This award will enable the State University of New York at Albany to purchase Earth Resources Data Analysis Systems (ERDAS) software and supporting hardware for use in several research projects. ERDAS is a microcomputer-based analysis system that does not require special support from a central computer center. It is a stand-alone, turn-key system that is easy to manage and has low maintenance costs. It is a flexible geographic information system (GIS) that will significantly augment the research capabilities of the several academic departments and faculty members who will use the equipment. The equipment will also improve instructional programs at the graduate level in a number of departments and curricula. The research programs that will originally benefit from the hardware and software purchased with this award are a project to model relationships between satellite radar response patterns and environmental conditions, an investigation based on processing digital images from multiple sources to determine causes of forest damage in the Saar Region of West Germany, and an examination of the potential of personal computer-based image processing and GIS systems for assisting archaeological exploration in Crete. In addition to supporting these and other research projects, the award will provide opportunities to advance our understanding of basic questions concerning the interpretation of radar imagery for earth science applications.
