Accessing the spatial variation of seagrass beds along the west coast of North America using high-resolution UAV data
Topics: UAS / UAV
, Remote Sensing
, Marine and Coastal Resources
Keywords: UAV; remote sensing; west coast; object-oriented analysis; seagrass habitats
Session Type: Virtual Paper
Day: Thursday
Session Start / End Time: 4/8/2021 03:05 PM (Pacific Time (US & Canada)) - 4/8/2021 04:20 PM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 13
Authors:
Bo Yang, Univerisity of Central Florida
Hawthorne Timothy, University of Central Florida
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Abstract
Seagrass habitats provide important services to coastal regions including primary production, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, habitat for fisheries species, and erosion control. However, quantifying ecosystem-level impacts of disease to changes in the extent and density of seagrass habitat has not yet been attempted across spatial scales. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) mapping (often referred to as drone mapping) with its high spatial resolution, temporal flexibility and ability to repeat photogrammetry affords a significant advancement in other remote sensing approaches for coastal mapping, vegetation monitoring, and environmental management. In this project, we perform UAV mapping along the west coast of North America to measure seagrass meadow extent, patchiness, and dynamics in coordination with in situ samplings in the summer of 2019, fieldwork in Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Canada. High-resolution mapping products were obtained for analyses of the seagrass morphology from different locations varying the latitude. The Object-oriented analysis is utilized to spectral values, texture, canopy density, and other biological indexes. Ground-truthing across a range of points within each seagrass meadow is used to validate drone mapping imagery. This high-resolution mapping will be repeated over three years. High-resolution satellite remote sensing data are also considered and combined with drone observations at both high spatial and high temporal resolution, producing continuous mapping and monitoring for seagrass extent and density.