Citation:

Landry, B., P. Tango, C. Bisland, M. Coffer, B. Dennison, V. Hill, M. Lebrasse, J. Li, R. Orth, C. Patrick, B. Schaeffer, P. Whitman, D. Wilcox, AND R. Zimmerman. Exploring Satellite Image Integration for the Chesapeake Bay SAV Monitoring Program. In Proceedings, Chesapeake Bay SAV Monitoring Program - Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee Workshop, Virtual, February 25 - 26, 2021. Chesapeake Research Consortium, Edgewater, MD, 21-001, (2021).

Impact/Purpose:

Since 1984, the Chesapeake Bay Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring Program has used aerial imagery, coupled with ground-based surveys, to map and assess the distribution and abundance of underwater bay grasses, also known as submerged aquatic vegetation, throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. This existing program is becoming prohibitively expensive so the alternative of satellite remote sensing is considered and presented in this report.

Description:

Since 1984, the Chesapeake Bay Program has worked with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to conduct an annual survey of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal waters. The Chesapeake Bay SAV Monitoring Program (hereafter the SAV monitoring program) collects, interprets, and synthesizes both aerial imagery and ground survey data to report SAV acreage and density throughout the Bay annually and reliably, and is the most successful and consistent large-scale, long-term SAV monitoring program in the world. SAV scientists and managers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have grown to depend upon the data for a variety of purposes, from basic research and education to regulatory decision-making to annual public communications on the health of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Like many large-scale and long-term monitoring efforts, funding for the SAV monitoring program has become difficult to sustain and avenues for ensuring the longevity of the program are being explored. As such, the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (hereafter STAC) supported this workshop to explore the integration of high-resolution commercial satellite imagery (CSI) into the SAV monitoring program. The overarching purpose of the workshop was to determine if CSI (i) could be obtained and processed in a more efficient and cost-effective manner than aerial imagery collected from fixed-wing aircraft, and (ii) could provide imagery of sufficient quality and spatial cover to monitor SAV populations in the Chesapeake Bay. Adoption of monitoring and assessment approaches with significant cost and programmatic efficiencies are needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the SAV monitoring program. The workshop convened technical and management personnel to consider pathways to achieve the aforementioned goals. Acquiring CSI at no cost is an option under the NextView License agreement between the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and Maxar (previously DigitalGlobe, Inc). The NextView License was developed by the NGA to accommodate United States Government (USG) agencies, contractors, partners, and other entities that require CSI to support USG interests. Although cumbersome details apply, the basic premise of the agreement is that any federal agency that requires satellite imagery from contracted commercial sources can request and obtain said imagery at no cost to the local agency. As 2017 updates to the Water Resource Development Act, which amends Section 117 of the Clean Water Act, called for an annual survey of Chesapeake Bay SAV, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required by statute to conduct an annual SAV survey. This makes it theoretically feasible for the EPA to now request and obtain the high-resolution CSI necessary for the annual SAV assessment. During the three-session workshop and in the months since, we learned that targeted acquisition of CSI through the NextView License is possible, and that under optimal conditions, CSI is comparable to aerial photography for conducting SAV acreage assessment. Rather than whole-heartedly endorsing the incorporation of CSI into the SAV monitoring program at this time, however, the steering committee recommended that additional steps be taken to answer lingering questions that will determine whether incorporating or transitioning to CSI is realistic, feasible, and advantageous to the SAV monitoring program. To determine the exact steps and contacts necessary to begin tasking and data acquisition, the steering committee recommended that VIMS GIS analysts conduct two primary exercises: test tasking of the whole Bay and a calibration/match-up exercise. These exercises have already been funded as addendum to the VIMS scope of work for the existing annual aerial survey.

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