By Sarah Friday Peters 



Siamak Khorram can tell you the 

 kinds of trees that grow on Bogue 

 Banks without setting a foot in 

 Carteret County. He can plot the 

 wetlands around Manteo without 

 seeing them and gauge how much 

 pollution floats in the Tar-Pamlico 

 River without ever taking a sample 

 on the spot. 



Khorram is no magician. But the 

 director of the N.C. State University 

 Computer Graphics Center is a 

 wizard with satellite technology and 

 the ways it can help us learn about 

 our world. 



Since 1972, the compact masses 

 of mirrors and machines have 

 launched a revolution in research. 

 NASA's Landsat satellites, espe- 

 cially, tell us about Earth's resources. 

 From 500 miles into space — the 

 distance from Raleigh to New York 

 City — satellites can survey North 

 Carolina's coastline or focus in on a 

 forest at Bogue Banks. 



In the past few years, Khorram 

 and his colleagues have used 

 advanced satellite and computer 

 technologies to take a closer look at 

 the state's forests, wetlands and 

 waters. At the coast, the researchers 

 helped map vegetation, farms and 

 other land in the Albemarle-Pamlico 

 area. They devised a model for 

 merging satellite data from different 

 regions. And they're looking for 

 ways to ensure that satellite image 

 comparisons over time are accurate. 



Their own timing couldn't be 

 better. 



Day by day, pressure grows on 

 the coast's resources. As demand for 

 land and water rises, so does the 

 need to understand the systems that 

 make up this fragile environment. 



Satellites can help. 



The photo-like images satellites 

 create can give scientists a clearer 

 picture of how riverine, oceanic and 

 estuarine systems intertwine. 



Researchers can use the data to count 

 wetlands at the coast and map water 

 quality, Khorram says. Land manag- 

 ers, in turn, can use the data to map, 

 then select, the best sites for develop- 

 ment or preservation. 



"You want to be able to see as 

 much of the earth as possible so that 

 you can see how these systems 

 interact," says John Brockhaus, a 

 member of Khorram' s research team. 



The coast marks a transition zone 

 to the ocean, says Sea Grant Director 

 B J. Copeland. "What happens in 

 that band is so tremendously influ- 

 enced by what happens beyond it, 

 that being able to see it in total 

 perspective is important. 



"That's why this technology is 



Coastal 

 Resources 



8 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER J 992 



