IMPROVED URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE MAPPING AND FORECASTING FOR BELLSOUTH USING REMOTE-SENSING AND GIS TECHNOLOGY

The results of a NASA-sponsored Earth Observations Commercial Applicat ions Program (EOCAP) project conducted by BellSouth Telecommunications , the University of South Carolina, and NASA's Stennis Space Center ar e described. The goal of this EOCAP project is to incorporate remotely sensed data into a multi-purpose forecasting methodology that will as sist BellSouth in its market forecasting activities. The research has concentrated on the evaluation of NASA's Calibrated Airborne Multispec tral Scanner data (less-than-or-equal-to 5- by 5-m spatial resolution) and SPOT 20- by 20-m data are sufficient to provide regional informat ion on land-cover change. SPOT 10- by 10-m panchromatic data are usefu l for updating the urban transportation infrastructure. However, inven torying residential housing stock and estimating population characteri stics requires imagery with a spatial resolution of less-than-or-equal -to 5 by 5 m. Several innovative methods based on remotely sensed info rmation and ancillary data stored in geographic information systems ar e used to predict residential housing and commercial-industrial develo pment. The technology is being tested in several wire centers in South Carolina and will be transferred to BellSouth, who will use the techn ology to perform more efficient forecasting, marketing, and planning.