DigitalGlobe, provider of the high resolution commercial satellite imagery and geospatial information products, announced that the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR) has elected to include DigitalGlobe’s QuickBird satellite imagery in its suite of GIS data to help manage and protect a variety of coastal marine resources while promoting economic growth.
DMR manages coastal marine resources throughout the three coastal Mississippi counties of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson. DMR’s Comprehensive Resource Management Plan (CRMP) is a special management program encompassing these three counties as well as Pearl River, Stone and George Counties. Created in response to increased demands placed on marine resources resulting from the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s booming casino industry, CRMP is coordinating agency efforts, developing public and private partnerships, and integrating wetland and water quality protection and management into the lifestyle of the coastal community.
QuickBird imagery will be used, in part, to support CRMP’s overall goal of building and enhancing the capacity of local jurisdictions to manage and protect coastal wetlands and marine resources. DMR uses QuickBird satellite image products in a GIS to support CRMP’s land development suitability model, a non-regulatory planning tool used by city and county agencies to assess environmental conditions, address growth management issues, accommodate sustainable development and reduce pressure on coastal wetlands and marine resources.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast encompasses 370 miles of shoreline and nearly 56,000 acres of emergent wetlands. DMR purchased 10 scenes (2,720 square kilometers) of 60-centimeter resolution panchromatic and 2.44-meter resolution multispectral QuickBird imagery covering six coastal preserves, which encompasses 34,282 acres. In addition, DMR purchased four scenes of imagery of the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Jackson County, which encompasses about 11,733 acres. DMR is using the QuickBird imagery to identify and delineate features such as new development areas, land use/land cover, and impervious surfaces.
DMR uses QuickBird imagery in conjunction with conventional, commercially available high-resolution aerial imagery. The QuickBird data will primarily cover large, widespread geographic areas throughout the counties, whereas the aerial imagery will mainly be used in the urban areas to meet large-scale mapping specifications. Together, the two sources of remote sensing data will help create data layers in a regional GIS to serve the coastal cities and counties, which will tie-in to statewide, coast wide and nationwide GIS efforts.
Several federal and state programs are either partnering with or contributing funding to support DMR/CRMP, including National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Federal Emergency Mapping Agency (FEMA).
