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GeoProcessing Laboratory (GPL) Facilities

The MHC AIMS-1 Sensor Installed in a Cessna 206	Forest Modeling in the Cibola National Forest, NM
Alana Belcon GPL Student Teaching Assistant	Chris and Christine Measuring DBH in the Field

New...Read About Research with the AIMS-1 Sensor (pdf) ...

What people are saying about the GPL....

The program and facilities developed by Professor Millette are extraordinary for a liberal-arts institution. Exposure to geo-processing should be an important part of ES and MHC for educational and career reasons, since application of geographical information systems has become a technical field that is growing rapidly in a range of environmental activities in government, business, and universities.

- Mount Holyoke College Environmental Studies Review

People at GPL

• Dr. Thomas L. Millette, Director
• Eugenio J. Marcano , Lab Manager

Research and Projects at GPL

Research Focus

• Development of the AIMS1 (Airborne Imaging Multispectral Sensor)
  • CIR Sample Imagery of Quabbin Reservoir
  • Sample Imagery of Plum Island Sound
• Land cover database development from satellite and aerial imaging data
• Integration of remote sensing and GIS for non-point source pollution modeling
• Artificial intelligence applied to image analysis and resource management
• GIS based land use and forest modeling
• Development of institutional delivery models for GIS products and services

Specific Projects

	Working with the Massachusetts Parks and Recreation Department to use AIMS1 data for forest monitoring. Specific projects include detecting and quantifying Hemlock Wooley Adelgid infestations, and using laser altimetry data to measure stand height. (click image to view larger image)
	Working with the Marine Biological Laboratory to construct spatial databases of the various drainage features of the Plum Island Sound Long Term Ecological Research Site (click image to view larger image)
	Development of the AIMS1, a remote sensing platform consisting of a multispectral digital 3 CCD camera, a laser altimeter, a real-time differential global positioning system (DGPS), and an attitude heading and reference system (AHRS) (click image to view larger image)
	Working with the US Forest Service Southwestern Region Geometronics Group to assess the abilities of the Most Similar Neighbor imputation software to predict forest stand dynamics (click image to view larger image)
	Using satellite imagery to assess and characterize the driving forces for land cover change and forest degradation in the Middle Mountains of the Nepalese Himalayas (click image to view larger image)
	India IRS Satellite Data of Naubise Region Nepal (click image to view larger image)
	Naubise Region Land Cover (click image to view larger image)
	Northeast Instream Habitat Program

A GIS Based Regional Forest Land Evaluation and Site Assessment Model (click image to view larger image)

View series of maps showing ....

• Characterizing historical land cover change in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans of Northeast India
• Land cover change impacts on the Lake Champlain Basin of Vermont, New York, and Southern Quebec
• Spatial modeling and urban design - how to use GIS modeling to help make urban settings richer places to live

Hardware

GeoProcessing hardware includes:

• 14 Workstations Pentium 4 3.2 GHZ processors, 1 GB RAM
• 1 File Server with dual 933 MHz processors, 1 GB RAM
• 1 Spatial Data Server with a single 1396 MHz, 2 GB RAM
• 3 StereoGraphics Z-screens for digital stereoscopic viewing
• Bausch & Lomb Zoom 500 Analytical Stereoscope
• 48" x 60" Numonics Digitizer
• 36" Contex Large Format Color Scanner
• HP Design Jet 800 Plotter
• HP Laser Jet 5M B&W Printer
• HP Desk Jet 1220 Color Printer
• Textronix Phaser IIX Printer
• LCD Projector

Software

The Mount Holyoke GeoProcessing Lab is a dedicated computer facility for training and research in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The MHC GeoProcessing Lab (GPL) presently maintains a broad collection of GIS software including:

• ArcGIS 9.x 
• ArcIMS and ArcGIS Server 9.x
• Erdas Imagine 9.x with Photogrammetry Suite
• IDRISI Andes
• Definiens Professional 5.x