CITRUS MAPPING PROJECT IN THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY OF TEXAS

摘要

Citrus is an economically important agricultural commodity in the LRGV with approximately 27,056 acres in production as of April 2005. USDA-APHIS-PPQ-CPHST Pest Detection Diagnostics and Management Laboratory (PDDML) in conjunction with USDA-ARS-KSARC Integrated Farming and Natural Resources Research Unit (IFNRRU) Remote Sensing Research Unit (RSRU) conducted a survey of citrus groves that are currently in production in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas (LRGV). A Geographical Information System (GIS) geodatabase of the surveyed citrus groves was produced and contains a vector layer containing citrus field borders and a raster layer containing aerial imagery. The new vector layer is based on a vector layer produced by IFNRRU in 1994. Attributes in the citrus layer include the variety of citrus being cultivated, whether the grove consists of newly planted or mature trees, and the acreage. This citrus layer is periodically updated through ground surveys to reflect changes that continually occur within the area. The raster layer was created by mosaicking color infrared aerial imagery taken by IFNRRU in December of 2000. The mosaicked imagery was tiled and compressed using MrSID for easy distribution. The citrus data layer is current to April 2005 and is being stored in a geodatabase along with the aerial imagery. Both of these products are now available for distribution to our stakeholders. Two maps were also produced for this project. The first map contains the citrus data layer along with roads, cities, and political boundaries. The second map uses the aerial imagery as a backdrop to the citrus layer.