The analysis of ERTS-1 imagery of areas in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California is discussed. The data is used to detect two types of insect infestational and to determine the extent of timber resources. Addition applications are the mapping of stream courses, mountain meadows, lakes, rock outcrops, and grazing land. The ERTS-1 data and underflight photography are used for this purpose

Hall, R. C.

English

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Paper A 16 
APPLICATION OF ERTS-1 IMAGERY 81 UNDERFLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY 
iN THE DETECTION AND MONITORING OF FOREST INSECT INFE!iTA- 
TlONS IN THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA 
Ralph C. Hall, Natural Resources Managernen: Corporation, 2150 Shatruck 
Avenue, Berkeley, California 
ABSTRACT 
Preliminary analysis o f  ERTS-1 imagery i n  a rugged 
mountairr area i n  the Sierra Nevada Mountains o f  Cal i -  
fornia indicates some promising poss ib i l i t i e s  o f  detec- 
t i n g  two types o f  insect infestat ions as our primary 
object ive and secondary detectins and mappin! ?the- fea- 
tures such as timber o r  untimbered areas; timoer stand 
density; pr inc ipa l  stream courses, mountain meadows, 
lakes, massive rock otitcrop and domes, r ipa r ian  vege- 
tat ion, grazing land and possible glaciers. We have 
used and found exceedingly useful, NASA under f l ight  
RC-10 imagery. 
1 . INTRODUCTION 
I n  the general f i e l d  o f  pest management ear ly  detection and moni- 
to r ing  o f  insect outbreaks are o f  paramount importance i n  the protec- 
t i o n  and management o f  our natural resources. I f  an insect pest reaches 
outbreak proportinns before i t  i s  detected, supression measures become 
very costly, and even if effective, are appl l ed  only a f t e r  the host 
crop has been severely damaged. This i s  pa r t i cu l a r l y  t rue o f  forest  
insect outbreaks i n  remote areas. 
The longtime, overa l l  object ive o f  our study was t o  develop space 
data acquisi t ion methodology which would permlt rapid, accurate and com- 
prehensive detection and monitoring o f  Insect in festat ions and other 
causes o f  physiological stress and morbfdl ty  i n  vegetative ecosys terns, 
through the use o f  ERTS-1 imagery alone, and when supplemented by under- 
f l i g h t  photography. It was hoped t h a t  t h i s  methodology, when f u l l y  de- 
veloped, would el iminate the present need f o r  expensive, patchwork aer ia l  
and ground surveys and would provide a continuously up-dated basis f o r  
operational programs cf  control  and salvage, and would permit frequent 
evaluation o f  economic and ecoioglcal Impact o f  ex is t ing  and impending 
infestat loas as a basis f o r  determining broad research and control  
strategies. 
I n  addl t f  on t o  ERTS-1 Imagery we also had available, through con- 
t r a c t  w i th  Earth Sate111 te  Corporation, co lo r  infrared; f o r  the t o t a l  
t e s t  s i tes  a t  a scale of 1118,500. and sample coverage o f  about 10 per- 
cent of the area i n  co lor  and co lor  in f ra red  a t  a scale o f  1/5,000 i n  
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9" x 9" transparencies, as we1 1 as U-2 support covering the en t i r e  target  
area. Earth S a t e l l i t e  Corporation also subcontracted on some o f  the pho- 
t o  in terpreta t ion and mu1 t i s tage  sampl ing technique. 
2. THE TEST SITE 
The t es t  s i t e  selected was i n  the Sierra Nevada Mountains o f  Cal i -  
forn ia  where we had long standing research evidence o f  the existence of 
heavy damage by the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctnus ponderosa, (Fig. 1 ) 
anti reasonable expectations o f  an outbreak of the lodgepole needle miner, 
Recurvaria m i l l e r ,  (Fig. 2), developing during the course o f  the study. 
The area i s  centered i n  the Yosemite Nat.ional Park and represents 
some o f  the most rugged mauntainous t e r ra i n  i n  the West; w i th  high ele- 
vations ranging from about 7,500 t o  more than 12,000 feet,  and subalpine 
coniferous forests i n  which lodgepole, the host spectes, was the dominant 
t ree species. (Fig. 2).  
Because o f  the wide range i n  sizes o f  the in fested timber blocks, 
i t  should o f f e r  opportunity t o  determine the smal l e s t  area consistent ly 
iden t i f i ab le  from, (a) ERTS-1 imagery, (b)  from conventional aer ia l  
photography, and (c )  from a corbination o f  both. 
3. PEST CHARACTERISTICS 
The two dominant pest species were the lodgepole needle miner and 
the mountain pine beetle. The lodgepole needle miner i s  one o f  the most 
destructive defol i a to rs  of some o f  Cal i forn ia '  s most scenic mountain for- 
ests, and i t s  feeding causes the fo l iage  t o  turn  brown. The ca te rp i l l a r s  
o f  t h i s  inconspicuous moth feed w i th in  the pine needlks, and have a two- 
year l i f e  cycle, w i th  maximum damage and discolorat ion o f  the needles 
occurring a t  the end o f  the second year. I n  t h i s  study, maximum brown 
discolorat ion i s  expected t c  be l a t e  spring, 1973. 
The mountain pine beet le i s  one o f  the most destruct ive bark beetles 
i n  the West, pa r t i cu l a r l y  i n  lodgepole pine. The trees are k i l l e d  by the 
feeding o f  the larvae i n  the cambial area, causing the fo l iage  t o  change 
from green t o  red. The second year a f t e r  death, the bark beet le trees 
change t o  a gray co lor  w i th  most o f  the fo l iage  gone. 
4. PROCEDURE PRIOR TO THE RECEIPT OF ERTS-I IMAGERY 
Aerial  photos i n  co lor  and co lo r  in f ra red  were obtained, processed 
and interpreted a t  scales o f  1/18,500 f o r  the whole area and a t  1/5,000 
f o r  sample areas representing d i f f e r i n g  degrees o f  damage. Ground t r u t h  
was then obtained by careful  analysis and c l ass i f i ca t i on  o f  each t ree as 
t o  i t s  condition, on a series o f  four-acre p l o t s  selected a t  random. 
Analysis o f  these data permitted the target  area t o  be c l ass i f i ed  
i n t o  damage un i t s  as l i g h t ,  medium, and heavy f o r  both needle miner and 
FIGURE 1 
An example of almst total k i l l  o f  mature lodgepole plne (Ghost Forest) 
I n  Yorcrnlta N ~ t t o n a l  Park as a r~sul t o f  a comblnatlon o f  needle drier 
end the mountain ptne beetle.  Th ls  would represent our Cerqanatnd heavy 
damaged area. 
137 
FIGURE 2 
An example o f  heav:r dnage  to  lodgepole , ne from the needle miner dn an 
e a r l i e r  crrtoreak I n  t h e  Tenaya Gap Area. Lrght  colored trees in the fore-  
g m n d  damaged; darker  ones i n  the background a r e  non- host mount87 n hemlock. 
Note the rugged topography and foreground rihich I s  almost sol i d  rock. 
the bark beetle. Due t o  an ear l y  snow storm, only about 90 percent o f  
the ground t r ~ i t h  was co l lec ted and analyzed p r i o r  t o  the rece ip t  o f  the 
ERTS-1 imagery. 
5. INTERPRETATION OF U-2 SUPPORT 
We had U-2 photo coverage i n  70mn black and white, Apr i l ,  Ma] and 
June, 1972, but  found t h i s  o f  l i t t l e  use i ~ r  detect ing insect damage. 
We r c e i v e d  our f i r s t  RC-10 aerochrome in f ra red  photos on December 3, 
which were flown on Ju ly  27, 1972, and made a comparison o f  these wi th  
our own 1/18,500. We found tha t  using the o r ig ina l  1/120,000 scale we 
could detect many, but not a l l  o f  the areas o f  heavy and medium damage. 
We found by enlarging the U-2 photos t o  approximately the same scale as 
our 1/18,500, tha t  i n  t h i s  par t i cu la r  t e s t  area, we were able t o  detect 
a l l  degrees o f  damage detectable on c l r  o r i g i na l  1/18,500, The main con- 
t r a s t  i n  t h i s  t e s t  was between a heavi ly damaged area and one w i th  1 i t t l e  
o r  no damage. We need t o  run fu r ther  tes ts  wi th  the enlarged U-2 undsr 
stereo t o  determine i f  we can i den t i f y  ind iv idua l  trees, which i s  pos- 
s ib le  on our o r ig ina l  1/18,500 co lor  infrared, ?qd t o  explore other areas 
of d i f f e ren t  degreec o f  damage. We fee l  enco~rdged by these prel iminary 
tests dnd are hopeful t hz t  the U-2 by i t s e l f  w i l l  prove t o  be an impor- 
tarl t  too l  i n  fo res t  insect detecm:ion and monitoring. 
Our only c r i t i c i s m  o f  the RC-10 was t h a t  the images were general ly 
dark, and we f a i l e d  t o  get good de ta i l  i n  deep canyons and shaded northern 
slopes. We would suggest i n  fu ture U-2 support i n  mountainous country 
tha t  the exposure be changed to  compensate fo r  the general ly darker t a r -  
get areas. 
We ran same tests  on the same f i l m  s t r i p  i n  the Bay Area, a i~d the 
exposure appeared t s  be extremely good. Our tenta t ive conclusion i s  
tha t  black and white i s  o f  l i t t l e  value i n  detect ing forest  insect dam- 
age under the condit ions o f  our tes t .  
6. ERTS-1 IMAGERY INTERPRETATION 
Because we were delayed i n  receivfng our ERTS-1 co lor  in f ra red  trans- 
parencies u n t i l  December and had d i f f i c u l t y  ge t t ing  enlarged p r i n t s  o f  our 
target area, we have only p a r t i a l l y  analyzed our data. For t h i s  reason, 
our conclusions must be considered as tentat ive.  We have had four men 
in terpret ing the imagery Inclgding: Dr. Thomas Koerber, f r o m  the Pac i f i c  
Southwest Forest 6 Range Experiment Station; Dr. B. H. M i l f o rd  and Dr. 
R. C. Hall ,  f r o m  Natural Resources Management Corporation, and Stephen 
Daus, f r o m  Earth S a t e l l i t e  Corporation. The f i r s t  three named are a l l  ex- 
perienced forest  entomologists w i t h  consideratrl e experience i n  in terpre-  
ta t ion  of insect  damaged areas from conventional ae r ia l  photos. Daus i s  
a forest ry  graduate an3 an experienced photogramnetrist. We also had the 
close cooperation o f  Ralph S. Mac Farland, the Chief Photographer from 
the Pac i f ic  Southwest Forest L Range Experiment Stat ion who aided great ly  
i n  image enhancement. 
I n te rp re ta t i on  was done p a r t l y  i n  s terr  s i n  the o r i g i n a l  NASA posi -  
t i v e  transparencies, but  we were unable t o  cover the  whole area i n  stereo. 
We worked w i t h  enlarged co lo r  p r i n t s  from these ranging i n  scale o f  one 
inch = 4.5 s ta tu te  mi les t o  one inch = 1.25 s ta tu te  miles. 
The concensus o f  a l l  i n te rp re to rs  was t h a t  our  scale o f  one inch = 
1.25 s t a t u t e  mi les  was the best  o f  the ser ies ,  and we were able t o  iden- 
t i f y  three degrees o f  t r ee  m o r t a l i t y ,  l i g h t ,  medium, and heavy (Fig.  3)  
w i t h  a reasonable degree of c e r t a i n t y .  I t  should be pointed out, however, 
t h a t  t h i s  t e s t  represented on ly  one t ime phase, September ' 5 ,  1972, w i t h  
optimum cloud f r e e  condi t ions.  We are scheduled f o r  ERTS-1 imagery i n  
l a t e  June and again i n  August. We expect 1 i t t l e  change i n  co lo r  rend i -  
t i o n  i n  our  t r e e  m o r t a l i t y  areas, bu t  do expect m r e  cont ras t  i n  our 
de fo l i a ted  areas, as we l l  as d r a s t i c  changes i n  mountain meadows and 
grassy areas interspersed i n  t he  t imber. A t  t he  t i n e  o f  our September 
imagery, our  mountain meadows were l i g h t  brown, and we dxpect these areas 
t o  be dark green by June. 
Time d i d  no t  permit the  planned d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n s  o f  de fo l i a ted  
areas where we are able t o  c l a s s i f y  these i n t o  l i g h t ,  mediumsand heavy 
damage. 
We were able t o  d i f f e r e n t i a t e  the bark beet le  damage areas p r i n c i -  
p a l l y  on the basis o f  co lo r  d i f fe rences.  We have c l a s s i f i e d  these co lo rs  
as fo l lows:  
Imagery: ERTS-1 NASA Or ig ina l  Cclor  Transparancy 
September 16, 1972, Yosemi t e  Frame 
From Munsell 
C l a s s i f i c a t i o n  Color by Eye Book o f  Color 
L i g h t  M o r t a l i t y  Cherry-red 5R - 5-8 
Heavy Mortal i ty  M i  1 k Chocolate Brown lORP - 4-4 
Mountain Meadows L i g h t  Yellow 10YR - 8-8 
Lakes Dark Blue 1OB - 2-4 
Dome Shadows resembl i n g  
lakes) Black 10B - 2-1 
Imasery: Enlargement t o  scale 1" = 1.25 5.mi. 
Heavy Morta l  i ty Mol dy-ye1 1 ow 5YR - 6-4 
Medium Morta l  i t y  Chocolate Brown 10R - 5-4 
L i g h t  M o r t a l i t y  B l  ood-red 5R - 4-8 
Grassy Areas i n  Timber Cherry- red 5R - 5-8 
7. SIGNIFICANT RESULTS 
I n  our  p re l im ina ry  tes ts ,  we are reasonably sure t h a t  we can do t h e  
fo l lowing:  d i f f e r e n t i a t e  areas o f  heavy damage from those w i t h  li t t l e  or 
no damabe i n  t!;i lodgepole p ine  type; non-timbered vs t imbered areas; lakes; 
Figure 3: YOSEMITF N4TIDNAL PARK TEST SETF 
ER'GS-1 1.Mg9ry. September 16, 1972 
Illurtratlng bark beetle damage: Upper l e f t ,  m ~ l  ~ ! . n ;  mlddle .  1 l g h t ;  and lower r l g h t  , heavy. 
nOno Lake. upper l p f t ;  Tuolu~nne Canyon. mnnlng frsm top  - t o  bottom in center; Tualumne Mea- - - -  
aows , upper center. q - L = d "  
Scale : S t a t u t e  Files 
r r ck  domes and rock dome shadows, wh!ch closely resemble lakes; mountain 
meadows; pasture and agr i cu l tu ra l  land; and desert, from the ERTS-1, NASA 
prepared color transparencies. 
We are more confidant o f  our work wi th  the mltrgements o f  the above 
imagery t o  a scale o f  1" = 1.25 s ta tu te  miles, where we bel ieve tha t  we 
can de f in i te l y  d i f fe ren t ia te  between heavy, medium and 1 Sghi damage i n  a 
sample area s>?lected where we knew these three condition; existed. U-2, 
RC-10 compdres qu i te  favorably w i t h  conventional i n f ra red  m l o r  phctogra- 
phy excegt i n  deep canyons and shaded northern s7opes. 
8. COST BENEFTT AMALYZIS 
We have done no s ign i f i can t  work on t h i s  phase o f  the problec, but 
we hope t o  do so i n  the near future. WP have been experimenting w i th  an 
in-house system i n  cooperation w i th  the Pac i f ic  Southwest Forest & Range 
Experiment Station; where we be1 ieve tha t  we can speed up the enhallcement 
o f  ERTS-1 imagery where i t  can be rap id ly  interpreted a ~ d  screened f o r  
any suspected massive areas o f  damage. We w i l l  a lso attempt a comparison 
of cost w i th  tha t  o f  the conventionzl Reg~onal Aeria'l Survey System. 
9. CONCiUS IONS 
As a r esu l t  o f  our research t o  date, we can art , ive a t  tk fol lowing 
conclusions: (1) If we develop a system which can be expected t o  replace 
the aer ia l  survey method we are going t c  need the same type o f  experienced 
observors we are nok using i n  the airplane, pa r t i cu l a r l y  i f  the job f s  t o  
be done on a visual tas is ;  (2) A photo in te rp re to r  w i th  previous experi- 
ence i n  detecting insect damage from conventional ae r ia l  photos has a 
definite! advantage over a s t r a i gh t  photogramnetrist. I n  other words, he 
knows be t te r  what t o  look for .  Ke also fee l  tha t  the U-2 under f l ight  sup- 
por t  great ly  improves e f f i c iency  o f  detection and except f o r  rar; instan- 
ces, can el iminate the need f o r  any other under f l ight  photography. 
We are s t i l l  a long way f r o m  achieving our o!*iginal object ive,  but  
we feel  tha t  we are making progress even though i t  i s  slow. 


Application of ERTS-1 imagery and underflight photography in the detection and monitoring of forest insect infestations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California

Application of ERTS-1 imagery and underflight photography in the detection and monitoring of forest insect infestations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California

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