[From the Montana Farmer-Stockman, Mar. 20, 1980] Photogrammetry A New Agriculture Tool By Lee Cade "PHOTOGRAMMETRY" is a term that' Electronic photogrammetry has entered the President of EDI is Peter Schumacher. Indications are that his firm could become a major developer and manufacturer of sophisticated photogrammetric equipment for a worldwide market. The firm now has eight employees in a downtown location. It projects having possibly 200 employees by the mid1980's. The science of electronics began years ago but didn't gain much momentum until about World War II times when computers began to find practical use. Since then, basic technical improvements have been made in the latter which reduce cost, improve reliability and expand horizons. These include the transistor, printed circuits, micro-circuits, simplified video taping and miniaturized complete chip circuits called micro-processors and microcomputers. Some of the developments have been the result of space age electronics - the need to get a lot of capability into a small, lightweight package with unquestionable reli- ^! ability. Similar developments have come about in electronics. Some, for example, as a result of conversations between Schumacher and offiIcials in the state ASCS office. They began when state director Lyall Schaefer and others in the state office decided to experiment with electronic methods of land measurement and crop identification as a substitute for color slide pictures. In a short period of time since then, three generations of equipment have been developed with results far beyond anything that might have been expected during the initial effort. Accomplishments have been so impressive that they have drawn the interest of industry and government in the U.S., Canada and other countries. The new instrumentation involves technology only a few months old and appears to be of worldwide interest. During a recent demonstration in Great, Falls, Schaefer and Dale Nerlin (also of the state ASCS office) demonstrated the capabilities of the new technology of special interest to the requirements of agriculture. The demonstration began by viewing a flight over land to be examined. At any point the view can be stopped, exactly the same as is often done on TV during sports events. An ordinary TV is used. A number of the components are easily available at electronic supply stores. Two of the components are specially manufactured by EDI to give the package numerous special capabilities. Operator Dale Nerlin operated the equipment with two main devices an electronic component containing numerous switches, and a light pencil developed by EDI. Using these two instruments, both of which are relatively simple to operate, Nerlin demonstrated acreage measurements, crop identification, the identification of saline seep areas and other features. The capability of the new instrumentation has sparked the imagination of all who have seen it. The comparison, of course, is to the old standard method of using 35mm film. The list of possible uses is perhaps limited only by the imagination. Some not explored at this point include inspecting livestock on the range or in feedlots, observing wildlife and their habits, surveying plant health in forests, on the range and on cultivated crops, establishing the boundary of flood plains, identifying sources of pollution, identifying irrigation efficiency, identifying nozzles in irrigation systems that aren't working properly, designing conservation practices on farmed land, identifying the extent of insect damage on rangeland as a basis for recommending control measures, identifying the limits of specific weed infestations. To a large extent, the capability of the instrumentation is based upon its ability to identify over 64 different levels or degrees of gray between white and black. The human eye can detect perhaps 16, given ideal conditions, but under practical conditions, the human eye can detect far fewer. Thus, the instrumentation has the capability of detecting meaningful messages from plants, animals and the earth that are far beyond the eyes of man. Compared to ordinary 35mm pictures, the system has many advantages, both from a cost standpoint and others. For one, from a reliability standpoint, the new technology is a considerable improvement. And from a technical standpoint, the new system is an enormous step forward in capability, accuracy, and versatility. Slide pictures, for example, contain only one image, which may or may not be of the desired area. Video tape includes a continous image as the plane flies over an area, thus an image can be selected at any point along the flight line. As pictures are taken, the results are continuously monitored on a TV set in the plane. Thus, it is possible to know at all times the quality of the image and what is being covered. With ordinary slides, it is not possible to know the end result until after development. Video tapes require no processing and can be used over and over again. This eliminates the repeat cost of film and processing. Tapes can be stored indefinitely for future reference and are immediately available for analysis. Since one video tape can cover a vast area (an hour of flight time or 160 square miles), filing, storage and retrieval are simple and less subject to error. According to a bulletin published by the ASCS office on VICE, "video instant computation experiment," as it is now termed by ASCS, "operation of the equipment is simple and fast. It offers the advantage of being able to see the area where acreages are being determined. The TV equipment for both taking the picture and playing it back is very simple to operate. Since the area being photographed is displayed on a TV set in the plane, it eliminates missed fields and assists the pilot in keeping the plane flying over the exact area desired. Operator fatigue is much less when computing acreages using video tape than when planimetering and since the operator views the area to be measured the possibility of errors is greatly reduced." In addition, the gray values can electronically outline the area to be measured without human entry error possibilities, it is pointed out. In discussing the potential of the new technology, Schumacher said, "We have all experienced the frustration of missing keys, only to discover that the missing items were on a desk a few feet from us. It is sometimes amazing what the eye cannot see. It would be so easy to find. that missing item if it were bright orange on a black background. It is that capability in photogrammetry which makes it so valuable in the fields of medicine, geology, geophysics, economics, engineering, astronomy, hydrology, meteorology, agronomy, ecology, food processing and others. Literally everything from religion to production assembly lines and from satellites to electron microscopes can receive benefits from this science and this equipment." Indicators are thus that photogrammetry may become a new tool on the farm scene, as practical as the cattle chute and grain auger. [From the Great Falls Tribune, Sept. 9, 1979] Electronic Devices Inc. spreads its wings in Europe Electronic Devices Inc., 8bserving its first anniversary as a Great Fallsbased electronics firm, is spreading its wings into such places at Munich, Germany; Moscow, Russia, and Washington D.C. Two of the firm's products will be on display at trade fairs in Munich and Moscow in September and October. Pete Schumacher, president of Electronic Devices, meanwhile, will be in Washington for a presentation on another product before the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fundamentally the firm is occupied with an electronic process known as "image inhancement." It takes a photograph of a forest, grain field or other area, assigns specific colors to each segment of the photo and through electronic wizardry (a linear measurement set) can determine exactly the amount of timber, grain or. other product that is shown in the pic ture. SIX OF THESE units have been purchased by the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. Aerial video tapes can be fed directly into the system to quickly update maps of Montana croplands. Officials say it is the first progress in measuring acreage since the ASCS was founded in the 1930s. Cascade, Custer, Gallatin, Lake, Glacier and Garfield counties will participate in the video program next summer. Preliminary taping occured in Liberty and Chouteau counties during the past summer in tests conducted with the equipment. The new process will cut expenses remarkably from the old program of personally checking individual farms. The linear measurement set will be demonstrated in Washington' with the ASCS getting preference of any production which results from the demonstration. After that Schumacher said he will "go public" and expects to show it at trade fairs in the U.S. He expects private industry to show interest in the development. |