providing information about the environment through benefits-driven R&D, data acquisition, and academic programs
Goals
The goal of the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAC) is to provide information about the environment that enables people to make decisions improving their:
- Economic Competitiveness
- Quality of Life
- Educational Preparedness
Beneficiaries
The primary source of the information is data acquired by satellites and aircraft. Beneficiaries of the information include:
- Farmers practicing Precision Agriculture
- Ranchers seeking Optimum Grazing Capacities
- Foresters engaged in Sustainable Forestry
- Educators teaching Responsible Stewardship
- Students, K through lifelong learners, of Earth System Science
Partnership
Every UMAC activity is in response to a need expressed by individuals or organizations of stakeholders. The Consortium is distributed geographically to bring information close to its end users. UMAC includes partners in government, private industry, and non-governmental organizations as well.
using information technologies to bring data from multiple sources to bear on crop and livestock production decisions
Noxious Weed Eradication from Rangelands
The weed leafy spurge, scourge of the West, can be detected by sensors that see light in many separate
"Noxious weeds are the biggest economic, ecological, and environmental threat to Western rangeland. They reduce rangeland productivity, increase soil erosion, and decrease wildlife habitat."
Roger Sheley
Montana State Extension Agent
colors. The exact pattern in the light signals is different for leafy spurge than it is for grass and other welcome vegetation. Pinpointing
its existence from satellites and aircraft is the first step toward eradicating the weed.
Disease Scouting for Sugar Beet Producers
In the valley straddling the Red River between North Dakota and Minnesota exists a billion-dollar sugar beet industry. Diseases that cripple beet production can be spotted by airborne sensors detecting radiation the eye cannot see before the disease (e.g. the fungus, rhizoctonia) is visible to a farmer.
Fertilizer Applications for Wheat Farmers
In years of adequate rainfall, a wheat crop is limited when nutrients in the soil are exhausted. Soil nutrients can be supplemented by applying nitrogen fertilizer. In years
In the dry year of 1998, farmers in the browned-out area destroyed their hopeless crop and collected crop insurance. "...seeing these images showed us the broad picture and gave us a great deal of optimism when it comes to satellite images...there may be a vast amount of knowledge we can apply to our management decisions."
Carl & Janice Mattson
Montana Farmers
when not enough rain falls, lack of moisture limits the crop; additional fertilizer will not turn a bad crop into a good one, but the chemicals
applied unnecessarily will run off into streams or be released to the atmosphere. By monitoring a wheat crop's growth from a satellite, a farmer
can determine whether to add fertilizer during the growing season.
balancing timber extraction and replacement rates for long-term economic and environmental health
