Applications of Remote Sensing in the Boston Urban Studies Program. Part I,

摘要

The cost effectiveness of remote sensing techniques was compared to that of the conventional techniques used by the U.S. Army Engineer Division, New England, in the Boston Harbor - Eastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Area study. A total of 6 level 1, 18 level II, and 18 level III land use categories were mapped from NASA RB-57/RC-8 high altitude aircraft photography for six selected 7 1/2-minute quadrangles located in the Boston area. Watershed and political boundaries could not be mapped from the NASA photography. Impervious surfaces and curb lengths were mapped from low altitude aircraft photography obtained with a Zeiss RMK 15/23 camera system (measured scale 1:3500) for two sites in the Boston South and Newton quadrangles. The remote sensing procedures used in this study usually provided much greater detail than conventional procedures. The remote sensing procedures were not always cost-effective when compared to the conventional procedures, but they were always more accurate. Therefore, remote sensing techniques should be used and appropriate photographic resolution and scale factors taken into consideration when mapping land use, curb density and impervious surfaces for use in the STORM (storage, treatment, overflow, runoff) model. (Author)