The Arizona Remote Sensing Center

The Arizona Remote Sensing Center (ARSC) was established in 1972 and since its inception, ARSC has worked on a wide range of international, national, regional and local projects in which advanced airborne and satellite remote sensing data and other geospatial information technologies are utilized to help address both fundamental and applied issues in natural resource management. ARSC’s mission is to employ remote sensing and geospatial technologies to solve natural, agricultural and cultural resource problems in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. This mission involves both basic and applied research in support of the operational application of geospatial technologies and their extension to stakeholders, the integration of field and remote sensing data and analysis, modeling of coupled human and natural systems, and the deployment of decision support systems.

The primary activities of the center focus on research supported by basic and applied research contracts and grants to develop and apply remote sensing and GIS technologies to problems in agriculture, natural resource management, and the environment. ARSC develops and maintains a number of scientific web sites in response to a large demand for information and data and the need to integrate computer technology into decision support. In response and in conjunction with a number of institutions, ARSC has created and maintains the Arizona Regional Image Archive [ARIA] (http://aria.arizona.edu), RangeView (http://rangeview.arizona.edu), Arizona FIREMAP - Fuels, Information, Restoration, and Education Mapping and Assessment Program (http://azfiremap.org/azfiremap), and Arizona’s drought impacts reporting system – AZ DroughtWatch (http://azdroughtwatch.org/). ARSC is also dedicated to providing graduate and undergraduate students with the opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills in remote sensing and geospatial analysis. ARSC research projects are staffed by students from a variety of campus Departments including: the Arid Lands Resource Sciences Ph.D. Program, Electrical and Computer Engineering, the School of Geography and Development, Geosciences, Hydrology and Water Resources, Management and Information Systems, as well as the School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Current and recent projects have been conducted by ARSC throughout the American Southwest, Mexico, western and southern Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and China. Highlights of these activities include:

• Remote Sensing of the Phenology of Desert Annuals (USGS)
• Development of Vegetation Phenology and Enhanced Vegetation Index Products from Multiple Long Term Satellite Data Records (NASA)
• Vegetation mapping projects for the NPS Sonoran Desert Network in support of natural resource monitoring (NPS) - Development of a fire fuels treatment database and mapping website for the State of New Mexico (State of New Mexico) - Geospatial Solutions for Rural and Community Sustainability (USDA)
• Assessment of Post Wildfire Vegetation Response (IALC)
• Stealth Health – Application of geospatial technologies to promote nutritional awareness and better health among youth (USDA)
• Monitoring Drought, Invasive Species, and Biodiversity in the US Southwest, Central Asia, and West Africa (NASA, USDA, USGS)
• Evaluation of remote sensing methods for inventory and mapping of desert resources and vegetation mapping at National Parks and Monuments (U.S. National Park Service)
• Development of a system for monitoring rangeland condition and desertification in Saudi Arabia using satellite and aerial video data (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
• Development of rule-based and geostatistical models of vegetation distribution under varying climatic regimes within southern Arizona (USGS Biological Resources Division)
• Development of an environmental monitoring system for the government of Malawi (USAID)
• Development of methods for predicting the location of wildlife using satellite derived vegetation greenness data (U.S. National Park Service)
• Development of strategies for improving the dissemination of NASA science results and data among state and local governments (NASA)
• Development of web based tools to access multitemporal satellite data for natural resource management (http://rangeview.arizona.edu) (NASA/Raytheon)
• Development of a web based strategic wildfire model that integrates the climate and human dimensions of wildfire probability and values at risk (http://walter.arizona.edu) (U.S. EPA)