Remote Sensing To Identify GDEs

Our state-wide assessment indicated that certain basins have high concentrations of GDEs. However, our original GDE assessment is most appropriately used at the basin-scale rather than the site-scale, and we believe that currently available site maps under-estimate the extent and number of GDEs in many basins. To develop appropriate protection and management plans for GDEs, it is critical to understand exactly where they are, how they are being managed, and what condition they are in. To do this for an entire basin, we need remote tools and methods to identify and map GDEs. Our primary objective for this project is to use remotely sensed imagery, GIS data layers, and tools such as watershed models to identify and map small GDEs such as wetlands and springs. We are testing these methods in the Upper Deschutes Basin in central Oregon, one of the basins previously identified as having a high concentration of GDEs. Data will be forthcoming in 2012.