An Automated Method for Mapping Giant Kelp Canopy Dynamics from UAV

Cavanaugh, Katherine C.; Cavanaugh, Kyle C.; Bell, Tom W.; Hockridge, Evan G.

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2020.587354

An Automated Method for Mapping Giant Kelp Canopy Dynamics from UAV

Journal Article · Wed Feb 17 00:00:00 EST 2021 · Frontiers in Environmental Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2020.587354· OSTI ID:1766575

Cavanaugh, Katherine C.; Cavanaugh, Kyle C.; Bell, Tom W.; Hockridge, Evan G.

Satellite and aerial imagery have been used extensively for mapping the abundance and distribution of giant kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera ) in southern California. There is now great potential for using unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) to map kelp canopy at very high resolutions. However, tides and currents have been shown to affect the amount of floating kelp canopy on the water surface, and the impacts of these processes on remotely sensed kelp estimates in this region have not been fully quantified. UAVs were used to map fine-scale changes in canopy area due to tidal height and current speed at kelp forests off the coast of Palos Verdes, CA and Santa Barbara, CA. An automated method for detecting kelp canopy was developed that was 67% accurate using red-green-blue (RGB) UAV imagery and 93% accurate using multispectral UAV imagery across a range of weather, ocean, and illumination conditions. Increases in tidal height of 1 m reduced the amount of floating kelp canopy by 15% in Santa Barbara and by over 30% in Palos Verdes. The effect of current speed on visible kelp canopy was inconclusive, but there was a trend towards lower canopy area with increased current speed. Therefore, while tidal height and current speed can introduce significant variability to estimates of kelp abundance, the magnitude of this variability is site specific. Still, UAVs are a valuable tool for mapping of kelp canopy and can provide greater spatial resolution and temporal coverage than is possible from many satellite sensors. This data can provide insight into the patterns and drivers of high frequency fluctuations in kelp abundance.

View Journal Article

Research Organization:: University of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)

Grant/Contract Number:: AR0000922

OSTI ID:: 1766575

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1848311

Journal Information:: Frontiers in Environmental Science, Journal Name: Frontiers in Environmental Science Vol. 8; ISSN 2296-665X

Publisher:: Frontiers Media SACopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: Switzerland

Language:: English

References (52)

Remote sensing: generation of long‐term kelp bed data sets for evaluation of impacts of climatic variation Hamilton, Sara L.; Bell, Tom W.; Watson, James R. Ecology, Vol. 101, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3031	journal	April 2020
Spatial and temporal persistence of nearshore kelp beds on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada using satellite remote sensing Schroeder, Sarah B.; Boyer, Leanna; Juanes, Francis Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, Vol. 6, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.142	journal	December 2019
Evaluation of remote sensing techniques for monitoring giant kelp populations Deysher, Larry E. Hydrobiologia, Vol. 260-261, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00049033	journal	June 1993
Density derived estimates of standing crop and net primary production in the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera Reed, Daniel; Rassweiler, Andrew; Arkema, Katie Marine Biology, Vol. 156, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1238-6	journal	June 2009
A remote sensing approach to estimating harvestable kelp biomass Stekoll, M. S.; Deysher, L. E.; Hess, M. Journal of Applied Phycology, Vol. 18, Issue 3-5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-006-9029-7	journal	June 2006
Diel periodicity of spore release from the kelp Nereocystis luetkeana (Mertens) Postels et Ruprecht Amsler, Charles D.; Neushul, Michael Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Vol. 134, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(90)90104-K	journal	January 1989
Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation Tucker, Compton J. Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 8, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-4257(79)90013-0	journal	May 1979
Estimating PAR absorbed by vegetation from bidirectional reflectance measurements Roujean, Jean-Louis; Breon, François-Marie Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 51, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-4257(94)00114-3	journal	March 1995
Comparing prediction power and stability of broadband and hyperspectral vegetation indices for estimation of green leaf area index and canopy chlorophyll density Broge, N. H.; Leblanc, E. Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 76, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(00)00197-8	journal	May 2001
Novel algorithms for remote estimation of vegetation fraction Gitelson, Anatoly A.; Kaufman, Yoram J.; Stark, Robert Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 80, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(01)00289-9	journal	April 2002
Use of a green channel in remote sensing of global vegetation from EOS-MODIS Gitelson, Anatoly A.; Kaufman, Yoram J.; Merzlyak, Mark N. Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 58, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(96)00072-7	journal	December 1996
The response of macrofauna communities and shorebirds to macrophyte wrack subsidies on exposed sandy beaches of southern California Dugan, Jenifer E.; Hubbard, David M.; McCrary, Michael D. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol. 58 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7714(03)00045-3	journal	October 2003
The California coastal wave monitoring and prediction system O'Reilly, W. C.; Olfe, Corey B.; Thomas, Julianna Coastal Engineering, Vol. 116 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2016.06.005	journal	October 2016
Passive remote sensing technology for mapping bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana): A review of techniques and regional case study Schroeder, Sarah B.; Dupont, Colleen; Boyer, Leanna Global Ecology and Conservation, Vol. 19 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00683	journal	July 2019
Combining UAV-based plant height from crop surface models, visible, and near infrared vegetation indices for biomass monitoring in barley Bendig, Juliane; Yu, Kang; Aasen, Helge International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, Vol. 39 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2015.02.012	journal	July 2015
A novel ocean color index to detect floating algae in the global oceans Hu, Chuanmin Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 113, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2009.05.012	journal	October 2009
Remote monitoring of giant kelp biomass and physiological condition: An evaluation of the potential for the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) mission Bell, Tom W.; Cavanaugh, Kyle C.; Siegel, David A. Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 167 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2015.05.003	journal	September 2015
Mapping macroalgal blooms in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea using HJ-1 and Landsat data: Application of a virtual baseline reflectance height technique Xing, Qianguo; Hu, Chuanmin Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 178 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.02.065	journal	June 2016
Three decades of variability in California's giant kelp forests from the Landsat satellites Bell, Tom W.; Allen, James G.; Cavanaugh, Kyle C. Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 238 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.06.039	journal	March 2020
Satellite remote sensing of canopy-forming kelp on a complex coastline: A novel procedure using the Landsat image archive Nijland, Wiebe; Reshitnyk, Luba; Rubidge, Emily Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 220 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.10.032	journal	January 2019
Remote estimation of canopy chlorophyll content in crops Gitelson, Anatoly A. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 32, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL022688	journal	January 2005
Mapping the global potential for marine aquaculture Gentry, Rebecca R.; Froehlich, Halley E.; Grimm, Dietmar Nature Ecology & Evolution, Vol. 1, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0257-9	journal	August 2017
Marine heat wave and multiple stressors tip bull kelp forest to sea urchin barrens Rogers-Bennett, L.; Catton, C. A. Scientific Reports, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51114-y	journal	October 2019
Prague, Capital of the twentieth century: A surrealist history Löwy, Michael Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, Vol. 21, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1080/0965156x.2013.836857	journal	April 2013
Spatially Located Platform and Aerial Photography for Documentation of Grazing Impacts on Wheat Louhaichi, Mounir; Borman, Michael M.; Johnson, Douglas E. Geocarto International, Vol. 16, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1080/10106040108542184	journal	March 2001
Fluctuations in population fecundity drive variation in demographic connectivity and metapopulation dynamics Castorani, Max C. N.; Reed, Daniel C.; Raimondi, Peter T. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 284, Issue 1847 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2086	journal	January 2017
Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera , increases faunal diversity through physical engineering Miller, Robert J.; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Lamy, Thomas Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 285, Issue 1874 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2571	journal	March 2018
Development of a Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix-Based Texture Orientation Estimation Method and Its Application in Sea Surface Wind Direction Retrieval From SAR Imagery Zheng, Gang; Li, Xiaofeng; Zhou, Lizhang IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 56, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2018.2812778	journal	September 2018
Textural Features for Image Classification Haralick, Robert M.; Shanmugam, K.; Dinstein, Its'Hak IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Vol. SMC-3, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/TSMC.1973.4309314	journal	November 1973
The dynamics of Kelp Forests in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and the relationship with environmental drivers Pfister, Catherine A.; Berry, Helen D.; Mumford, Thomas Journal of Ecology, Vol. 106, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12908	journal	December 2017
The impacts of climate change in coastal marine systems: Climate change in coastal marine systems Harley, Christopher D. G.; Randall Hughes, A.; Hultgren, Kristin M. Ecology Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00871.x	journal	January 2006
Geographical variability in the controls of giant kelp biomass dynamics Bell, Tom W.; Cavanaugh, Kyle C.; Reed, Daniel C. Journal of Biogeography, Vol. 42, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12550	journal	June 2015
Exploring the potential for marine aquaculture to contribute to ecosystem services Gentry, Rebecca R.; Alleway, Heidi K.; Bishop, Melanie J. Reviews in Aquaculture, Vol. 12, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12328	journal	February 2019
Remote sensing of the environment with small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), part 1: a review of progress and challenges Whitehead, Ken; Hugenholtz, Chris H. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, Vol. 02, Issue 03 https://doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2014-0006	journal	September 2014
Global Ecology of the Giant Kelp Macrocystis Buschmann, Alejandro; Graham, Michael; Vasquez, Julio Oceanography and Marine Biology https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420050943.ch2	book	June 2007
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Surveying Marine Fauna: A Dugong Case Study Hodgson, Amanda; Kelly, Natalie; Peel, David PLoS ONE, Vol. 8, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079556	journal	November 2013
Biomass Rather than Growth rate Determines Variation in net Primary Production by Giant kelp Reed, Daniel C.; Rassweiler, Andrew; Arkema, Katie K. Ecology, Vol. 89, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1890/07-1106.1	journal	September 2008
Synchrony in dynamics of giant kelp forests is driven by both local recruitment and regional environmental controls Cavanaugh, Kyle C.; Kendall, Bruce E.; Siegel, David A. Ecology, Vol. 94, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1890/12-0268.1	journal	February 2013
Patch definition in metapopulation analysis: a graph theory approach to solve the mega-patch problem Cavanaugh, Kyle C.; Siegel, David A.; Raimondi, Peter T. Ecology, Vol. 95, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1890/13-0221.1	journal	February 2014
Connectivity structures local population dynamics: a long-term empirical test in a large metapopulation system Castorani, Max C. N.; Reed, Daniel C.; Alberto, Filipe Ecology, Vol. 96, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0283.1	journal	December 2015
In situ growth and chemical composition of the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera: response to temporal changes in ambient nutrient availability Zimmerman, Rc; Kremer, Jn Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 27 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps027277	journal	January 1986
Effect of tidal currents and tidal stage on estimates of bed size in the kelp Nereocystis luetkeana Britton-Simmons, K.; Eckman, Je; Duggins, Do Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 355 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07209	journal	February 2008
Scaling giant kelp field measurements to regional scales using satellite observations Cavanaugh, Kc; Siegel, Da; Kinlan, Bp Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 403 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08467	journal	March 2010
Environmental controls of giant-kelp biomass in the Santa Barbara Channel, California Cavanaugh, Kc; Siegel, Da; Reed, Dc Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 429 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09141	journal	May 2011
Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to measure jellyfish aggregations Schaub, J.; Hunt, Bpv; Pakhomov, Ea Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 591 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12414	journal	March 2018
Population dynamics of giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera along a wave exposure gradient Graham, Mh; Harrold, C.; Lisin, S. Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 148 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps148269	journal	January 1997
Local Extinction of Bull Kelp (Durvillaea spp.) Due to a Marine Heatwave Thomsen, Mads S.; Mondardini, Luca; Alestra, Tommaso Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 6 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00084	journal	March 2019
Spatial Variability in the Resistance and Resilience of Giant Kelp in Southern and Baja California to a Multiyear Heatwave Cavanaugh, Kyle C.; Reed, Daniel C.; Bell, Tom W. Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 6 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00413	journal	July 2019
A High-Resolution Global Map of Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) Forests and Intertidal Green Algae (Ulvophyceae) with Sentinel-2 Imagery Mora-Soto, Alejandra; Palacios, Mauricio; Macaya, Erasmo Remote Sensing, Vol. 12, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12040694	journal	February 2020
A Multichannel Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrix for Multi/Hyperspectral Image Texture Representation Huang, Xin; Liu, Xiaobo; Zhang, Liangpei Remote Sensing, Vol. 6, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6098424	journal	September 2014
Separability Analysis of Sentinel-2A Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) Data for Burned Area Discrimination Huang, Haiyan; Roy, David; Boschetti, Luigi Remote Sensing, Vol. 8, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8100873	journal	October 2016
Direct Reflectance Measurements from Drones: Sensor Absolute Radiometric Calibration and System Tests for Forest Reflectance Characterization Hakala, Teemu; Markelin, Lauri; Honkavaara, Eija Sensors, Vol. 18, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.3390/s18051417	journal	May 2018

Similar Records

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
current speed
drones
ecological succession
environmental sciences & ecology
kelp classification
kelp mapping
spatial variability
tidal height

An Automated Method for Mapping Giant Kelp Canopy Dynamics from UAV

Citation Formats

References (52)

Similar Records

Related Subjects