1. Upper Chester River Watershed Project
Mohammed Kemal & United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Watershed Description
The Choptank River is one of the major tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay
located on the Delmarva Peninsula. The river is 178 square miles, and the
watershed consists of 58% agricultural land, 33% forested land, and only 9%
urban land. The watershed project provides numerous unique features to the
national Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) effort. The soil in the
region is poorly drained and has a very flat topography. Therefore, farmers have
been known to utilize a scheme of drainage gullies to facilitate the movement of
water into streams. The watershed consists of both Kent and Queen Anne’s
County, where 50% of the watershed is in Kent County and 49% is in Queen
Anne’s County.
Results and discussion
This project shows that winter cover crops are important for the day to day farmer
due to their impact in improving the quality of the soil, reduce erosion, increase
the fertility of the soil, suppress weeds and control weeds. Some things to
consider when planting these cover crops is that if the farmers do not properly get
rid of these cover crops, they can turn in to weed themselves. They can also
harbor rubs, cutworms, or armyworms that can be hazardous to the cash crops
because they will attack them. Though cover crop management is important,
another factor is land suitability. The results from the DEM maps show that the
areas that these crops are planted are in the low DEM zones (bottom left of
image). The NCDL data also shows, the specific places the different types of
crops were planted within the watershed.
References
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
"Ohio State University Fact Sheet." Cover Crop Fundamentals, AGF-142-99. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Aug. 2014.
Use, Table 1: Land, Map: Land Use, Table 2: Land Use Indicators, and Table 3: Living Resource Indicators. "Watershed Restoration Action Strategy."Upper Chester River (June 2006): n. pag. CB Trust. Web.
Ruckman, Mark W. "Methods of Surface Characterization — Volume 4: Specimen Handling, Preparation and Treatments in Surface Characterization." Materials Characterization 46.1 (2001): 81-82. Web.
Nelson, J., and P. Spies. "The Upper Chester River Watershed: Lessons Learned from a Focused, Highly Partnered, Voluntary Approach to Conservation."Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 68.2 (2013): 41A-4A. Web.
Final. "Watershed Report for Biological Impairment of Upper Chester River Watershed in Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties, Maryland." FINAL (n.d.): n. pag. Jan. 2012. Web.
Watershed Report for Biological Impairment of Upper Chester River Watershed in Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties, MarylandFINAL(n.d): n. pah. Water Protection Division U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency, Region
III, Jan. 12. Web.
Nation Elevation Data: DEM
USGS: Landsat Data
Abstract
The purpose of this project is to show the importance of winter cover crops
and their use in the Upper Chester River Watershed. This project will discuss
the various areas of the Choptank River Watershed, where the winter cover
crops are being used from small areas of farmland to areas where corn and
wheat are prominent. The NCDL imagery will show the various areas the
different crop types are planted while, the DEM data of the watershed will
evaluate the elevation and slopes.
Acknowledgement
Data Collected From:
Dean Hiveley: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Data & Methods
To complement the use of satellite imagery, annual 30-m raster maps of the
National Cropland Data Layer (NCDL) were obtained from USDA-NASS. This
dataset, which is derived from remote sensing and crop phenology, provided a
yearly mapped classification of summer crop type. For comparison, the United
States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS) county statistics for crop acreages were obtained. This tool was
programmed in ArcMap 10.1 to overlay the NCDL with satellite NDVI imagery
and calculate the area of each NCDL crop type that fell within each of four
vegetation index classes determined as: minimal biomass: 0.1 < NDVI < 0.3;
low biomass: 0.3 < NDVI < 0.45; medium biomass: 0.45 < NDVI < 0.6; and
high biomass: NDVI > 0.6. This allowed mapping of winter ground cover
outcomes following each predominant type of summer row crop (corn, soybean,
double crop winter wheat / soybean, hay) (Dean Hively). Then an ASTER DEM
imagery was used to reclassify different areas based on height; it was also used
to calculate the slope of the overall imagery by location.
Importance of Cover Crops
Cover crops have been used for a long time, but there has been a massive
transition from cover crops to herbicides and fertilizers. We are now seeing
another transition back to the cover crops as farmers start to understand their
importance. Researchers and universities have started to experiment with cover
crops once more. They are researching how these cover crops can be used in
modern farming practices and are finding new ways to supplement them.