Applications and Research Using Remote Sensing for Rangeland Management

Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, and savannas used by wildlife for habitat and livestock in order to produce food and fiber. Assessment and monitoring of rangelands are currently based on comparing the plant species present in relation to an expected successional end-state defined by the ecological site. In the future, assessment and monitoring may be based on indicators of ecosystem health, including sustainability of soil, sustainability of plant production, and presence of invasive weed species. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are actively engaged in developing quantitative, repeatable, and low-cost methods to measure indicators of ecosystem health using remote sensing. Noxious weed infestations can be determined by careful selection of the spatial resolution, spectral bands, and timing of image acquisition. Rangeland productivity can be estimated with either Landsat or Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer data using models of gross primary production based on radiation use efficiency. Lidar measurements are useful for canopy structure and soil roughness, indicating susceptibility to erosion. The value of remote sensing for rangeland management depends in part on combining the imagery with other spatial data within geographic information systems. Finally, ARS scientists are developing the knowledge on which future range-land assessment and monitoring tools will be developed.