In this first step you will visually analyze two satellite images (and others if you follow the LAB GUIDE) that cover a portion of the North Coast of Honduras where Pico Bonito National Park and Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge are located. If you desire, you may download a larger (hi-resolution) version of each image to analyze in a separate photo viewer, e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Freehand MX or Fireworks, ERDAS Image, IDRISI Kilimanjaro or similar image processing software. Or you can open the images in a separate Internet Explorer window and flip back-and-forth.

Hi-res Image No. 1 - Cuero y Salado (western-most image)
Hi-res Image No. 2 - Pico Bonito and La Ceiba (eastern-most image)
See also Landsat-Infrared and Topographic map #1 and La Ceiba - Topo #2

NOTE: The images above are NOT georeferenced and are for visual inspection only.

Use image processing software to visually examine the above images and see how much you can identify:

• Can you identify examples of some of the following land uses and/or land covers?

• Can you explain the difference between a land use and land cover (LULC)?

• Review concepts of LULC if you have not done so!
  

Try to identify examples of the following:

• Natural forest cover vs. agricultural forest cover (orchard crops, African oil Palm)
• Pasture (livestock) lands (grasslands) vs. subsistence agriculture (mixed cropping)
• Industrial agriculture (intensive horticulture, e.g. pineapple production)
• Urban areas--business districts
• Urban--residential
• Industrial zones and processing
• Quarrying or mining, including gravel and sand collecting in rivers
• Smaller settlements - more scattered (with mixed agriculture on larger lots)
• Types of transportation, e.g. railroads, highways (paved and unpaved), airports, seaports
• Wetlands (natural and man-made)
• Tourism facilities (hotels, visitor centers)
• Drainage systems--hydrography (natural vs. man-made)
• Coastal landforms: lagoons, estuaries, beach dunes, off-shore reefs
• Fishing infrastructure (marinas, packing plants)
  
  

Do QUIZ BELOW BEFORE the Virtual Tour

Instructions:

In this quiz you will attempt to visually interpret what you are observing in terms of LULC (Land Use and/or Land Cover) at each of the numbers/sites on the map. You can then check your answers with an online key (to be provided). Depending on your needs and interest, doing this online QUIZ and then the VIRTUAL TOUR may be sufficient. If you want to learn how to do a full supervised classification of the LANDSAT IMAGE (go to the LAB GUIDE).

NOTE: You will still be asked to do the QUIZ below as a way of preparing to identify "land classes" and "training sites" (go to LAB GUIDE).

Check your answers online and then do the virtual tour to learn more.

Click HERE for QUIZ (PDF format)

- print and answer the questions looking at the images below. The IMAGES include numbered sites for you to answer questions about. Look particularly at the features and/or areas within the polygons.

QUIZ Image No. 1 - Cuero y Salado (western image) and Hi-res Image No. 1 - Cuero y Salado

QUIZ Image No. 2 - Pico Bonito and La Ceiba (eastern image) and Hi-res Image No. 2 - Pico Bonito and La Ceiba

Landsat-Infrared and Topographic map #1 and La Ceiba - Topo #2

 

STEP NO. 2: VIRTUAL TOUR LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH TRAINING SITE

Instructions:

Click on each of the numbers on the two maps that follow. Each number will take you to a series of ground-level and oblique aerial photos of the surrounding landscape. There will also be a brief written description about the ecology, biology, geography, settlement, livelihood and other patterns seen there that will help prepare you to do a more sophisticated supervised classification (as presented in the LAB GUIDE). This will also give you more explanation on what you got right or wrong in the online QUIZ you took in STEP 1.

NOTE: In the LAB GUIDE it is asumed you have access to and know how to use at a basic level spatial analysis GIS/RS software tools such as: ERDAS Imagine, ESRI, Inc.'s ArcGIS (ArcView, ArcReader, ArcEditor), or IDRISI/Andes Edition.

 

Back to TOP

Bob Ford Home	Earth System Science Core Courses - LLU-SST - EBS
	SPOL 665 Info-Tech.	BIOL 549 Biodiv. & Conser.	SPOL 624 Nature-Soc. Thought	SPOL 554 Env. Eq. Eco. Dev. Policy	ESSC 401-2 ES-Sci.	ESSC 541-2 Remote Sensing	ESSC 575  Field Practicum