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

2. Background
“...create and enhance subsurface fracture systems to allow gas and oil to move more freely from rock pores to production wells…”

3. 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

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

5. 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)

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

7. 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

8. Results: Thematic Change

9. Results: Classification Matrix
: Some pixels changed from developed to water.
: Water class changed to the Other class

10. Challenges: Classification
NAIP: low spectral variability
Overlapping classes

11. Challenges
Obtaining Data (Metadata)
Study area
Mosaic

12. 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

13. Bibliography
North Dakota Technology Department. [National Agricultural Inventory Program aerial imagery]. Retrieved from
United States Department of Agriculture. [National agriculture inventory program state flight path shapefiles]. Retrieved from =prog&topic.
FracFocus: Chemical Disclosure Registry. [Find a well by state]. Retrieved from /DisclosureSearch/.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. [Natural Gas Extraction - Hydraulic Fracturing]. Retrieved from