Geography 115A Lab #3: Vegetation, Agriculture, and Soils Fall 2005, Instructor: Jeff Hemphill, TA: Nick Gazulis 1. Introduction In this lab you will begin interpreting aerial photos. Recall from lecture and your text the photo interpretation elements of identification (size, shape, tone/color, texture, association, and context) and use these words in your answers where possible. When answering each question, please answer each question fully and justify your answer. Answers without proper justification will receive half credit at best. It is equally importan that you express your ideas in a clear and concise manner (i.e. do not write a paragraph when a sentence will do). A full credit answer need not provide more detail than necessary but will provide enough evidence to support your answer. Keep in mind that if you are asked to interpret photos in a professional setting, you will only be allotted a few lines or a few sentences to talk about what you see, so please use these labs as practice for the future. There are a lot of photos to interpret and questions to answer for this lab, so be efficient with your time. Feel free to work together but everyone must turn in his/her own work (paraphrase, don't plagiarize!). Unless the instructions say otherwise, orient the photos with the label info (date and frame number) facing away from you and assume north is up (this is usually true but there are exceptions). Deliverable: Answer the questions fully in a word processed document, clearly indicating which question and part of each question you are answering. Please paraphrase the question in your response (i.e. if the question was what type of film is this your answer should start the film used was ). Complete sentences are not required but complete ideas are. Hand drawn sketches will be accepted when required - either incorporate them into your typed lab or attach them as separate sheets and reference them in the text. No hand written labs will be accepted! As a reminder, the small stereoscopes are capable of 2x and 4x magnification, to get 4x magnification fold the legs outward (the legs have a spring loaded locking hinge mechanism that slides) and flip the extra lenses underneath the other lenses so the two sets of optics are together, ask you TA for help if you need it. High magnification is required for some of the questions. Extra credit can be earned for this lab, as well as other labs, if you find something interesting in the high resolution color 9x9 photos. Please note these things in the material you turn in and describe what/where it can be found and why you think it is interesting. 2. Problems 1) PW68479 1-3 (10/19/99) (7 mono prints available) 1a. What type of photography is this and what do the different tones of red indicate? 1b. What is the general pattern of land use present in the photograph? What season is this? Are these fertile soils?
1c. Why is there an overall tonal difference between the bare soil plots (light vs. dark tones) below and above the river channel? (orient the photo with the date and frame info facing away from you). Why do you think this is so? What component of the soil makes it dark? 1d. How many of the fields are in the process of being harvested? What is your evidence? excluding the crops you have counted as actively being harvested, are there many additional fields might be ready to harvest? What do these fields look like? 2) ST-05-36 OR ST-04-24 (11/06/00) (2 mono prints available) * these photos may be of Visalia, California * there are only two mono prints, only interpret one of them for this question * please make note of which image you choose to interpret 2a. What type of photography is this? What season is this? If there were no dates on these photos how might you be able to tell the season? 2b. Would you describe the residential community on this photograph as high, medium or low income? Why? 2c. Based on the color, texture, crown shape and size estimates, how many different types of trees are being grown in this area? Would you say this area is agriculturally diverse? 3) APS21010 1C (2/08/01) (4 mono prints available) 3a. Are there many actively growing crops in this area at this time? What type of crop(s) might be grown here? 3b. The right side of the image is dominated by large expanses of fenced off open grasslands, what type of agricultural practice are these areas used for? How do you know? 3c. The bare agricultural fields in this photo are different tones, what could cause this? 3d. Towards the upper right of the photo, locate the field with irregular dark markings on a light toned background, the field you are looking for is on the edge of the grasslands above two small groves containing the largest trees visible in the photo. What could have made this pattern in the field? 4) 210005 4-1 & 4-2 (1/22/01) (*only one stereo pair available) *orient photos for stereo viewing under the folding mirror stereoscope with title information along the left side 4a. Two water bodies are separated by a dam structure, look closely and sketch a 2d version of this feature. Look closely at the right side of the dam, there is a peculiar feature bisecting it that curves sharply, what is this thing and what is its purpose? 4b. Which way does water flow? How do you know? (left to right or right to left) 4c. Lining the banks of this waterway are large prominent trees, generally speaking what classification can you give to this type of vegetation? How many types of trees are there visible along the banks? (use the sheets provided to help you)
5) GS4576-S OR GS4576-1-3 OR GS4576-2-2 (2/14/01) (3 prints available) *please make note of which image you choose to interpret, only interpret one of them 5a. The photograph was taken over an area in the southern part of San Francisco Bay (Mountain View). Visible in this photograph are dark to light tone brown areas with sinuous features in them (ignore the urban area), what are these areas called? What causes the dark to light tones and curvy pattern? 5b. Characterize the type of soils which dominate these light and dark brown areas? Is this a fresh water or saline environment? Why, how can you tell? 5c. Has it rained recently? What is your evidence either way? Obviously rain would have an effect on this area (as it does all areas). Might there be a different physical process at work here? What is it? (think of the context of the photo i.e. where it was taken) 6) GS4547-S (1/30/01) (3 mono prints available) 6a. Orient the photo as you normally would with the label information facing away from you. Which direction is north? (hint: look at the shadows) 6b. This image shows a riparian corridor bordered by agriculture below the river and mixed suburban land use above the river. What substance dominates the soils in these areas? (hint: look at the tones of the bare ground in the river channel and the tones of the bare soil in the lots where new homes are being built) 6c. There are two small orchards planted in uniform rows visible in this photo; one is located in the lower left corner next to some residential structures and the other is located on the mid right side surrounding a large residential structure. are these two agricultural tree varieties the same? What is your evidence? 7) GS4542-1 and GS4542-2 (1/30/01) (3 stereo pairs available) *this stereo pair could possibly be of Paso Robles, California *orient photos for stereo viewing under the mirror stereoscope with title information along the left side 7a. Using the small stereoscope configured for 4x magnification (legs folded out, extra lenses flipped under) look closely at the river channel. Which way does the water flow? What fluvial features are allowing you to determine flow direction in the river channel? 7b. There are several types of large tall trees visible on these photos, where are the tallest trees? (in the grove on the right side of the river channel or the left side?) Estimate how many types of trees are visible in these areas? Take a guess as to what type of tree dominates? 7c. Locate the bridge crossing the river channel, just north of it on the left side of the road there is an area where scraping and scarring associated with preparing for construction can be seen. Look at these photos using a stereoscope to see if this area is being built up or if soil material is being removed. What type of soil is being moved in this location? Where do you think the material being moved? (look closely for evidence of which direction the vehicles are going) 8) APS21002 1C (2/08/01) (5 mono prints available) 8a. Look closely at the large fields in this photo, is there anything actively growing in these fields? What crop if any? How do you know? 8b. Look at the obvious large facility that consists of three attached rectangular
structures in the lower left of the photo and what is around it, what could this place be? (hint: small parking lot, large buildings, tall fence around it ) 8c. There is a structure under construction below this main facility with an oddly arranged building plan, how many stories is this building going to be? (including the basement level, (hint: look at shadow on the floor inside the large open spaces within the structure) 8d. In the parcel adjacent to the main facility, to the right of it, along the same street, there are two large rectangular areas with streets within them, what are these areas used for? (hint: look closely at the linearly arranged rows of small white objects, and their shadows) 9) 01-800018 238-1 No. 4-01 (3/12/01) (4 mono prints) 9a. What type of photography is this? What type of crop is most likely growing in the large bright red areas? 9b. Notable on these photos are several large facilities that contain large rectangular black toned areas with elongated white roofed structures in them, what are these areas? Why are they so dark? 9c. Look closely at one of these large black areas, what is being produced here? Based on association, what is the most likely use of the crops harvested from the fields? 9d. Find the largest of these dark areas and estimate its area in square feet, provide a sketch of the area and the dimensions you measured (note the scale is on the photo). If the black material is on average one foot deep what is the total volume of material contained in the area you measured in cubic feet? 10) Stereogram - South Albemarle II No. 208 (12 copies available) 10a. Why are the pine forests in regularly defined areas? Are these areas natural or have they been planted? 10b. Why are the trees in the area of A.7-4.2 smaller than those in most of the other areas? What is going on here? 11) Stereogram - Trelease Woods No. 201 (9 copies available) *This is a major agricultural area of the U.S. and illustrates a typical farmstead in the Midwest. The woodlot is a "virgin" forest. 11a. How many different species of trees can be identified in the virgin forest from tone alone? Explain the biological variation of tone seen in this stand of trees. 11b. What type of farm is this at the bottom of the image? 12) Stereogram - Plantation No. 410 (7 copies available) 11a. What is the dark branching pattern visible in the fields in the top part of the stereogram and what caused it? (hint: its not a fire, or flooding - think geologic time scales) 13) Stereogram - Bow Island No. 321 (8 copies available) 13a. What are the circular features in the photo? What causes them? Why are they circular instead of linear?
13b. What type of crops are probably grown here? How many different crops are visible? 13c. What is the approximate area covered within one of these circular features? (show you work and answer in square kilometers) 14) Texas Instruments - No. 525 (several available) 3. Figures 14a. What kind of image is this? (hint: look at the photo look at the context think about what the purpose of the photo is) 14b. When was the image acquired? (day or night? what part of the day/night?) Explain why things appear as they do in this type of image? 14d. What are the patches of light dots in the lower right of the image adjacent to the bend in the river?