Project Team: Virginia Agriculture Team
Team Location: Wise County Clerk of Court’s Office, Wise, Virginia
Landsat scene references overlaid with point locations of wineries throughout the commonwealth of Virginia. Image Credit: Virginia Agriculture Team.
Authors:
Daria Blach
Dieudonne Dusenge
Andrew Foxx
Michael Ngamije
Alexandra Pilcher
Laika Umuhoza
Mentors/Advisors:
Dr. Kenton Ross (NASA DEVELOP National Science Advisor)
Dr. DeWayne Cecil (NOAA, Global Science Technology Inc.)
Abstract:
Virginia is one of the largest wine-producing states in the United States. It was named as one of the 10 best wine travel destinations for 2012 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Vineyards are therefore very important assets to the state as they attract tourists and generate revenue. The Virginia Wine Board promotes the interest of vineyards and wineries in the commonwealth through research, education, and marketing. According to the Virginia Wine Board, the landscape and climate of Virginia offers countless choice sites for vineyards. However, vineyards in Virginia are currently identified in official records by their street addresses only. Therefore, there is a need to map and monitor the extent of these vineyards to accurately estimate their economic impact and facilitate future expansions.åÊ The objective of this project was to utilize NASA’s observations to digitize the extent of vineyards in Virginia. A land classification scheme based on Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager surface reflectance data for the region was developed in ERDAS Imagine and ArcGIS. Also, an accuracy assessment was conducted using aerial images obtained from local and state government. This project also utilized shapefiles of cropland data from 2008 to 2013 from United States Department of Agriculture which showed the extent of non-viticulture cropland. These data were used to eliminate known vegetative land cover classes allowing vineyards to be identified. The results of this project will help the Virginia Wine Board, our project partners, in the assessment of the wineries’ contribution to the commonwealth’s economy and efforts to explore the possibilities of expanding the amount of land dedicated to wine production.