REMOTE SENSING CENSUS PROJECT

PROJECT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN BRAZIL, AFGHANISTAN & ETHIOPIA OR ALTERNATIVE COUNTRIES (KENYA, BOLIVIA, THAILAND) CHOSEN BECAUSE OF DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL SETTINGS & PATTERNS OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT. PROJECT WILL TAKE PLACE IN 3 PHASES. DURING PHASE I(APPROXIMATELY ONE YEAR),THE US BUREAU OF THE CENSUS(BUCEN) WILL ASSIST HOST COUNTRY GOVERNMENTS IN ORGANIZING & PREPARING A DETAILED WORK PLAN,IN THE TRAINING OF PARTICIPANTS,ACQUIRING FACILITIES & ERTS-B SATELLITE EQUIPMENT FROM NASA & EROS(EARTH RESOURCES OBSERVATION SYSTEM),ASSEMBLING & INTEGRATING EQUIPMENT & REFERENCE DATA & PERFORMING OTHER TECHNICAL FUNCTIONS. THE ACTUAL EXPERIMENTAL USE OF ERTS & AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES WILL TAKE PLACE IN PHASE II. ACTIVITIES OF THIS PHASE WILL BE STRUCTURED FOR BOTH RURAL & URBAN SETTINGS & WILL LAST 18 MONTHS. EMPIRICAL MODELS WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR RELATING POPULATION TO VARIOUS LAND USES IN HOST COUNTRIES. PHOTOMAPS OF 1: 250000(OR LARGER SCALE) WILL BE USED TO DELINEATE LIMITS OF URBANIZATION,IDENTIFY PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENT & RELATED AGRICULTURAL USE & TO CLARIFY LAND USE CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH SEMI-NOMADIC HABITATION. THIS PHASE WILL BE FOLLOWED BY EVALUATIONS & REGIONAL WORKSHOPS CONDUCTED BY BUCEN,EROS FOR INFORMATION DISSEMINATION. THE INFORMATION DERIVED FROM ERTS & AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY WILL BE CORRELATED IN PHASE III WITH CENSUS & RELATED STATISTICAL DATA. MODELS WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPED FOR ESTIMATING RURAL & URBAN POPULATION CHANGE. PHASE III WILL EXTEND FOR APPROXIMATELY TWO & ONE-HALF YEARS & WILL INCLUDE A COST/BENEFIT ASSESSMENT OF ERTS AS USED FOR CENSUS-TAKING PURPOSES AS COMPARED WITH CONVENTIONAL METHODS. A FINAL OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT WILL BE TO DEVELOP THE INSTITUTIONAL CAPABILITIES OF THE HOST COUNTRIES TO APPLY ERTS IN CENSUS-TAKING & OTHER AREAS WHERE APPLICABLE,SUCH AS GEOGRAPHY,STATISTICS,CARTOGRAPHY,AGRONOMY.