MAPPING THE DEGRADATION OF THE GEORGE RIVER CARIBOU HERD SUMMER HABITAT WITH LANDSAT DATA

摘要

The George River caribou herd in northern Quebec-Labrador increased from about 5000 in the 50's to about 700 000 animals in the 90's. This important increase of the population caused an over-use of the summer habitat resulting in a strong degradation of the vegetation cover and the exposition of mineral and organic soils. The very low plant growth-potential and the health damages to the caribou observed in the last few years lead us to believe in a decrease of the herd. The study area is located in the northeastern Quebec-Labrador peninsula (Canada). Maps of the degradation areas and their spatio-temporal variations are being produced using remotely sensed data. The first step consists of creating a satellite image process for assessing the spatial distribution and extent of these areas. A recent mosaic of 13 Landsat TM images is used. Classification results are being validated against new and previously collected ground truth data. The second step is to apply the method to older images of the same area acquired in the 80's (Landsat TM) and 70's (Landsat MSS). Principal component analysis will then be used to assess spatio-temporal changes of degradation areas. Finally, maps showing areas of change will be produced.