Objective 1 Model Rangeland Health at Local and International Sites:
Rangeland health is a term that has received much emphasis. However, there are many definitions of rangeland health, none of which are universally accepted. For this reason, we have developed a working definition of healthy rangelands: "Healthy rangelands exhibit effective water cycles as indicated by minimal bareground exposure and minimal evidence of soil erosion. The vegetation will be a mixture of grasses, forbs, and shrubs providing quality forage and habitat for wildlife and grazing animals. Litter will be present with evidence of active biological degradation".

Objective 2 Compare Rangeland Health Between Local and International Sites:
Compare rangeland health index values within study site pairs. In addition bare ground exposure models (a primary indicator of rangeland health) will be compared between study site pairs.

Objective 3 Test Scalability of Composite Rangeland Health Models:
Develop composite rangeland health models for each study site using fine resolution SPOT/Aster imagery. If composite rangeland health indices are scalable from fine spatial resolution to more coarse resolution platforms, the latter (e.g., MODIS) imagery would offer a cost-effective solution to range managers, range scientists, ranchers, and land stewards.

Objective 4 Public Outreach Activities:
The results from this study will be freely distributed and several venues of public outreach will be implemented throughout the course of this study.