REMOTE SENSING PILOT PROJECT : PROJECT EVALUATION SUMMARY

PILOT PROJ DESIGNED TO DEMONSTRATE APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNOLOGY TO NATURAL RESOURCE INFO GATHERING & ANALYSIS, AND TO PREPARE COSTA RICAN TECHNICIANS TO EXECUTE A 4-YEAR FOLLOW-UP NATIONAL PROJ. EVAL FOCUSED ON ANALYSIS OF PROJ OUTPUTS AND PROGRESS TOWARD END-OF-PROJ INDICATORS; BASED ON PROJ DOCUMENTATION, PROGRESS REPORTS, AND INTERVIEWS OF PROJ PRINCIPALS. CONSIDERABLE PROGRESS ACHIEVED IN RELATION TO PROGRAM DESIGN: FIVE COSTA RICAN PROFESSIONALS REPRESENTING INVOLVED AGENCIES RECEIVED ON-SITE PARTICIPANT TRNG AT THE EARTH RESOURCES OBSERVATION SYSTEM (EROS) FACILITY,BAY-ST LOUIS,MISS,AND AT THE SAN JOSE STATE UNIV GEOGRAPHY DEPT. SIX MONTHS LATER,THE PARTICIPANTS RECEIVED FOLLOW-ON TRNG IN DATA INTERPRETATION,DIGITAL ANALYSIS,AND MAP PREPARATION AT THE OFFICE OF THE RESOURCES DVLP ASSOCIATES (RDA) CONTRACTOR. COSTA RICAN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE PERSONNEL RECEIVED RDA TRNG IN AERIAL PHOTO TECHNIQUES,AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS,AND COLOR INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY. SATELLITE IMAGERY (LANDSAT),AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY,AND FIELD SURVEY DATA COLLECTED ON 5,000 SQ KM (10% OF COSTA RICA) CURRENTLY BEING UTILIZED BY PARTICIPANTS IN THE PREPARATION OF PROJ AREA MAPS. INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF A DATA COLLECTION,ANALYSIS,AND UTILIZATION SYSTEM IS NOW UNDER DISCUSSION WITH FORMATION OF A SPECIAL OFFICE BEING PROPOSED. UTILIZING NEW EXPERTISE IN LAND USAGE & RESOURCE MAPS,PARTICIPANTS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPLEMENT LAND MGMT PLANNING IN THEIR RESPECTIVE AGENCIES. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED WERE NOT OF MAJOR IMPORT: LATE ARRIVAL OF LANDSAT DATA;A FAILURE IN THE EROS IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEM;AND HEAVY AGENCY WORK LOADS OF PARTICIPANTS NECESSITATING POSTPONEMENT & ULTIMATE COMPRESSION OF RDA FOLLOW-ON TRNG. SUCH DELAYS WILL LIKELY NECESSITATE 6-WEEK EXTENSION OF PROJ COMPLETION DATE. EOPS CONDITIONS SUBSTANTIALLY MET,HOWEVER,AND FOLLOWING IN-DEPTH TECH EVAL,TRANSITION TO NATIONAL PROJ STAGE ANTICIPATED. PROGRAM MANAGER DIRECTED TO DETERMINE NEED FOR PILOT PROJ EXTENSION & POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF HIATUS BETWEEN PROJECT STAGES.