HYDRAULIC FRACKING & ITS EFFECTS ON LAND COVER CHANGE Remote Sensing of Natural Resources Molly McDonald & Jessica Sweet

Background “...create and enhance subsurface fracture systems to allow gas and oil to move more freely from rock pores to production wells…” http://1bog.org/blog/how-to-become-a-fracking-insurgent-beyond-going-solar/

Objective Identify land cover changes due to hydraulic fracking activities between 2005 and 2012 near Manning, North Dakota. 6/15/2005 7/15, 7/22, & 8/02/2009 7/4/2012 8.8 X 13.2 mi

Dunn County, North Dakota City of Manning 2010 Total Population: 74

Data Sources National Agriculture Imagery Program (USDA) 2005, 1 meter resolution, RGB 2009, 1 meter resolution, RGB and IR 2012, 1 meter resolution, RGB and IR North Dakota GIS Data Portal Municipal Data for Reference FracFocus.org (Hydraulic Fracking Well Locations)

Methodology Unsupervised Classification: Data Size Limitation Training Samples Probabilities Clip “Developed” Class Unsupervised Classification Merge Results

Results 2005 - 2012 Overall Change in Classification Red areas indicate change 1.39% increase in “developed” areas 0.18% decrease in “other” areas 1.21% decrease in “water” areas

Results: Thematic Change

Results: Classification Matrix 2005 - 2009: Some pixels changed from developed to water. 2005 - 2012: Water class changed to the Other class

Challenges: Classification NAIP: low spectral variability Overlapping classes

Challenges Obtaining Data (Metadata) Study area Mosaic

Qualitative Accuracy Assessment Compare well site locations to identified areas of “Developed” 2005 2009 2012 7 wells in Dunn county 252 wells in Dunn county 642 wells in Dunn county No wells in study area 20 wells in study area, all in developed areas 61 wells in study area, all in developed areas

Bibliography North Dakota Technology Department. [National Agricultural Inventory Program aerial imagery]. Retrieved from http://www.nd.gov/gis/. United States Department of Agriculture. [National agriculture inventory program state flight path shapefiles]. Retrieved from http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/apfoapp?area=home&subject =prog&topic. FracFocus: Chemical Disclosure Registry. [Find a well by state]. Retrieved from http://www.fracfocusdata.org /DisclosureSearch/. United States Environmental Protection Agency. [Natural Gas Extraction - Hydraulic Fracturing]. Retrieved from http://www2.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing.