Landsat, Computers, and Development Projects
Pierre-Marie Adrien 1 and
Marion F. Baumgardner 2
1 Soil scientist with the Project Analysis Department, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C. 20577
2 Professor of agronomy and is program leader of the Earth Sciences Research Programs, at the Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906
Data provided by earth-orbiting satellites and analyzed through specific computer techniques are rapidly providing policy-makers around the world with new information on the location and extent of their countries' renewable and nonrenewable resources. Development projects utilizing remote sensing technology are being supported, for example, by the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and other international funding agencies. The Inter-American Development Bank is financing a natural resources inventory of five countries in Central America, and this will require the application of remote sensing in the analysis of 33 Landsat images covering the area. Although the Landsat program remains experimental in nature, studies pertaining to its follow-on aspects will ensure continuation of the program so that developed and developing countries will be able to maintain better control of the management of their natural resources.
