Remote sensing of corridor landscapes: A case study of the National Road, Wheeling, West Virginia

This research is an investigation of how remote sensing can be used to supplement traditional methods of corridor management planning. Cultural resource inventory for corridor and interpretive management practices is an important component of applications for the designation of a selected route as Scenic Historic American Byways through the National Scenic Byways Program. A case study of a section of the National Road near Wheeling, West Virginia, showed that contemporary and historic aerial photography can facilitate the identification of possible impacts on a route's historic integrity. A previously designated historic route, the National Road was America's first federally funded interstate highway. Aerial photographs of the case study area from 1938, 1969 and 1997 provide a time series of land use along the National Road. By overlaying land use maps derived from the 1938 and 1997 photographs, areas of potential landscape integrity were identified. The research also demonstrates the importance of careful planning of highway access points so as to minimize impacts on significant adjacent routes. The orthorectification of historic aerial photography was found to be challenging due to problems with identifying both the interior and exterior orientation of the photography. Nevertheless, this remote sensing data was found to provide a valuable tool for cultural management along highway corridors.