Surveys of Natural Resources and Land Use Assessments
Resource Management & Research (RMR) can provide rapid, accurate and economic surveys of areas up to any extent. 2.5 million km² is the largest so far. An integration of the following are used:
- Multi–stage sampling
- Passed precision techniques including stratified strip sampling
- Land system unit mapping from satellite imagery
- Available mapping
- Tethered balloon ground truthing and calibration
Stratified sampling methodologies
Large area surveys will be stratified by land system units,
catchments, administrative areas or habitats. The boundaries of
any of these polygons will be recorded during strip sampling to
allow an analysis of results, using GIS procedures, to present
results for each of the aerial systems.
Range of items surveyed include:
- Rainfed cropland, further classified as:
- identifiable annual crops. (depends on season of survey), providing areas under each crop and mean parcel size for each crop,
- identifiable perennial crops (95% can be identified), providing areas under each crop and mean parcel size for each crop,
- fallow land, providing area, estimate of age-class of fallow and mean parcel size for each age class,
- ploughed or land prepared for planting, providing area and mean parcel size,
- post harvest land, providing areas of identifiable and unidentifiable crops and mean parcel sizes of each category.
- Irrigated cropland, further classified as:
- identifiable annual crops. (depends on season of survey), providing areas under each crop and mean parcel size for each crop,
- identifiable perennial crops (95% can be identified), providing areas under each crop and mean parcel size for each crop,
- fallow land, providing area, estimate of age-class of fallow and mean parcel size for each age class,
- ploughed or land prepared for planting, providing area and mean parcel size,
- post harvest land, providing areas of identifiable and unidentifiable crops and mean parcel sizes of each category.
- Plantations and orchards further classified as:
- identifiable trees (95% can be identified), providing areas under each tree crop and mean parcel size for each crop,
- recently cleared or harvested land, providing areas under each tree crop and mean parcel size for each crop,
- Forested and wooded land further
classified as:
- forest/woodland type (90% can be identified), providing areas under each type and estimates of biomass and timber volume-densities,
- recently cleared or harvested land, providing areas under each tree crop and mean parcel size for each crop,
- Land with use constraints classified as:
- steep-slope lands, providing areas under each slope class,
- eroded lands, providing areas under three classes of erosion,
- dune lands, providing areas under different dune types,
- shallow soil lands, providing areas,
- exposed rock lands, providing areas,
- permanently flooded land, providing areas,
- temporarily or seasonally flooded land, providing areas,
- saline land, providing areas,
- gypseous land, providing areas,
- other use-limited lands as encountered, providing areas,
- Grass, forb and herb land further classified as:
- common unimproved land, providing areas,
- fenced unimproved land, providing areas, and mean parcel size,
- fenced improved land, providing areas and mean parcel size,
- Bush and shrub land
further classified as:
- common unimproved land, providing areas,
- fenced unimproved land, providing areas, and mean parcel size,
- fenced improved land, providing areas and mean parcel size,
Large animals (chiefly herbivores) classified as:
- domestic animals, including
- cattle,
- elephant,
- camels,
- donkeys,
- horses,
- mules,
- sheep,
- goats, and
- shoats.
- these domestic animals can be further classified by:
- type of vegetation occupied, providing estimates of numbers, variance and mean group size,
- whether in use for draught or ploughing, providing estimates of numbers and variance,
- whether in stalls or enclosures, providing estimates of numbers, variance and mean group size,
- Large wild animals, further classified by:
- Species and type of vegetation occupied, providing estimates of numbers, variance and mean group size,
- Signs of wild animals
and colonies of smaller animals (e.g. elephant tracks, flamingo
colonies, stork colonies, dugong scrapes, etc), further
classified by:
- Species and habitat type, providing estimates of numbers, variance and mean dimensions,
Water Bodies and Sources classified as:
- Lakes, further classified as:
- natural, providing for each item, locations, areas, geomorphic type, inferred water quality (saline, brackish, euthrohpic, oligotrophic) and draw-down stage, and estimates of numbers of each type, variance and mean areas,
- man made, providing for each item, locations, areas, geomorphic type, inferred water quality (saline, brackish, euthrohpic, oligotrophic) and draw-down stage, and estimates of numbers of each type, variance and mean areas, with each water body further described in terms of:
- whether in use for waterway transport, fishing, abstraction of water, effluent reception, energy production, macrophyte harvesting, recreation, large aquatic and amphibious wildlife, livestock water supply, drawdown (recession agriculture) or other uses,
- estimates of numbers of users by numbers of boats, nets, people, irrigation off-takes, effluent discharge points, areas of drawdown crops, wild animals, livestock watering points based on total inventory (small lakes) or sampling (very large lakes).
- Rivers, further classified as:
- flowing or backwatered,
- intermittent pools
- dry channels, with each type further classed as:
- delta, estuarine, flood plain, terrace, pediment and montane, providing for each item, widths, inferred water quality (saline,brackish, euthrophic, oligotrophic) and bank and bed conditions and vegetation (gallery forest, bush thickets, open, rocky, sandy, natural or man made levees, incised, gorge, eroding, sediment deposition, etc.) and estimates of lengths, variance and mean widths,
- for each river and bank reach, whether in use for waterway transport, fishing, abstraction of water, extraction of aggregate or sand, mining washing, cooling, effluent reception, energy production, macrophyte and algal harvesting, recreation, large aquatic and amphibious wildlife, livestock water supply, river bank gardens, river bed wells, river terrace irrigation or other uses,
- estimates of numbers of users by numbers of boats, nets, people, irrigation off-takes, effluent discharge points, areas of drawdown crops, wild animals, livestock watering points based on total inventory (small lakes) or sampling (very large lakes).
- Wells, further classified as:
- cave, river bed, river bank, dune, gypsum, limestone, coastal, in use or abandoned, providing for each item, locations, use (livestock, people, irrigation, etc) ancillary equipment, and estimates of numbers of each type, and variance and mean areas,
- Springs and seepages, further classified as:
- karst, river bed, river bank, dune, gypsum, limestone, coastal providing for each item, locations, use (livestock, people, gardens, etc) ancillary equipment, and estimates of numbers of each type, and variance and mean areas,
- Bore holes further classified as:
- motorised, hand-pumped, wind-pumped, in use or abandoned, providing for each item, locations, use (livestock, people, gardens, etc) ancillary equipment, (drinking troughs etc.) and estimates of numbers of each type, and variance and mean areas,
Dwellings and Structures (Isolated and in small villages)
- Single dwelling and structures further classified by:
- Roof type and style, function, permanence, in use or abandoned, providing for each item, locations, cluster identification, estimates of numbers of each type and variance.
- Functional
clusters of dwelling and structures further classified by:
- Roof type and style, function by enterprise or institutional purpose (e.g. tourist resort, hotel, factory, school, prison, etc.), permanence, in use or abandoned, providing for each item, locations, cluster identification, estimates of numbers of each type, dimensions and variance.
Dwellings and Structures (Villages and Towns)
- These are generally surveyed by different methods, involving Tethered Balloons or conventional aerial photography.
Infrastructure (excluding Villages and Towns)
- Infrastructure further classified as:
- Roads of different types, service stations, bus stations, railways, rail stations, rolling stock yards, canals, power lines, reservoir, power stations, bridges, dams, jetties, harbours, airports, radio, TV and mobile telephone towers, providing for each item, locations, estimates of numbers of each type, dimensions and variance.
- Indications of wood and timber use
classified as:
- Charcoal kilns and kiln sites, charcoal worker camps. loggers camps, logging buffalo, logging elephant, cut timber, cut firewood, cut poles, rafted timber, rafted bamboo, etc.. providing for each item, locations, estimates of numbers of each type, mean dimensions, and variance.
- Indications of
fishery activity classified as:
- Fishing boats, fishing camps, fishing nets, floats, traps, fish-drying racks, boat landings, ice storage depots, etc., providing for each item, locations, estimates of numbers of each type, dimensions and variance.
- Indications of hunting and poaching activity classified as:
- Snare lines, pit and trap lines, hunting camps, meat-drying racks, etc., providing for each item, locations, estimates of numbers of each type, dimensions and variance.
- Indications of
wild grass, palm and fibre use as:
- Harvested grass stooks, waste palm fronds, stripped bark in streams,etc. providing for each item, locations, estimates of numbers of each type, mean dimensions, and variance.
- Indications of agricultural use as:
- Underground grain stores, rice barns, straw stacks, straw stored in trees, bird-scaring platforms and kites, root crop stores, processing pavements, winnowing platforms, providing for each item, locations, estimates of numbers of each type, mean dimensions, and variance.
- Indications of mineral use as:
- Quarries, mine shafts, open cast mining areas, prospecting and mining pits, disposal areas, tailings, processing facilities, washing facilities, leaching ponds, smelting works, pit head works, ore and mineral stock-piles, etc., providing for each item, locations, status as in use, recently abandoned or ancient, estimates of numbers of each type, mean dimensions, and variance.
For more information contact: info@rmrkz.com