means a different type of land 

 cover," Khorram says, pointing to a 

 mass of white on the image. "These 

 are all urban areas. This is the road 

 coming down, 1-95," he says, tracing 

 his finger along a thread of white. 

 "Coming up here is the Washington, 

 D.C., area. Coming down here, that's 

 Virginia Beach." The wetlands show 

 up nearby in different shades of 

 green. 



By piecing the regions together, 

 the two teams proved other mapping 

 projects could be linked using the 

 methodologies they developed. The 

 process, called "collective 

 mosaicking," joins one satellite map 

 of thousands of dots of color to 

 another map like pieces of a puzzle. 

 A perfect match virtually erases the 

 boundary lines between the two 

 regions and creates that big picture 

 scientists need. 



Now Khorram and his colleagues 

 are taking their coastal satellite 

 research a step further, again with 

 Sea Grant support from NOAA's 



Satellite uses 

 for future coastal 

 research seem endless. 

 For now. the technology 

 provides a fast and 

 cost-effective mail 

 to let governments, 

 industries and citizens 

 learn more about the 

 sites that provide 

 their livelihoods 

 and resources, 

 and about uihat's right 

 in their own bachijards. 



Scon Taylor 



Coastal Ocean Program. 



The North Carolina researchers 

 can now detect changes in water and 

 land uses over time. Khorram's task 

 is to find ways to ensure that can be 

 done as accurately as possible. 



"You take satellite [data] from 

 10 years ago, and you take satellite 

 data from today and map the 

 distribution of urban development, 

 wetlands, agriculture, forestry, 

 barren land ... things like that," 

 Khorram says. "By comparing them, 

 you know what's happened in the 

 last 10 years." 



Satellites can also help detect 

 coastline changes over time, he adds. 



Satellite uses for future coastal 

 research seem endless, the research- 

 ers say. For now, says Khorram, the 

 technology provides a fast and cost- 

 effective way to let governments, 

 industries and citizens learn more 

 about the sites that provide their 

 livelihoods and resources, and about 

 what's right in their own backyards. □ 



12 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1992 



