Applications of airborne remote sensing technologies for assessing and managing wetland ecosystems

摘要

The United States Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center's (NWRC) mission is to provide leadership in gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information as support for sound management of the Nation's wetland ecosystems. Since becoming operational in 1986, the NWRC, in cooperation with other Federal, State, and academic partners, conducts activities related to research, inventory and monitoring, information sharing, and technology transfer on wetlands. Through these efforts,the NWRC is fostering an understanding of wetland ecosystems and their benefits to society, and providing the essential scientific support and technical assistance required for management and policy decisions. This presentation summarized the NWRC's uses of airborne remote sensing data, including side-looking airborne radar, Landsat simulator, and aerial photography, with geographic information systems, global positioning systems, and image processing techniques to monitor success/failure of coastal wetland restoration projects, to conduct comprehensive assessments on the distribution and extent of seagrass habitat communities, to delineate damages and impacts of hurricanes on wetlands, and to model coastal flooding in wetlands for the northern Gulf of Mexico region of the United States. Maps and data generated from research and studies were highlighted, spatial analysis techniques used were presented, and information transfer and data dissemination activities to partners explained. The next two sections summarize four airborne remote sensing projects and list publications generated by NWRC.