Some Information Needs for Agriculture

With the mission of "Helping People Help the Land," the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides products and services that enable people to be good stewards of the Nation\´s soil, water, and related natural resources on non-federal lands. Aerial and satellite imagery in the form of digital orthoimagery is the geospatial foundation of the NRCS mission. Imagery is essential to delivering conservation technical assistance to landowners, to data gathering for the soil survey program and the National Resources Inventory (NRI), to program management efficiency, and for carrying out disaster response. NRCS uses both aerial (film and digital) and satellite imagery in meeting its mission responsibilities. One-meter resolution, natural color imagery is used for soil survey program field mapping and digitizing soils boundaries and in the customer service toolkit geographic information system (GIS) for conservation planning at all service centers. Very high (3-6 inch) resolution photography is used to collect natural resource data at the NRI\´s 800,000 sample points and to monitor wetlands reserve program (WRP) easement compliance. One-meter resolution pansharpened satellite imagery is the choice for areas where aerial collection is difficult because of weather, distance from the contiguous U.S., and cost. In the operational use of imagery, NRCS strives to maximize purchases through cost-sharing agreements and new technologies.