Using 70-mm aerial photography to identify rangeland sites

A south Texas rangeland area was used as a study site to test the use of microdensitometry on 70-mm color-infrared and black-and-white photographs (scale 1:19,000) for distinguishing among 11 range sites (two brushland, seven grassland, two barren land) during the winter (February), spring (May), and summer (August) of 1976. Color-infrared photographs were also taken at a scale of 1:42,000 for the summer date. Film optical density readings were made on one color-infrared film with white light only. The best separations among density readings for all range sites were obtained using white light exposed on color-infrared film in the summer when vegetation was at peak foliage development. Results from this study indicate that 70-mm aerial color-infrared photography at a scale of 1:19,000 or 1:42,000 has good potential for identifying range sites in large and inaccessible areas, and could be a useful tool for range management.