First look analyses of five cycles of ERTS-1 imagery over County of Los Angeles: Assessment of data utility for urban development and regional planning

Significant results have been obtained from the analyses of ERTS-1 imagery from five cycles over Test Site SR 124 by classical photointerpretation and by an interactive hybrid multispectral information extraction system (GEMS). The synopticity, periodicity and multispectrality of ERTS coverage, available for the first time to LA County planners, have opened up both a new dimensionality in data and offer new capability in preparation of planning inputs. Photointerpretation of ERTS images has produced over 25 overlays at 1:1,000,000 scale depicting regional relations and urban structure in terms of several hundred linear and areal features. To mention only one such result, a possible new fault lineament has been discovered on the northern slope of the Santa Monica mountains in the scene 1144-18015, composited of MSS bands 4, 5, 6,. GEMS analysis of the ERTS products has provided new or improved information in the following planning data categories: urban vegetation; land cover segregation; man-made and natural impact monitoring; urban design; and suitability. ERTS data analysis has allowed planners to establish trends that directly impact planning policies. This new source of information will not only assist current methods to be more efficient, but permits entirely new planning methodologies to be employed.