Impact of remote-sensing technology could equate of that of Internet

BOWLING GREEN, O.—It’s a technology that can be good for business and the environment at the same time.

That may sound improbable, but Dr. Robert Vincent, a professor of geology at Bowling Green State University, is convinced that multispectral remote sensing will impact business similarly to the Internet. In addition, “remote sensing is going to make our world a lot better place environmentally,” says Vincent, also the director of a remote-sensing consortium of Ohio universities.

He and his BGSU colleague, Dr. Norman Levine, made the case for expanded use of the technology in higher education at the 114th annual meeting of the Geological Society of America held this week at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

With images of Earth provided by the Landsat satellite, remote sensing uses electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths to determine chemical composition and other important properties of surface materials. It’s “technology that allows you to study what’s there without being there,” Vincent says, adding that the “multispectral” part—meaning many wavelengths—is what enables differentiation between types of the same material, such as clay.

“Multispectral remote sensing is the most important tool for geology since isotopic age dating of rocks,” according to the BGSU geoscientist, because more than 4,000 minerals occur naturally in rocks and soils, and all but about a half-dozen of them have their own chemical compositions.

The higher the number of spectral bands, the better the separation of minerals, allowing more accurate characterization of the surface. From there, scientists can better extrapolate what’s underneath and the history of the land feature, Vincent says.

Among the problems with which the technology can be helpful is acid rain, because knowing what minerals are at the surface will shed light on how the rain will affect a certain area, he says. Environmental monitoring of a broader nature is also possible with remote sensing, and it should be applied to industrial plants for that purpose, he argues.

Environmental monitoring with multispectral remote sensing is good for business, Vincent says, because if a harmful chemical is leaking from a plant, it can be detected early and stopped before it becomes more difficult, and costly, to clean up.

“It’s a bottom-line issue,” he contends, pointing out that companies have gone bankrupt due to unintended environmental mistakes. Self-monitoring would also encourage investment in businesses that do it, as well as casting them in a more positive light with their neighbors, he adds.

Because of the potential for new jobs in the field, Vincent believes more universities should be teaching the technology. He urges that geology departments offer courses in remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems—digitized maps that incorporate information culled from remote sensing. Students in related fields, such as geography and chemistry, should be encouraged to take remote-sensing courses as well, he adds, calling for more interaction between geology and its sister science departments.

He would like to create a “virtual university” to offer pooled courses in remote sensing and GIS. That would be “a dream come true,” allowing graduate students at participating universities to get a master’s degree, and possibly a Ph.D., by taking courses on their home campuses and the Web, he says.

Ohioview, the consortium that Vincent directs, includes the state’s 10 research universities, Central State University and several partners, including the NASA Glenn Research Center and the U.S. Geological Survey. The organization was formed with federal funding in 1996 to make satellite data more accessible and to fill the knowledge gap in education about uses of the data. It has also served as a pilot project for a planned Americaview consortium for remote sensing.


(Posted October 30, 2002)