What is MontanaView?
MontanaView is a consortium of universities, non-profit organizations and government
agencies working within Montana to advance the availability and timely distribution
of remotely sensed data.
Research
Predicting Potential Rare Plant Habitat
 GIS technology is used to combine plant observations with maps of environmental variables to create predictive models of potential habitat for 29 sensitive species in seven National Forests.
Location: USFS Region 1
Imagery: NAIP 2005, Vegetation (Landsat)
Investigators: Erin Nock, Susan Rinehart, Anna Klene
Funding Agency: US Forest Service |
Cropping Systems Affecting Carbon Sequestration
 Alternative cropping practices, such as no-till, can result in increased soil carbon and carbon credits for farmers, but accurate measurement, monitoring, and validation is required. Protocols are being developed to use satellite imagery for this purpose, with initial accuracies for identifying no-till practices of over 90%.
Location: North Central Montana
Imagery: Landsat TM
Investigators: Rick Lawrence, Jennifer Watts, Perry Miller, David Brown
Funding Agency: US Department of Energy |
Estimating Historic Variation in Vegetation
Using LandFire imagery in combination with pollen data and sediment cores, the investigators aim to map variations in vegetation regimes, climate, and fire/disturbance characteristics between the Last Glacial Maximum and the present.
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Location: Northern Rockies
Imagery: LandFire vegetation classification based on Landsat
Investigators: Chris Stump, Susan Rinehart, Sam Cushman, Eric Edlund, Anna Klene
Funding Agency: US Forest Service |
Monitoring Rangeland Condition
 Imagery and soils-based ecological site descriptions are combined to identify range sites that are anomalous compared to their site potential. The resulting maps can increase field survey efficiency by an estimated 50%.
Location: Throughout Eastern Montana
Imagery: Landsat TM and ETM+
Investigators: Catherine Maynard, Rick Lawrence
Funding Agencies: USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, NASA |
Modeling Snowmelt
 Imagery, snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL), climate, and streamflow data are combined to create a snowmelt model to investigate historical variability in the initiation of spring snowmelt runoff.
Location: Northwestern Montana
Imagery: MODIS
Investigators: Jessica Bleha, Joel Harper
Funding Agencies: NASA, NSF Hydrologic Observatory |
Predicting Land Use Change in the Missoula Valley
 Location: Missoula, Montana
Imagery: Landsat TM and ETM+
Investigators: Nathan Pelletier and Christiane von Reichert
Funding Agencies: City of Missoula & Missoula County
Imagery is combined with factors characterizing infrastructure, amenities, physical suitability, and existing urban locations to model and predict land-use change from non-urban to urban using logistic regression analysis. The outcome of this research will be a transition probability map intended to assist city and government planners.
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Mapping Vegetation Change
Yellowstone's northern range has been identified as an area of concern by the National Academy of Sciences. We have documented changes in key species, such as aspen and willow, to assist analysis of impacts such as wolf reintroduction and trophic cascade.
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Location: Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Imagery: Landsat TM and ETM+
Investigators: Shannon Savage, Rick Lawrence
Funding Agency: National Park Service |
Mapping Changes in Whitebark Pine Distribution
 Whitebark pine, a key food source for grizzly bears, is at risk from multiple pathogens, possibly exacerbated by climate change. We are mapping changes in whitebark pine distribution throughout the region, with initial classification accuracies over 90%.
Location: Northern Rockies
Imagery: Landsat TM and ETM+
Investigators: Lisa Landenburger, Rick Lawrence, Jeffrey Jewett
Funding Agency: National Park Service, USGS |
MontanaView does not fund or sponsor research projects.
