Abstract
Validation of benthic habitat maps produced from remote sensing imagery is quite time consuming and expensive. Validating maps of seagrass biomass is even more sophisticated and time consuming as the seagrass has to be collected, dried and weighed in the laboratory. We developed a method for estimating the dry weight of the seagrass based on photo transect data and a photo library of quadrats with known seagrass biomass. For seagrass biomass estimation we selected 13 different bottom classes. A photo of each 25 × 25 cm quadrat was taken prior to collecting the samples for each class. Seagrass (and macroalgae, if present) dry weight for each class was measured in the laboratory. These photos were then used to estimate seagrass biomass in 100 m long geolocated photo transects. Seagrass dry weight estimated from the photo transects using the photo-library method was compared with QuickBird satellite radiances. Preliminary results show that QuickBird imagery may be used for mapping seagrass biomass even in highly variable environment such as the Ngederrak Reef in Palau.
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Acknowledgements
The research for this paper was possible through funding through World Bank GEF Coral Reefs Project, Coral Remote Sensing and the field support of the Palau International Coral Reef Center and Dr. Karen Brady. Tiit Kutser's and Ele Vahtmäe's participation in the fieldwork was funded by the Estonian Science Foundation grant 6051 and Estonian Basic Research grant 0712699s05.
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Kutser, T., Vahtmäe, E., Roelfsema, C., Metsamaa, L. (2009). Mapping Seagrass Biomass with Photo-Library Method. In: Jones, S., Reinke, K. (eds) Innovations in Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-93962-7_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-93962-7_31
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