PECAD Remote Sensing Project Notes
	Special Project - USA - Maryland - Eastern Shore - Talbot County

Remote Sensing Field Research on Eastern Shore of Maryland

This project was undertaken to provide continuing insight into the field of remote sensing of major agricultural crops. The opportunity to monitor local agricultural conditions through satellite imagery and repeated field visits is a valuable tool. The processes and information gained from these projects are transferred to PECAD mission of assessing foreign and domestic production of major grains and oilseeds. This in turn yields a better understanding of foreign agricultural regions and maximizes the information gained during international field assignments and ultimately provides an increasingly accurate forecast of the world's agricultural output. This area of the eastern shore of Maryland, including the northern extent of Talbot county, produce significant amounts of wheat, barley, corn, soybean, tomatoes and alfalfa. This region supplies the majority of feed grain to many of the eastern shore's poultry producers.

Satellite Image: Landsat 7 TM Sensor Acquired June 2, 1999

Project sites: Site 1- Soybean | Site 2-Corn | Site 3 - Tomatoes

Landsat TM scenes acquired during the growing season allows the USDA analyst to monitor tillage, planting, growth, and harvest conditions. In these WRS 15/33 and 14/33 subscenes a false color composite was created utilizing Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 TM bands. The TM Band 4, near-infrared, is displayed as red, TM Band 5, mid-infrared, is displayed as green, and TM Band 3, visible red wavelengths, displayed as blue. This band combination is one of the more effective combinations for discerning visually and analytically between corn and soybeans in much of the United States and other regions of the world.