Vegetation change detection in the Savannah River swamp

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5221299

Jensen, J R; Christensen, E J; Mackey, Jr, H E

Portions of Pen Branch, Four Mile Creek, Steel Creek, and Beaver Dam Creek deltas in the Savannah River swamp were evaluated for wetlands vegetation change using aircraft multispectral scanner (MSS) data acquired at 2440 meters altitude. Areas of 190 hectares on the Pen Branch, Four Mile Creek, and Beaver Dam Creek deltas, and a 240-hectare portion of Steel Creek delta were registered, classified, and wetlands vegetation change detection categories determined. Pen Branch and Four Mile Creek deltas each lost about 12 hectares of swamp forest from 1981 to 1984. Secondary successional forest regrew on portions of the Four Mile Creek delta (2.4 hectares) and the Beaver Dam Creek delta (15.4 hectares). About 5 hectares of swamp forest regrew on the Steel Creek delta. This may be the first study to detect wetlands vegetation change over several years using aircraft MSS data. One reason could be due to difficulties similar to those encountered in this study. Data distortion from aircraft movement in some areas of the swamp made image-to-image registration difficult. Best results were obtained on Beaver Dam Creek and Steel Creek deltas which had average registration accuracies within one data element, or pixel, of 5.6 x 5.6 meters. Phenological differences and shadows caused difficulties in vegetation-type discrimination and classification. As a result, the number of vegetation change classes were sometimes limited.

• Research Organization: South Carolina Univ., Columbia (USA). Dept. of Geography; Savannah River Lab., Aiken, SC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-76SR00001
• OSTI ID: 5221299
• Report Number(s): DP-MS-85-118; CONF-8603101-3; ON: DE86015697
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520500* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AERIAL MONITORING
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
ECOSYSTEMS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MONITORING
MULTISPECTRAL SCANNERS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PLANTS
REMOTE SENSING
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WETLANDS