PRELIMINARY FINDINGS ON DETECTING SALTWATER CONTAMINATION IN WYOMING RANCHLANDS USING REMOTE SENSING AND HYPERSPECTRAL TECHNIQUES

Many northeastern Wyoming ranchlands have been impacted by the introduction of coal-bed methane discharge water. This discharge water is characterized as having a high electrolyte and sodium content. Remote sensing using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data was conducted to determine the extent of the contamination by monitoring changes in the vegetation in impacted and control areas over time. This was accomplished by the use of vegetation indices, band ratioing, and change detection procedures. Hyperspectral data were collected on bluestem grasses from both impacted and non-impacted sites and analyzed to determine differences in plant health. The Landsat TM data indicates changes in the extent of the vegetation over time, with once productive cropland no longer supporting crops. The hyperspectral analysis has shown changes in reflectance values for different wavelengths between impacted Bluestem and non-impacted Bluestem grasses. Further study will be done to determine if the saline content of the soil can be detected by hypersepctral and remote sensing techniques.