Prediction of a future washover landscape based on airborne remote sensing techniques
- International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), Enschede (Netherlands)
International recognition and protection of the Wadden Sea area was established after the {open_quote}Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat{close_quote}. The Dutch government policy of dynamic preservation of the Dutch coast gives nature almost a free reign at locations designated as natural areas, e.g. the extremes of the Dutch Wadden islands. Management is involved in monitoring the coastal development with the purpose of gaining more insight in the processes affecting these areas, subsequently allowing prediction. An important process observed on the eastern ends of the Wadden islands is the occurrence of washovers. This geomorphological phenomenon, resulting in sand transport from the foredunes to the saltmarsh and tidal flats, has a major ecological impact, influencing among other things the species composition of the saltmarsh. To monitor the washovers several airborne sensors were used. Information on the formation and stabilization of washovers by vegetation, was extracted from multitemporal airborne videography and scanned aerial photographs. Based on the trends derived from these sequential images, digital elevation data and morphological parameters derived from laser altimetry, dynamic modelling in a GIS environment was applied, which resulted in the prediction of the place of washovers and the amount sediment that could be deposited on saltmarsh in the coming years. The general conclusion is that, the presence of washovers causes environmental heterogeneity resulting in a high species diversity. Multitemporal airborne remote sensing data are not only useful for monitoring the landscape but the data also support spatio-temporal modelling.
- OSTI ID:
- 478166
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970319--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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