On Jan 10, 2012, the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Beijing, China launched a high-resolution remote-sensing satellite for civilian use. The Ziyuan III satellite will be used to help monitor China's land-resources surveys, natural-disaster prevention, agriculture development, water-resources management, and urban planning. The Ziyuan III satellite was launched aboard a Long March 4B rocket and also carried a satellite from Luxembourg.

OrbView-3 satellite images collected around the world between 2003 and 2007 by Orbital Imaging Corporation (now GeoEye) at up to one-meter resolution can now be downloaded at no cost through USGS EarthExplorer. 

"This is a significant addition to the USGS archive and a valuable resource for the global science community," said Matthew Larsen, Associate Director, Climate and Land Use Change. "Free access through the USGS archive amplifies the utility of the data, making it feasible for many researchers to study large areas at this level of accuracy."  The OrbView-3 dataset includes 180,000 scenes of one meter resolution panchromatic, black and white, and four meter resolution multi-spectral (color and infrared) data, providing high resolution data useful for a wide range of science applications. The OrbView-3 dataset joins over 170 separate collections of aerial photography and space-based data cataloged in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive and available through USGS EarthExplorer.  

In 2012 it is important to monitor global agriculture programs to find out what is working with crop yield forecasts, the effets of climate change (loss of biodiversity, deteriorating soil and water quality) and agriculture monitored from a remote sensing point of view.

Agriculture risk is always increased because of climate variability and change. Rising temperatures, infrequent rainfall patterns, increase in the severity of droughts, floods and wind storms effect the food growing cycle.

Measures to cope with these weather patterns include climate forecasting, climate information generation and disemination, early warning systems, and mapping of agriculture losses through remote sensing technology. Remote sensing is a fast-growing technology using highly sophisticated sensors on satellites and other elevated platforms as well as on the ground. Remote Sensing is used for agriculture, ecosystems, and hydrology.

In the United States, the USGS operates two remote sensing satellites Landsat 5 and Landsat 7. The USGS provides the Nation's portal to the largest archive of remotely sensed land data in the world, supplying continuous access to current and historical land images worldwide.

In Europe, the Monitoring Agricultural ResourceS (MARS) Unit Mission is watching developing countries like Africa and putting into place a global agriculture monitoring to provide expertise in agro-meteorological crop modelling, sampling methods, econometrics, geomatics (GIS, GPS and ICT), and satellite & airborne remote-sensing (the Unit manages the EC Framework Contracts for the provision of Satellite Remote Sensing data and manages the access/dissemination of EU image data archives).

Microimages.com  has been helping the Peace Pipe Ranch in Texas examine their mesquite trees by using infrared aerial photography and processing that information with the use of commercial image processing software.

They are currently using Landsat overview imagery to look at three sections of the property. using the previously taken aerial photos and then comparing them with Landsat images to plan brush control treatments.  In the past, color infrared film was used for mapping mesquite because near infrared energy is reflected well by chlorophyll-rich green vegetation like mesquite. July pictures were taken because there were less surrounding grasses and the mesquite could be viewed as bright red in the photos. This is in Band 3 of the electromagnetic spectrum and is designed to sense in a chlorophyll absorption region aiding in plant species differentiation. . With specialized software the Peace Pipe Ranch could create a map of all the mesquite on the property and then prioritize which areas should be sprayed based on their value for growing forage grasses. This reduced the amount of money spent on chemicals and aerial spray services each year. Their goal was to reduce mesquite and open up more of the 66,000 acres so that more grasses would grow to help feed the cattle on the ranch. Using precision aerial spraying they accomplished their goal.

Mesquite tree danger of being consumed as bio-energy to produce ethanol

The mesquite tree is a wonder tree that has been used by the Native Americans and most wildlife to sustain their existence for over 2,000 years and now it is in danger of being consumed as bio-energy to produce ethanol. According to AgNews, June 21, 2006, Dr. Jim Ansley, Experiment Station rangeland researcher at Vernon, is determining the feasibility of developing a bio-energy industry in rural West Central Texas using the mesquite-covered mid-section of Texas. In his plan he states they will start with 2 million acres available for harvest in the Rolling Plains, starting with only 1/3 of the 2 million acres. His purpose is to provide fuel for about 400 small ethanol plants in the area.

We have seen this destruction before, "In the Sonoran Desert of Mexico, the mesquite tree is being harvested in order to fulfill the demand for mesquite charcoal.  Since roughly 1980, mesquite wood has been used as a cooking fuel to enrich the flavor and scent of grilled foods.  In the last decade, the demand and popularity of mesquite has augmented.  Over 500,000 acres of mesquite have been cleared in northern Mexico in order to meet the growing demand. "the denuding of the Sonoran Desert over the past century has reduced the numbers of 36 of the 82 kinds of birds that depend on the flood-plain mesquite forest habitat."  In a related article, Dr. Nabhan also states: "If both the U.S. and Mexico do not address deforestation soon, other efforts to protect endangered species in this area will be undermined."  Instead of cutting the mesquite tree, dried mesquite pods can be placed on any wood or charcoal and provide the same experience and flavor without destroying the mesquite tree." Legislation has been introduced in Mexico to limit mesquite cutting.

Model:  "The Use of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems for Soil Erosion Hazard Mapping in Chiapas, Mexico". They use satellite images obtained through the North American Landscape Characterization (NALC) program. This project is part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Landsat Pathfinder Program and has rendered public domain Landsat Multispectrai Scanner (MSS) images for most of the North American continent.

Mesquite is a Low Carb, Naturally Sweet Diet Supplement

The mesquite tree produces a sweet, yellow pod that is used in food because it is high in dietary fiber and protein including lysine. Mesquite ground pods are used as a low carb, low fat, low glycemic, and high in dietary fiber but naturally sweet diet supplement. The mesquite pods are used in flour and other cooking recipes as a source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc.  The ground mesquite pods are highly effective in balancing blood sugar because the digestive time for mesquite is to 4 to 6 hours unlike wheat that digests in 1 to 2 hours. These factors result in a food that maintains a constant blood sugar for a sustained time and as a result prevents hunger. 

 The mesquite tree is often called a "nurse" plant because of its ability to repair and protect animal and plant species from the extremities of the desert. Removal of these trees and even the thinning of their branches can kill cactuses, vines, shrubs, and desert wildflowers by exposing them to harsh sunlight and temperatures.  Mesquite trees usually indicate very permeable, well drained soils having a low water table. The soils are usually nonsaline and suitable for agriculture if water is available.   Airborne laser altimetry can provide rapid quantification of landscape topography, gully and stream cross sections and roughness and vegetation canopy properties for large areas.

Cutting the Mesquite Trees down causes soil erosion and will produce negative ecological effects. (The Soil Data Mart provides direct link for downloading spatial and tabular data for use in Geographic Information System.)

A large majority of animals and people use the mesquite trees as a major food source. As an example, the wolf uses the Mesquite pods as 40% of  its food source.  More than 200 plants and animal species depend on the mesquite tree for survival and reproduction. Not only animals and wildlife are using the Mesquite pods for food. People use the mesquite pods for food (mesquite flour, syrup, and more). The mesquite pod could be a major food source for the poor as the pods are high in sugar (16%) and protein (12%). Is it possible that mesquite trees and other plants might filter out harmful substances in our water supply (like Arsenic)? This would be especially important during the rainy season when flooding is probable. (See Ferns Remove Arsenic from Soil and Water. Note: Ferns are also being used to remove arsenic from drinking water. In a recent pilot study in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the ferns significantly decreased the level of arsenic in samples of the city's drinking water. Other plants should be tested for this ability. Scientists are genetically modifying trees to remove environmental toxins. "Current methods to rid dirt of these poisons run about $1 million per acre-foot of earth (the volume of a foot-deep acre of soil). Using plants to do the same job, on the other hand, costs about $3,000.)"

When the the mesquite tree is removed there is less oxygen in the air and there is more carbon dioxide  and so the carbon cycle of the planet is changed and there is less oxygen in the air available for people. Increase of global warming? Let's look at what happens to the soil (see Water and Wind Induced Soil Erosion Assessment and Monitoring Using Remote Sensing and GIS). The mesquite tree is a natural windbreak, removing the mesquite tree means you have no wind break and soil erosion is increased drastically. There are heavy dust storms in the Southwest and without a wind break, homes, families, and animal life will be at risk for an increased wind force with less natural habitation to provide cover for their protection. Abrasive winds which carry sands in the desert can cause eroded buildings and utility poles. Drying winds also increase the moisture stress on young seedlings. There can be no prediction that the mesquite tree would be able to grow back successfully if removed from the desert as changing ecological factors often deny some species their existence. Dr. Gary Nabhan, the director of the organization Native Seeds/SEARCH, noted in The Phoenix Gazette that "the denuding of the Sonoran Desert over the past century has reduced the numbers of 36 of the 82 kinds of birds that depend on the flood-plain mesquite forest habitat."

The removal of trees not only is ecologically destructive, but the wild growth removal disturbs the environment by producing more traffic and noise to an area that previously was considered shelter for animal wildlife. The mesquite trees are also a noise barrier, against the sounds of civilization. Animals are protected because they are out of sight of civilization, if you remove this barrier, animals will be lose their shelter and probably be killed in the process of destroying the trees.

It is said that the mesquite tree can be cut and then it grows back quickly because it is a strong, hearty plant, but the environment can change (and is changing... there is a 2 degree increase in global warming) and therefore to cut a tree and say it will grow back is taking a chance. Just because in the past a tree grows back does not always mean in the future it will grow back. As an example, the population of the mesquite tree is done by animals consuming the mesquite seeds and then leaving their droppings on the soil, and from there the mesquite tree naturally grows.  If you remove the trees, the animals will not be able to consume the seeds, indeed the animals will not have a place to eat or take shelter. Although mesquite is considered a resilient plant, it can take up to 50 years to grow back, depending upon the water, soil and climate conditions.  Establishing plants on arid sites is very challenging as new plants need more water to establish themselves. The desert has little water, there can be high winds, abrasion from blowing sand, and little protection from herbivores as established seedlings are often the most succulent plants available to be eaten. Animals such as rabbits, rodents, domestic livestock and insects can prove fatal to young plants unless adequate protection is provided. Mesquite trees were previously thought to have no natural enemies, but that too is a falsehood. Right now a  deadly desert mistletoe is carried by the winds onto mesquite trees from Pahrump, NV to  Tuscon, AZ and the trees are dying.

If we don't take care of our environment, we will have no air, no animals, no people, and a lot of natural erosion and destructive forces that only make life worse.

 Let's look at the myths and facts.

Myth: Mesquite trees horde water (False)
It has been proven that like all trees Mesquite trees take in so much water to survive but if the trees are removed from the land the water that was consumed by the trees is not going back into the ground to be saved... but will instead be consumed by natural grasses and evaporative air moisture instead.

Fact 1:  The Mesquite tree exchanges carbon dioxide to provide oxygen and clean air. The mesquite tree cleans the air of impurities and like all trees, they provide oxygen for the atmosphere (slows global warming). The Mesquite tree slows erosion and is a natural windbreak. There is talk of harvesting 2 million acres of mesquite trees. The talk of leaving 2/3 of the mesquite tree in tack for wildlife habitat). What happens when you cut over 660,000 trees and disturb the environment when you do it? The wildlife that was disturbed will not be able to live in the area and the trees will have a hard time growing back without the animals consuming the seed and providing the spreading of the seed in their droppings.

Fact 2: The Mesquite tree provides food for people, animals, life stock and birds. There are trees that only provide oxygen but the mesquite trees provides actual food for people and animals. Are we so rich in the U.S. that we can kill a tree that provides food? We have people starving in the U.S. that could greatly benefit from the Mesquite pod as a food source.

Fact 3: The Mesquite pod can be saved for a long period of time and can be made into flour. There are hundreds of acres of land that produce mesquite pods every year that are going to waste that could be providing food for the poor.

Benefits

• Trees store carbon and clean the atmosphere. In 50 years, one tree generates $30,000 in oxygen, recycles $35,000 of water, and removes $60,000 of air pollution. **
• Mesquite is a legume that fixes nitrogen in the soil, creating natural fertilizer for use by other plants
• The seed pods are an important source of food for insects, livestock, deer, birds and small mammals.  
• Mesquite Trees prevent or reduce soil erosion. (See REMOTE SENSING and SOILS) **
•  Mesquite Trees prevent or reduce water pollution. **
•  Mesquite Trees recharge groundwater and sustain stream flow. **
• Crop yields of fields with windbreaks are significantly higher than those without windbreaks.
• Living snow fences, strategically placed, hold snow away from roads, reducing maintenance costs
• As a landscape tree, it is tolerant of drought, insects and heat. Absorbs dust and heat. and reduces glare.
• Mesquite Trees add oxygen to the air and reduce carbon dioxide.
• Mesquite Trees reduce soil, water and air pollution.
•  Native Americans used the seeds for bread and alcohol. A black dye or cement for pottery can be generated from mesquite, and the gum from the bark was eaten as candy or dissolved in water for dysentery, wound or scratchy throat treatment.
• Mesquite beans store well, maintaining excellent viability for years or even decades. There are about 30,000 seeds per kilogram.
• In addition, it has recently been discovered that the seeds of the mesquite tree are effective in controlling the blood sugar levels of diabetics. 

The Mesquite tree is a wonder tree because it uses little water, and provides food for people and animals. There are all kinds of cures and remedies that we are finding that are connected with this tree. We have yet to explore the healing energies of the plants around us. Perhaps we should take care of the gifts nature has given us, instead of destroying what we have for monetary gain.

Sources:
http://www.plantit2020.org/benefits.html
** Source: USDA Forest Service Pamphlet# R1-92-100
http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/mesquite.htm
http://www.lcra.org/featurestory/2004/honey_mesquite.html
http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/content.php?catID=1012
http://www.foodreference.com/html/artmesquite.html
http://vernon.tamu.edu/brush/P16biomass.htm
Activists against destroying the mesquite tree
http://www.eomonline.com/currentissues.php

NASA Human and Robotic Technology Development is strategically linked to Project Constellation Spirals one and two, which are efforts to return humans to the moon by 2020.

A sister technology, laser radar, or ladar, uses a laser like a radar to locate an object. Lidar, however, refers to the more general case of using a laser to derive additional properties of an object such as density or chemical composition.

Mars rover ready for descent into Victoria Crater
NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is scheduled to begin a descent down a rock-paved slope into the Red Planet's massive Victoria Crater. This latest trek carries real risk for the long-lived robotic explorer, but NASA and the rover team expect it to provide valuable science.
   FULL STORY

The power providers may have to diversify their business to make up for revenues lost through household energy microgeneration. She is referring to the conclusions by a group of UK analysts, herself included among them, who call themselves Carbon Free. Carbon Free has been studying the ever-growing trend toward alternative energy-using homes in England and the West. This trend is being driven by ever-more government recommendation and sometimes backing of alternative energy research and development, the rising cost of oil and other fossil fuels, concern about environmental degradation, and desires to be energy independent. Carbon Free concludes that, assuming traditional energy prices remain at their current level or rise, microgeneration (meeting all of one's home's energy needs by installing alternative energy technology such as solar panels or wind turbines) will become to home energy supply what the Internet became to home communications and data gathering, and eventually this will have deep effects on the businesses of the existing energy supply companies.

Click Here To Learn More.

Facts: Evaporation is a major source of water depletion in Deming, NM.  It is predicted that air temperatures will be increasing by up to 7 degrees over the next few decades, decreased moisture levels and increasing water demand.

Although the city of ABQ is building a treatment plant to treat Rio Grande water, the city is allowed only so much water to be drawn.

2) Flooding Problems: In New Mexico when it rains, it is said to rain all at once. When there is flooding, a lot of ground water is left standing and a lot of mosquitoes are attracted to the area. New Mexico has had cases of West Nile Virus caused by the mosquitoes. Although the State environmental officials plan to help New Mexico communities figure out how to before new, lower federal standards go into effect in January 2006, the flooding may increase the risk that people may be exposed to arsenic not only through drinking water, but indirectly though food crops irrigated by contaminated groundwater. (Example: In the west-southwest of Bangladesh, where the highest concentrations of arsenic are found in soil, irrigated land had higher levels compared to adjacent non-irrigated fields. See Studies abroad)

Ferns Remove Arsenic from Soil and Water. Note: Ferns are also being used to remove arsenic from drinking water. In a recent pilot study in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the ferns significantly decreased the level of arsenic in samples of the city's drinking water. Other plants should be tested for this ability. Scientists are genetically modifying trees to remove environmental toxins. "Current methods to rid dirt of these poisons run about $1 million per acre-foot of earth (the volume of a foot-deep acre of soil). Using plants to do the same job, on the other hand, costs about $3,000."


According to Albuquerque-AP -- Two plants will be built on Albuquerque's West Side to remove arsenic from water. Federal regulations cutting the amount of arsenic allowed in drinking water go into effect in 2006. The plants will cost about $2.5 million. They're being built by a private water company, New Mexico Utilities Incorporated. That company serves about 14,000 customers in northwest Bernalillo County.  (Want to know how many wells there are in Deming, NM? FREE TESTS OF PRIVATE DOMESTIC WELLS)


There is unusual New Mexico rainfall this year.

Possible Solutions:
The E-Vap Cap has been specifically designed for open water storage to provide a barrier between water and atmosphere, completely preventing evaporation.

The E-Vap Cap product is said to also reduce algal and weed growth, and reduce salt build up in storage area, maximizing rainfall water, reducing odor on sites and reduces the wave action that causes bank erosion on unlined storages.

Watch a demonstration of the E-Vap Cap:

• Watch broadband video
  
  "E-Vap Cap is made from Polyethylene. It is multi-layered, 0.5mm thick and contains buoyancy cells trapped within the layers of material, which allow the material to float above the water. The top layer is white and is UV stabilised to reflect sunlight away. The bottom layer is black to reduce the sunlight entering through the cover and to stop any biological activity below the cover. The material is sunlight and air impervious, and hinders any water growth activity. The quality of the Polyethylene used for the E-Vap Cap is food grade material, so it will not contaminate water." It might also hinder reduce the mosquitoe population."
  
  The E-Vap Cap is currently being used in vineyards, on farms, cattle properties and in the horticulture industry.
  
  "The material is custom sized and shaped for every site and pre-fabricated in large panels for ease of installation. These panels are anchored on one end of the dam and rolled out to the other side using supplied rope. The panels are then thermally welded together using a purposely-designed machine Warwick calls the Water Whizz. The Water Whizz travels between the preview panel and propels itself across the water between two panels, like a floating sewing machine, thermally welding panel sides together. The cover is secured by trenches dug into the dam walls to prevent it from blowing away in high wind conditions. If wildlife need access, covers can be built with an area of exposed edge."
  
  "The cover has been designed with drainage holes drilled through the material to allow rainwater to fall onto the cover and into the storage area, and to emit any gas build up which could occur below the surface of the cover. The E-Vap Cap material has a slight stretch to it, which allows for varying water levels."
  
  "The cover has been independently tested and results show evaporation is reduced by close to 100%. Andrew Moon, a melon grower in Queensland's South West, has installed the cover on this four-hectare farm. He says he has cut evaporation down next to nothing. The cover is stretched across 40,000 square metres, twice the surface area of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Uncovered storage such as that could lose at least one third of its water to evaporation."
  
  See the New Inventors http://www.abc.net.au/newinventors/txt/s1211504.htm