Remote Sensing
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Conant, Francis
setName: label: See more items in
content: Francis P. Conant Papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3.2 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1967, 1971, 1976-1984, 1991-1992, 2002, undated
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2012-13, Series 3
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Conant was a pioneer in the use of satellite data in anthropological research. In 1977-1980, he conducted research on human ecology in West Pokot District, Kenya, where he had worked previously during the 1960s. To study the interrelationships between subsistence resources and population change in the sahel of East Africa, he employed satellite data, aerial photography, radiometric measurements (collected using a radiometer/camera that he and his team developed), and traditional anthropological fieldwork.

Most of the files in this series pertain to his research in Kenya using remote sensing tools. These materials include his grant application; field notebooks; spectrometer, radiometer, and compass measurements; sketch maps; records of photos taken; 35mm slides and prints; transcripts of sound recordings; and notes on crops, trees, and grass. This series also contains files relating to his consultancy work for Ecosystems, Ltd. and Kenya's Ministry of Transport and Communications, which involved interpreting aerial photography for changes taking place along rural access roads. 

Additional materials in the series include Conant's grant applications for research on the spread of AIDS using satellite data, a paper coauthored by Conant on the development of a portable radiometer/camera, and files relating to a 1992 conference on Anthropology of Human Behavior Through Geographic Information and Analysis. The series also contains information regarding remote sensing equipment and unpublished papers by Ernestine Cary and John Roberts on their research in Kenya involving the use of satellite data. 

For other material from Conant's research in Kenya during the 1970s, see Series 8 Sound Recordings, Subseries: Kenya 1970s for an associated sound recording. Series 9. Digital Files contains satellite-related files.