Understanding urban assets : using remote sensing to manage stormwater run-off

Many small suburban and rural communities have experienced increased growth as businesses and families leave city center is search of affordable land prices available at the cities periphery. As one might expect this increased growth is have an effect on the visual and environmental character of these communities. In some areas the rapid growth is also causing increases in stormwater run-off. High levels of run-off are in turn having adverse effects on these communities environment health, as it is degrading local water quality and damaging stream channels. Development in many of these same communities is causing them to fall under the regulation requirements of the Phase II, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Phase II has caused several of these small communities to think about the effects of stormwater for the first time. At the same time new high-resolution satellite imagery, with resolutions ranging from 4 to 1 meter square, became available from a series of satellites launched between 1999 and 2003. These new systems, with their increased resolutions, hold the potential to help small communities identify and manage their town's land resources. Of particular relevance is the possibility of using data acquired from these satellites to identify impervious surface coverage. Having a better understanding of impervious surfaces, which is directly correlated to volume of stormwater run-off, could help suburban communities manage their stormwater. Quantified impervious surfaces can be used in hydrologic models to predict effects of increased stormwater. An inventory of these surfaces might also assist towns in determining where stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) could implemented.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Williams, Sarah Elizabeth, M.C.P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Eran Ben-Joseph.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33603

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33603