land use recognition tape, together with a data  
point addressing system based on UTM coordinates, f o r  use i n  transportation 
land use  and corr idor  se lec t ion  analysis.  This would give the  Highway 
Department a current inventory of the  location and d is t r ibu t ion  of the  
state's land use i n  a format immediately avai lable  t o  t h e i r  information 
system. 
The area chosen t o  test and re f ine  the process centers upon 
Munising, located i n  Michigan's Upper Peninsula j u s t  north of the 
Hiawatha National Forest. 
because fo re s t  cover as a class covers approximately 50% of the  S ta te ,  
and aolutfons tha t  can consis tent ly  and accurately map fo res t  cover 
s i t ua t ions  would be useful  fo r  much of the S t a t e .  
Department W l l  soon begin several  major highway s tudies  which must pass 
through the heavily wooded areas of the  Upper Peninsula and the  northern 
half  of the Lower Peninsula. W e  are a l so  expecting t o  work more closely 
wAth the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Forest  Service and the  S ta t e  
Department of Natural Resources i n  our analysis  of fo re s t  cover s i tuat ions.  
Thus, we are attempttng t o  coordinate our work and results with as many 
users as posst6le. 
This heavily forested region was chosen 
Further, the  Highway 
Figure 3 show a d i g i t a l  recognition map of the  area, annotated 
d t h  f i v e  classes o r  ground cover features.  
Band 5 has been included f o r  comparison purposes. 
356 square miles has been mapped t o  depict  wa te r ,  deciduous and coniferous 
ERTS photography of MSS 
An area of approximately 
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tree stands, and snow cover, which represents unforested areas. The 
si te was  covered by f ive  inches of snow and t h i s  uniform background 
great ly  increased the accuracy of the recognition resu l t s .  
been compared t o  fores t  type maps supplied by the U. S. Forest Service 
and f i e l d  checked i n  spec i f ic  areas. 
from an i n i t i a l  e f f o r t  a t  fores t  c lass i f ica t ion .  
The map has 
It is a remarkably accurate product 
The area has a l so  been mapped i n  seven classes ,  consisting of two 
hardwood types, mature jackpine and red pine stands,  marsh, wa te r ,  and 
snow cover. 
shown i n  Figure 4, together with an annotated aerial photograph taken i n  
July of t h i s  year. This map shows the  excel lent  correspondence of the 
recognition types with the annotated photograph. Of pa r t i cu la r  i n t e r e s t  
is the f ac t  t ha t  the  hardwood stand immediately w e s t  of the a i rpo r t  w a s  
thinned fo r  selected individuals (TSI) t h i s  p a s t  summer and regis tered 
a d i s t i n c t  spec t ra l  signature from the rest of the hardwood stands i n  
the area. 
t ion,  and was ver i f ied  as a unique hardwood stand by Forest Service 
personnel when f i e l d  checked j u s t  a few weeks ago. 
A s m a l l  por t ion of t h i s  color coded recognition map is 
It was mapped as a separate class, more by chance than calcula- 
4 .  CONCLUSIONS 
The recognition r e su l t s  achieved thus f a r  are su f f i c i en t ly  useful,  
both i n  c l a s s i f i ca t ion  content and accuracy, f o r  i n i t i a l  t e s t ing  i n  
highwy modelling programs. 
recognrtion r e su l t s  on a polnt by point basis  using UTM coordinates. 
This e f f o r t  will then begin t o  achieve the f u l l e r  po ten t ia l  of ERTS data  
as an e f fec t lve  information source i n  land resource analysis.  
of present research i n  t h l s  area is c lear ly  one of formatting the f i n a l  
product such that the use r s  can eas i ly  and economically merge remote sensing 
data in to  their information systems. 
T h e  next s t ep  w i l l  be t o  address the 
The mandate 
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Land resources survey for the state of Michigan

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