Land use and land use activity changes over discrete intervals of time represent basic data requirements in regional planning studies. Two examples of land use analysis required by the Council of Governments' transportation planning staff are described. Both were undertaken utilizing remote sensing imagery analysis. One study using large scale aircraft imagery developed a high degree of analytical detail and functional identification. The other, to support further detailed data base evaluation, utilizing ERTS-1 and small scale aircraft imagery, developed data identifying in more general detail major activity changes within the metropolitan region

Mallon, H. J.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

USE OF ERTS-1 DATA FOR REGIONAL PLANNING IN THE METROPOLITAN 
WASHINGTON COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS - A SHORT BRIEF 
Harry J . Ma I I on, Director, Rem0 ti? Sensing Project, Metropolitan Washington Council 
of Governments 
ABSTMCT 
Land use and land 
in t e rva l s  of time 
regional planning 
use a c t i v i t y  changes over discrete 
represent basic  data requirements i n  
studies.  This paper repor t s  on two 
examples of land use analysis  required by the  Council 
of Governments t t ransportat ion plann5 ng s t a f f  . Both 
were undertaken u t i l i z i n g  remote sensing imagery anal- 
ysis .  One study using la rge  scale  a i r c r a f t  imagery de- 
veloped a high degree of ana ly t ica l  d e t a i l  and functional 
ident i f ica t ion .  The other, t o  support fu r the r  de ta i led  
data base evaluation, u t i l i z i n g  ERTS-1 and mall scale  
a i r c r a f t  imagery, developed data  ident i fying i n  more 
general  d e t a i l  major a c t i v i t y  changes within the metro- 
po l i tan  region. 
Introduction. 
"Urban pol icy planning is a complex process of ,ana lys i s ,  intervening i n  and 
managing the p o l i t i c a l  c o d l i c t  t h a t  i e  inextr icably re la ted  t o  urhan change, 
Research is needed i n t o  the  s t ructure  of public policy making, charac te r i s t ics  
of urban policy formulation and implementation, s t r a t eg ie s  and techniques of 
change-program management. New methods, new techniques and concepts of planning 
must be developed. If planners are t o  be e f fec t ive  policy analysts  and change 
managers, they must receive cognit  ve inputs  and s k i l l s  f o r  dealing with a complex policy making system ...." f
It would be presumptive t o  claim t h a t  the substance of t h i s  brief paper would 
meet the requirements pointed t o  i n  the referenced quotation. However, it w i l l  
address itself t o  one of the  basic  ingredients neccessary t o  support co r rec t  
policy analysis  and decision making, namely; cur ren t  and uniform information on 
urban change, i ts ear ly  recognition, c lass i f ica t ion ,  and quant i f icat ion,  and 
will of fe r  several  examples of the introduction of imagery analysis  technique8 - 
using a i rcraf t  and ERTS-1 data - i n t o  the change analysis  process. 
1613 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19730019645 2020-03-17T09:15:31+00:00Z
Data Detrelopnutnt, 
a1  e lman t  of the  Hotropolitan Washington Council of (lowmmcmts is 
i t s  Traneportation Ikprrfment. The depr r tmnt  functions under the Council 9 8 
Mrector,  as the 8taff  f o r  t he  metropolitan area’s Tramportation Planning Board 
and other re la ted Council of Oavermntsc pclioy md technlcal c o ~ m i t t e e s ~  Its 
principal  function is t o  data and studies, t o  preprred plans,, and t o  darvelop 
s t ra teg ies  f o r  use by the Board, other planning groups, and the elected o f f l ~ l a l ~  
of the metropolitan reglaon to a s s i s t  them i n  daaling with the  transportation 
problem and needs of the region. 
As would bo expected, cer ta in  classes of information such a s  res ident ia l  
and houring data (loeation and type), population densities, location of Urmssible 
etnploymBnt areas, transportation routes, route densi t ies  , and changes i n  t b 8 0  
with respect t o  existing data bases, represent o r i t i c a l  needs f o r  summy and 
study, growth proJections, and planning purposes. 
I n  Nmnber 1972, the Renote Sensing b 3 e c t  war requestad by the Transportr- 
t i on  Department t o  provide data a t  two d i s t inc t  levels of degree and detail  i n  
support of current studies. Both tasks were required i n  f a i r l y  short  periods of 
ti-: two t o  three weeks. 
The first was t o  develop f r o m  rppropriata imagery, land use and related 
quaqtifled data f o r  comparative use with an exluting 1968 data base, on two 
rapidly growing districts i n  Loudoun County, Virginia. Than, 18 an extention of 
this,  the analysis was t o  be repeated on the somb d i s t r i c t s  f o r  the years 1970 
and 1972. 
Specific infornmtion required included: the delineation and meauurement of 
land use ( t o  the second ordar of d e t a i l  i n  the COO Land Use Clessifioation 
Table, Le., within a conunsrcial c la r r i f ica t ion ,  say, t o  ident i ty  offices, 
shopping centers, stores, f i l l i n g  s ta t ions,  etc.3 and in area, t o  the 8150, ray, 
of a f i l l i n g  8 t r t i on ) j  t o  p l o t  these delineations on an appropriate scale map; 
t o  ident i@ housing units by types; to  eutimate the  numbers of corresponding 
dwelling units;  and t o  dotambncr the nileages of pub’l.ie rights-of-way by types 
(2,3,4 lane amdivlded and divided roads). 
The seoond task was to prepare from imagery analysis, a generalimd land w e  
change map over tb same perids of tiare fo r  the en t i r e  metropolitan Washington 
region. 
T b  data for Urn, first task wra developed from commrcially available 
a e r i a l  photography using c o n m t i o n a l  stereoscopic imagery analysis supported 
1614 
by f ie ld  visits where needed. Photographic scales  of about 1:30,000 were used, 
and because 1968 imagery of the region was not available (not an unusual s i t  
uation) the  analyses were performed only f o r  the 1970 and 1972 periods. The 
land use data developed f o r  these two periods are shown on the maps i n  Figures 
1 and 2 respectively. Most of the developed area, it w i l l  be noted, is  residen- 
. t i a l ,  the  hatched areas of the same color representing new construction. As can 
be seen from the uncolored portions, these two districts are essent ia l ly  rura l  
or  undeveloped i n  character, although i n  process of rapid and current change. 
The large res ident ia l  areas i n  the lower cent ra l  portion of the maps const i tute  
the new communities of Ster l ing Park and Sugar Land Run Estates. 
An interest ing point  of the analysis, possibly worthy of mention, i s  a nethod 
u t i l i zed  f o r  estimating the  number of dwelling un i t s  i n  the garden-type, multi- 
family buildings i n  these areas. A composite floorspace f igure  ir, square f e e t  
was computed from the measured ground areas of the  buildings and t h e i r  heights i n  
stories. Allowing for stair-wells and other mon-residential building useage, a 
conversion figure of about 1500 - 1600 square feet per un i t  was used t o  convert 
f l oo r  space areas t o  corresponding numbers of dwelling units. For one garden 
apartment group, 370 dwelling un i t s  were estimated from the  imagery, a figure 
which compares f a i r l y  w e l l  with the number of 380 uni ts  provided by the  building 
management. Recognizing t h a t  wide variations are  possible i n  the use of such fac- 
tors,  it was n vertheless interest ing t o  note the f a i r  agreement with data i n  
other sources ' f o r  similar housing types. 
The detai led analyses undertaken during the first of these two tasks and 
brief'ly described herein were important and necessary preliminary foundation 
stones f o r  what was t o  be accomplished i n  the second task, nameily; a region- 
wide land use ac t iv i ty  change analysis. This task undertook t o  pin-point and 
t o  p lo t  graphically those areas i n  the  region which, during stated time periods, 
developed major growth/change patterns. This information would be used t o  provide 
data i n  support of transportation s tudies  describing and structuring regional 
change, i t s  impact, and a l so  t o  evaluate the currentness of exis t ing data from 
other sources on those areas experiencing the mador changes. 
Specifically, the task was to  produce land use ac t iv i ty  change maps a t  a 
regional scale of 1:96,000 f o r  the periods 1970 and 1972. As stated previously, 
the t i m e  constraints were close: two to three weeks. Th i s  was much too shor t  to  
plan f o r  complete, new, large scale ae r i a l  photo coverage of the region's 
approxhately 2500 square mtles of area, even if the budget could have supported 
it (which it couldn't). What was available to the Project then f o r  the analysis 
were two principal  sources of imagery. For 1970, the excellent CARETS Mission 
of Septeniber 1970, flown i n  color I R  by NASA f o r  the USGS, was on hand on loan 
from the USGS. For the 1972 data, the  EZTS-1 MSS black and white and color corn 
posited imagery of September 23rd and October 11th 1972 were available, having 
been mcent ly  purchased from the J3FtOS Data Center a t  Sioux Falls,  South Dakota. 
1615 

1617 
Rarely had such a task been undertaken by the Project s t a f f  with a higher degree 
of anticipation. It would seem tha t  some of the work of the  prevfous two years 
had been, i n  part ,  a preparation f o r  such an assignment. In  a previous study, 
t he  Project had speculated a s  to the  value of t he  expected ERTS-A multispectral  
returns f o r  such regional land use data analysis applications. 3 
The learning ground provided by t h e  previous detailed imageqy anelysis of 
the described portions of Loudoun County madesmotherthe t rans i t ion  t o  the  much 
smaller scales  of the CARETS and the  ERTS-1 imagery. We u t i l i zed  a variety of 
simple instruments: a l i g h t  table, an overhead projector (VU GW), pocket 
stereoscopes',- and tube magnifiers (7X) e The out l ines  of a c t i i i t y  changes 
v is ib le  on the 1970 CARF,TS i~nagery were delineated on tracing paper overlaying 
the Council of Governments' regional map (scale of 1:96,OOO). This imagery was 
i n  posit ive transparency form, a t  a scale of 1:120,000, and was viewed i n  stereo 
over a standard l i gh t  table. New residential areas, shopping Genters, highways, 
indus t r ia l  areas, recreat:on areas, and sb fo r th  not present e a r l i e r  o r  under 
construction i n  the imagery were plot ted on the tracing. Land u8e pat terns  were 
color coded and the re su l t s  are seen i n  Figure 3, which is a small but  enlarged 
portion of the regional map showing the familiar Loudoun County areas of Ster l ing 
Park and Sugar Land Run. 
For the 1972 charge analysis, the ERTS-1 color composite transparency of 
October 11th was projected upon the w a l l ,  superimposing its image upon the  re- 
s u l t s  of the 1970 analysis. Registration was achkeved by focussing and reposition- 
ing of the projector. The observed 1972 change data were then delineated upon a 
second tracing overlaying t h e  1970 sheet. T t  was necessary, of course, t o  work 
closely with the 1970 and the enlarged 1972 imagery t o  in te rpre t  cu l tura l  and 
other ident i t ies .  As experience was gained i n  looking f o r  dis t inct ions i n  tonal  
values (bright patches for new construction, f o r  example), and by continuous 
back and for th  checking with the l a rge r  scale  a i r c r a f t  imagery, it was posdb l s  
t o  delineate readily the prominent areas of new act ivi ty .  Ground checks were 
made where necessary. For comparison, the same areas of Loudoun County seen 
above i n  Figure 3 are  shown i n  Figure 4 fo r  1972. Figures 5 and 6 show similar 
change pat terns  f o r  res ident ia l  growth a s  noted for  1970 and 1972 i n  the Wood- 
bridge and Dale City areas of eastern Prince W i l l i a m  Counw, Virginia, i n  the  
southwest portion of t h e  region. 
I n  this fashion, by proceeding around the metropolitan area, similar 
ac t iv i ty  change6 were noted and plotted f o r  areas i n  adjoining Maryland and 
other portions of the region. 
Conclusions. 
Some of the data elements of urban change necessary f o r  planner's study and 
related decision making on a regional bas i s  seem to be a t  hand with the data 
1618 
1619 
c 
\ 
. Land Use Activity Change in Po&io 
Fairfax and Laudom Counties, Va., 
1620 
1621 
7 73 
1622 
.. 
.... ". . ~ 
... 
1623 
I -  
made possible by manipulative analysis of the FZTS-1 imagery. It is timely, 
sequential , and uniform% Thi8 appears t o  be the case on the basis qf the 
re la t ive ly  simple and preliminary analysis described i n  the foregoing. It is 
particularly pleasant t o  offer this conclusion since it girres credence t o  
several exper n t a l  designs f o r  E22TS-A data u t i l i aa t ion  made i n  an earlier 
Project study? with respect to regional land use, transporfiation, and general 
overall planning studies within t h e  metropolitan area. 
References. 
1. Rondinelli, D.R., 1973, Urban Planning as Policy Analysis: Management of 
J o d  of the American Institute of Planners, January 
9, NO. 1, pp 13 0 22. 
2. Community Builders Handbook, American Edition, 1968, Urban Land Ins t i -  
tute, Washington, D.C., pp 107 0 110. 
3. Mallon, H.J. and Howard, J.Y., 1972, Benefits From Remote Sensing Data 
Util iaation i n  Urban Planning Processes and System Recommendations, 
Pecimical ~e port  No. 6, January 1972; prepared under terms of Con- 
t r a c t  No. l.4-08-0001-12708 for the US. Geological Survey. 
Mallon, H.J. and Howard, J.P., 1972, Pro_posed _~rimental.~Programs 4. 
5- of Contract NO, l&-O8-0601=12708- for the- U.S. Goo- 
logical Survey. 
1624 


Use of ERTS-1 data for regional planning in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments: A short brief

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NASA Technical Reports Server