A Wright State University research scientist is using satellite
imagery to evaluate water quality within the streams and rivers
of the Ohio River watershed. Abinash Agrawal, Ph.D., an
associate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences,
recently received a $20,000 grant from NASA as part of the a
$39,000 project that began in late 2003. "This is a new field of
remote sensing that uses satellite pictures to examine land
surfaces and land-use patterns within the Ohio River watershed,
which includes large portions of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky,"
explained Agrawal, whose training encompasses geochemistry and
environmental engineering. The study includes the urban areas of
Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati and Louisville. Agrawal said the
satellite photos are a powerful tool to examine the water
quality in streams, lakes and rivers because the area involved
totals more than 200,000 square miles. "This would take hundreds
of people and cost millions of dollars without the use of this
space-age technology," he s