Philosophy

CRS's vision is to make significant contributions to the understanding of the world's ecosystems.  To accomplish this, CRS provides the University of North Texas a unique capability to link these multiple resource investigations in a spatially oriented manner. In order to achieve this link, CRS provides remote sensing techniques, digital image processing, and geographic information systems capabilities.

Remote sensing techniques are used by the CRS to collect valuable, often unique information about the Earth's land, water, atmosphere, and biological resources. Remote sensing systems, such as cameras, scanners, radars, and lasers can be employed to inventory, evaluate, and monitor land use, water resources, cropland and rangeland, conservation practices, and urbanization. Remote sensing instruments employed for such applications are frequently mounted aboard aircraft or orbiting satellites and spacecraft. Carried in such vehicles, these systems can provide a rapid, repetitive coverage of large regional areas at a relatively low cost.

Digital image processing, often associated with computer graphics, is based on image data -- the individual elements of a picture usually produced through remote sensing. Image processing at CRS involves a set of techniques known as "image enhancement" for uncovering information which in its "raw" state may go unobserved. The aim of image processing is to make an image more informative by extracting minute details.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are robust, computer based tools for integrating and analyzing data obtained from such diverse sources as remote sensing, soil surveys, land ownership maps, water sampling stations, topographic maps, depth to ground water contours, and the census. At CRS, GIS allows all types of geographically referenced data to be spatially registered so that multiple themes of data can be compared and analyzed at the same time. Once stored, these data can be automatically extracted, reconfigured, updated, analyzed and mapped in a format and at a scale designed to meet a specific need. This provides an extremely sophisticated approach for decision making requirements in a rapid, cost effective manner.