Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Terrain Cover And Shadow Discrimination From Landsat Data Of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Vincent Gerard Ambrosia

Masters Theses

Landsat satellite imagery of the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina exhibits dark tonal reflectances within the Blue Ridge physiographic province unlike any other reflectance patterns found on the remainder of the imagery. Repetitive, seasonal imagery indicate that these unique patterns are dynamic. There also appear to be definable, minute reflectance variations within the patterns themselves, indicating that there are numerous factors accounting for the anomaly. Among the factors discussed are the cover characteristics of the red spruce (picea rubens) and Fraser fir or southern balsam fir (abies fraseri), effects of topography, …