News

KARS is pleased to announce the release of the Level IV classification of the Kansas Land Cover Patterns 2005 (KLCP2005) map. This second phase of KLCP2005 contains a significantly more detailed analysis of the Kansas landscape. Utilizing 26 bi-weekly satellite scenes from 2005, this dataset displays the distribution of several agricultural crops, irrigation status, and grassland types. This dataset is an important resource for many scientific researchers, including those focused on ecology, agronomy, economics, and water resources. Additional information about the project can be found on the KLCP2005 Level IV research page. Visit the KLCP2005 Maps page ...

Severe, widespread flooding in southeast Kansas in 2007 resulted in a Federal Disaster Declaration in 20 counties. Researchers at the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program (KARS), a research unit of the Kansas Biological Survey, helped gather and interpret satellite and airborne imagery for this event, with the objective of identifying areas impacted by floodwater. KARS scientists were able to provide valuable, post-event information to communities and state agencies, but limitations of imaging systems (such as cloud obstruction and delayed timings of overflights) exposed a critical information gap--the State had no capability for real-time estimation of floodwater extent. This information is ...

Jude Kastens, Research Assistant Professor at the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program (KARS), recently spent a week in Campinas, Brazil (about 50 km northwest of São Paulo), at Embrapa, the Brazilian agricultural research agency similar to the USDA. Jude worked with researchers who had gathered data on field boundaries and management histories from over 400 fields in the state of Mato Grosso. He helped them organize and standardize their database and helped them begin work on cropland discrimination and land cover classification.

Collaborative research by teams from KU and K-State was featured in the 2009 issue of KU Works for Kansas, a publication of the KU Office of University Relations. The article describes the purpose of a three-year, statewide, ecological-forecasting study. To read the article in its entirety, visit KU Works for Kansas.

Researchers in the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program, a unit of the Kansas Biological Survey, were featured in the 2009 edition of KU Works for Kansas, a publication of the KU Office of University Relations. The article provides information on the GreenReport, a map series that uses satellite imagery to predict crop conditions. To read the article in its entirety, visit KU Works for Kansas.

For the past 20 years, the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS) program of the Kansas Biological Survey has been providing land cover and land use information derived from the digital classification of satellite imagery to the Kansas Water Office and a variety of state agencies involved in water and natural resource planning. Recently, KARS completed the latest and most detailed map of land cover and land use for the State. This map provides important information to inform the governor and Legislature on water and other natural resource issues as they consider them for policy enactment. It is also valuable to ...

Article on crop yield forecasting entitled 'Satellites are watching your corn'

KARS scientists are studying the rate of sedimentation in state reservoirs that threatens sources of drinking water.