. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. By Sarah Friday Peters Siamak Khorram can tell you the kinds of trees that grow on Bogue Banks without setting a foot in Carteret County. He can plot the wetlands around Manteo without seeing them and gauge how much pollution floats in the Tar-Pamlico River without ever taking a sample on the spot. Khorram is no magician. But the director of the State University Computer Graphics Center is a wizard with satellite technology and the ways it can help us learn about our world. Since 1972, the compact mas
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. By Sarah Friday Peters Siamak Khorram can tell you the kinds of trees that grow on Bogue Banks without setting a foot in Carteret County. He can plot the wetlands around Manteo without seeing them and gauge how much pollution floats in the Tar-Pamlico River without ever taking a sample on the spot. Khorram is no magician. But the director of the State University Computer Graphics Center is a wizard with satellite technology and the ways it can help us learn about our world. Since 1972, the compact masses of mirrors and machines have launched a revolution in research. NASA's Landsat satellites, espe- cially, tell us about Earth's resources. From 500 miles into space — the distance from Raleigh to New York City — satellites can survey North Carolina's coastline or focus in on a forest at Bogue Banks. In the past few years, Khorram and his colleagues have used advanced satellite and computer technologies to take a closer look at the state's forests, wetlands and waters. At the coast, the researchers helped map vegetation, farms and other land in the Albemarle-Pamlico area. They devised a model for merging satellite data from different regions. And they're looking for ways to ensure that satellite image comparisons over time are accurate. Their own timing couldn't be better. Day by day, pressure grows on the coast's resources. As demand for land and water rises, so does the need to understand the systems that make up this fragile environment. Satellites can help. The photo-like images satellites create can give scientists a clearer picture of how riverine, oceanic and estuarine systems Researchers can use the data to count wetlands at the coast and map water quality, Khorram says. Land manag- ers, in turn, can use the data to map, then select, the best sites for develop- ment or preservation. "You want to be able to see as much of the earth as possible so
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