Abstract: Using Internet to Provide Solutions to Environmental Problems in Southern Kazakhstan and to Enhance the Use of Earth Science Information and Imagery

Eric Frost, Robert Anders, Mitra Fattahipour, Lisa Heizer, Gerry Kuhn, Lee Miller, Kevin Robinson, Robert Zimdar, Joel Adamson, Alan Moos

Landsat imagery contributed by Chevron on behalf of the people of Kazakhstan is being used to address environmental and humanitarian concerns in Central Asia. By linking the computer systems at SDSU with computers in Kazakhstan, data can be gathered and processed in the U.S. and made available to workers in Kazakhstan. Conversely, water and environmental experts with EIAG in Kazakhstan can evaluate the usefulness of different imagery, different types of processing, and different types of overlays on the imagery. Transfer of large data sets that can be mutually analyzed and evaluated is best done by CD, with large hard copy output done in the U.S. Resource evaluation and change detection are the most powerful uses of the imagery. Visual displays of the overall infrastructu e such as roads, water supply sources, and cities provide excellent planning and management tools. Because of the immense size of the region and the rapidity with which changes have occurred, few other types of mapping can provide the insight into where features are and how agriculture, grazing, wind, and desertification have influenced the country. Change detection using images taken in different years or times of the year helps delineate patterns of water use, irrigation, grazing, desertification, and human impact. Siting of environmental problems and registration of them to the images provides a powerful tool for both recognizing problems and enabling government decision makers to better evaluate and manage the range of environmental challenges that face the people of Kazakhstan. The magery can also provide long-term clues to the geologic and environmental dynamics on which the human impact is superimposed. By creating visual representations of data sets, humanitarian and environmental funding agencies can also better assess the problems and solutions. Providing the data on Internet and Mosaic freely enables many workers to help the people of Kazakhstan using their expertise and resources along an imagery pathway.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90958©1995 AAPG Pacific Section Meeting, San Francisco, California