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Chapter 6. Center for the Study of Earth from Space (CSES), 1985-2002

High Plains Dune Field Studies

As a member of the Landsat-7 Science Team, Goetz undertook a study of 32 Landsat scenes covering approximately one million square kilometers from 1985, 1988, 1996, and 2000, an area that contains about 100,000 square kilometers of Holocene sand dunes and sand sheets. The project was aimed at the development of a model of potential dune reactivation during droughts anticipated as a result of potential climate warming. One aspect became a master's thesis by Ethan Gutmann that resulted in a map of areas of high potential instability based on vegetation cover, wind and soil type. Another aspect led to a new method for mapping irrigated areas making use of the Thematic Mapper thermal band to detect cooling of vegetation in well-watered areas. The results correlated very well with Department of Agriculture statistics with correlation coefficient r² of 0.95. This method will help in predicting draw down of the High Plains Aquifer. The study also documented the radical shift of flood to pivot irrigation, a move to higher water- use efficiency. The number of pivots more than doubled in the study period. Approximately 2,500 square kilometers or 5,000 pivots in sandy areas will be abandoned in the next 50 years as the aquifer is depleted. Each of these pivots is a potential blowout, the nucleus of a new dune.

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