This is a vegetation map of the Raco, Michigan area produced from data acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) onboard space shuttle Endeavour. The radar image, taken on April 9, 1994, has been used by science team members at the University of Michigan to produce detailed map of land cover. The imaged area is approximately 24 by 32 kilometers (15 by 20 miles). The Raco airport, which is a decommissioned military base, is easily identified by its triangular runway structure. An edge of Lake Superior, approximately 44 kilometers (27 miles) west of Sault Sainte Marie, appears in the top right of the image.. In this land cover map each 30- by 30-meter (98- by 98-foot) spot is identified as either a water surface, bare ground, short vegetation, deciduous forest, lowland conifers or upland conifers. Different types of ground cover have different effects on Earth's chemical, water and energy cycles. By cataloguing ground cover in an area, scientists expect to better understand the processes of these cycles in a specific area.
P-43922 April 16, 1994