Surveying and mapping of natural resources by remote sensing

Sustainable economic development requires detailed knowledge of the natural resources of any nation. Acquiring the needed information by conventional means may require a large investment in time, personnel, and therefore, in cost. A viable alternative is space-age technology which provides the necessary tools to conduct surveys of natural resources in a timely manner. Such technologies can obtain the required data by means of digital sensors, radar imaging systems and stereo cameras. These data can be utilized to map structures that may contain oil and gas deposits, recognize high concentrations of economic minerals, and discover regions with fertile soils and good potential for groundwater. Those applications warrant greater use of remote sensing methods and techniques by the international scientific community, particularly for the development of natural resources in the Third World. This paper represents a general review of the available, and easily interpretable, space-borne data that are useful in the mapping of natural resources.