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MAPPING INTERTIDAL EELGRASS (ZOSTERA MARINA L.) IN THREE COASTAL ESTUARIES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST USA USING FALSE-COLOUR NEAR-INFRARED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Citation:
YOUNG, D. R., P. J. CLINTON, AND D. T. SPECHT. MAPPING INTERTIDAL EELGRASS (ZOSTERA MARINA L.) IN THREE COASTAL ESTUARIES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST USA USING FALSE-COLOUR NEAR-INFRARED AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING. Taylor & Francis, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, 31(7):1600-1715, (2010).
Impact/Purpose:
This study describes a hybrid technique of digitally classifying aerial photography used for mapping the intertidal habitat of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in Pacific Northwest USA estuaries.
Description:
This study describes a hybrid technique of digitally classifying aerial photography used for mapping the intertidal habitat of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in Pacific Northwest USA estuaries. The large tidal range (2-3 m) in this region exposes most of this seagrass community at low tide, permitting the use of false colour near-infrared film that provides good contrast in imaging vegetated intertidal habitats. Three Oregon coastal estuaries in the USA were surveyed in 2004 or 2005 at photoscales of 1:10 000 or 1:20 000. Spatial resolution was 0.25 m and the minimum mapping unit was 2.5 2.5 m. Spatial accuracy was within 1.5 m. Comparison of the image classification and ground survey results yielded overall classification accuracies of 83% to 97%. This appears to be an effective technique for mapping intertidal eelgrass distributions in turbid coastal estuaries with large tidal ranges.
