Remote Sensing & Types of Land Pollution

Remote sensing often uses satellite imagery.

City planners, especially those on coastal regions or close to major water sources, are using remote sensing to mitigate and prevent the effects of land pollution. Quite often, land pollution comes from many sources, which makes targeting any specific source much more difficult. However, with aerial imaging, land managers can now take more aggressive steps to protect endangered habitats.

Identification

Remote sensing, often used by government weather-monitoring agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, uses satellite imagery and aerial photography to estimate land pollution and the possible effects of new sources of land pollution, according to Shannon Crum of the Department of Geography at University of Texas -- Austin.

Function

The most important function of remote sensing predicts how runoff from pollution from land-based sources, such as sewage and landfills, will likely effect surrounding areas. Environmental scientists can also use digital mapping to locate natural habitats for wildlife and plan the placement of polluting industries to minimize damage to the local ecology.

Types

Remote sensing does not necessarily differentiate between particular types of land pollution but merely lumps pollution into point and non-point sources. Non-point sources of pollution do not come from factories and plants but from general areas, such as lawn chemicals from a residential community. Most environmental managers use remote sensing to handle non-point sources.

Benefits

Instead of having to deal with the aftereffects of land pollution flowing into water sources and habitats, remote sensing allows the prevention of land pollution contamination. This happens by looking at the characteristics of land close to water sources, such as the amount of soil available to absorb runoff water and pavement coverage.

Prevention/Solution

Local governments use the data from remote sensing to generate new policies and stricter regulations on new land development and polluting industries. New York uses remote sensing to prevent non-point source land pollution from moving into the Carmans River. The state limits concrete pavement, which does not absorb runoff water, and finds high-polluting locales around the river.

References

• Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing; Crum, Shannon (2000)
• Remote Sensing for Coastal Management