Applications of remote sensing and GIS technologies to wetland assessment and monitoring at a DOE facility

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:6021896

Mackey, H E ^[1]

---

1. Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Aiken, SC (United States)

The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 777-km[sup 2] site, located in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina, was established in the early 1950s for the production of nuclear materials to support the defense needs of the United States. The SRS was closed to the public and shortly after its formation, much of the uplands and previous farmlands were planted to managed pine plantations for the US Department of Energy by the US Forest Service. More than 7500 hectares of wetlands, ranging from a large, 3000-hectare swamp, to extensive bottomland hardwood forests, to isolated upland Carolina bays, were present on the SRS at the time of its formation. During the subsequent 40-yr operation of the site, five stream systems and portions of the Savannah River swamp on the SRS were influenced by discharges of once-through cooling water from site operations. In addition, two large cooling lakes were constructed, Par Pond in 1958 and L Lake in 1985, to support reactor operations. Thus, the wetlands of the SRS have had a variety of influences, ranging from the protection afforded by the exclusion of the public from the site, past construction of major facilities, and discharges from site operations. Evaluation, assessment, and monitoring long-term changes to the extensive and varied wetlands of the SRS are formidable tasks. Archived remote sensing data of a variety of types, along with the advances in computer technologies that allow the integration of land-use/land-cover geographic information system (GIS) data layer and related GIS data bases, are providing the necessary tools and information to integrate wetlands protection and management into an effective operational environment.

• OSTI ID: 6021896
• Report Number(s): CONF-930601--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 68
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220500* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Environmental Aspects
220600 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540250 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
540350 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FORESTS
LAND USE
MANAGEMENT
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PRESERVATION
REMOTE SENSING
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WETLANDS