Abstract
The outline and results of more than three years of field and laboratory studies are presented. The work was done in cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service. Spectral maps generated from Landsat satellite data were used to aid in soil and vegetation surveys of five sites in southeastern Arizona. The sites are rangeland with varied physiography and relief, but generally sparse vegetation. It was found that spectral maps show a very positive correlation with grey tones or color patterns on photographs, and can be an excellent auxiliary tool for locating boundaries of mapping units. They can also aid in the location of representative sites for pedon descriptions, and could be used as an aid to quality control and map correlation studies in the field. The type and/or color of the geologic parent material was the dominant factor affecting the response recorded by the satellite.
Date of this Version
1980