Wednesday, 9 November 2005
6

Application of GIS-Based Remote Area Soil Proxy (RASP) Model.

Crystal Briggs1, Toby Rodgers1, Jon Riedel2, and Alan Busacca3. (1) USDA-NRCS, 2021 E. College Way, Ste. 106, Mount Vernon, WA 98273-1924, (2) North Cascades National Park, 7280 Ranger Station Road, Marblemount, WA 98267, (3) Washington State University, Washington State Univ., PO Box 646420, Pullman, WA 99164-6420

Wilderness areas have historically been excluded from soil inventories due to the high cost and logistics of mapping difficult terrain. Traditional mapping techniques are not feasible in wilderness areas in Washington State where hiking trails provide the only access to many hectares of land. In Washington, there are approximately 2.3 million hectares of federal lands that have not been mapped; of which 700,000 are National Park lands. The Remote Area Soil Proxy (RASP) model was developed at Washington State University and has been applied to 285,000 hectares of wilderness for demonstration and development of new mapping technology. The RASP model uses a Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing technology, and a focused effort to describe soils in the field to model and map the distribution of soils. With the increasing capabilities of GIS and remote sensing software, it is possible to model soil-landscape relationships via digital data and satellite imagery combined with a reduced amount of fieldwork. Digital GIS data layers such as current vegetation, digital elevation models, and landforms serve as proxies for the soil-forming factors that control pedogenic processes. The use of landform maps created by Jon Riedel, North Cascades National Park geologist, provided a preliminary landscape delineation that simplified the sampling strategy. Landforms have also proven to be instrumental in predicting soil types based on the correlation between landforms and the soil forming factors of time (stability) and parent material. Through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, we will be applying the RASP model to the remaining watersheds of North Cascades, Mt. Rainier, and Olympic National Parks as individual watershed landform maps become available.

Handout (.pdf format, 13734.0 kb)

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