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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Terrestrial mapping of the Oak Ridge Reservation: Phase 1. Environmental Restoration Program

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/70167· OSTI ID:70167
; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
  2. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
  3. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
This report presents the results of the first phase in development of a habitat map of the terrestrial ecosystem on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). During this phase, a satellite image of the ORR was classified into land use/land cover types, the classified image was incorporated into a geographic information system map of the ORR, and the accuracy of the map was assessed. A habitat map is a critical foundation for evaluation of the potential impact of historical (or ongoing) contamination on terrestrial biota of the ORR. The abundance and distribution of wildlife species and plant communities of concern are intrinsically linked to the abundance and distribution of habitat on which those species and communities rely. Thus, the impact of spatially discrete patches of contamination on those biota is directly proportional to the degree of overlap between habitat and contamination. Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper satellite imagery was used to create the land use/land cover map. A Thematic Mapper image consists of seven images of the same point on the earth produced by seven separate sensors, each of which detects a unique part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Separately and in various combinations, these spectral images can be correlated with vegetation type or other land cover type. The image selected for this map was from April 13, 1994, and covers 189,000 ha.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
70167
Report Number(s):
ES/ER/TM--152; ON: DE95012979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English