Applying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries

The determination of rates and stocks of carbon storage in salt marshes, as well as their protection, require that we know where they and their boundaries are. Marsh boundaries are conventionally mapped through recognition of plant communities using aerial photography or satellite imagery. We examin...

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Autores principales:	Lee B. van Ardenne, Gail L. Chmura
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	blue carbon tidal marsh limits DEM Gulf of St. Lawrence Bay of Fundy Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b5e1f33675bf4007b521018f87d895a3
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:b5e1f33675bf4007b521018f87d895a3
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b5e1f33675bf4007b521018f87d895a32021-11-11T18:51:10ZApplying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries10.3390/rs132142452072-4292https://doaj.org/article/b5e1f33675bf4007b521018f87d895a32021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/21/4245https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292The determination of rates and stocks of carbon storage in salt marshes, as well as their protection, require that we know where they and their boundaries are. Marsh boundaries are conventionally mapped through recognition of plant communities using aerial photography or satellite imagery. We examined the possibility of substituting the use of 1 m resolution LiDAR-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) and tidal elevations to establish salt marsh upper boundaries on the New Brunswick coasts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy, testing this method at tidal ranges from ≤2 to ≥4 m. LiDAR-mapped marsh boundaries were verified with high spatial resolution satellite imagery and a subset through field mapping of the upland marsh edge based upon vegetation and soil characteristics, recording the edge location and elevation with a Differential Geographic Positioning System. The results show that the use of high-resolution LiDAR and tidal elevation data can successfully map the upper boundary of salt marshes without the need to first map plant species. The marsh map area resulting from our mapping was ~30% lower than that in the province’s aerial-photograph-based maps. However, the difference was not primarily due to the location of the upper marsh boundaries but more so because of the exclusion of mudflats and large creeks (features that are not valued as carbon sinks) using the LiDAR method that are often mapped as marsh areas in the provincial maps. Despite some minor limitations, the development of DEMs derived from LiDAR can be applied to update and correct existing salt marsh maps along extensive sections of coastlines in less time than required to manually trace from imagery. This is vital information for governments and NGOs seeking to conserve these environments, as accurate mapping of the location and area of these ecosystems is a necessary basis for conservation prioritization indices.Lee B. van ArdenneGail L. ChmuraMDPI AGarticleblue carbontidal marsh limitsDEMGulf of St. LawrenceBay of FundyScienceQENRemote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 4245, p 4245 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	blue carbon tidal marsh limits DEM Gulf of St. Lawrence Bay of Fundy Science Q
spellingShingle	blue carbon tidal marsh limits DEM Gulf of St. Lawrence Bay of Fundy Science Q Lee B. van Ardenne Gail L. Chmura Applying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries
description	The determination of rates and stocks of carbon storage in salt marshes, as well as their protection, require that we know where they and their boundaries are. Marsh boundaries are conventionally mapped through recognition of plant communities using aerial photography or satellite imagery. We examined the possibility of substituting the use of 1 m resolution LiDAR-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) and tidal elevations to establish salt marsh upper boundaries on the New Brunswick coasts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy, testing this method at tidal ranges from ≤2 to ≥4 m. LiDAR-mapped marsh boundaries were verified with high spatial resolution satellite imagery and a subset through field mapping of the upland marsh edge based upon vegetation and soil characteristics, recording the edge location and elevation with a Differential Geographic Positioning System. The results show that the use of high-resolution LiDAR and tidal elevation data can successfully map the upper boundary of salt marshes without the need to first map plant species. The marsh map area resulting from our mapping was ~30% lower than that in the province’s aerial-photograph-based maps. However, the difference was not primarily due to the location of the upper marsh boundaries but more so because of the exclusion of mudflats and large creeks (features that are not valued as carbon sinks) using the LiDAR method that are often mapped as marsh areas in the provincial maps. Despite some minor limitations, the development of DEMs derived from LiDAR can be applied to update and correct existing salt marsh maps along extensive sections of coastlines in less time than required to manually trace from imagery. This is vital information for governments and NGOs seeking to conserve these environments, as accurate mapping of the location and area of these ecosystems is a necessary basis for conservation prioritization indices.
format	article
author	Lee B. van Ardenne Gail L. Chmura
author_facet	Lee B. van Ardenne Gail L. Chmura
author_sort	Lee B. van Ardenne
title	Applying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries
title_short	Applying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries
title_full	Applying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries
title_fullStr	Applying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries
title_full_unstemmed	Applying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries
title_sort	applying airborne lidar to map salt marsh inland boundaries
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b5e1f33675bf4007b521018f87d895a3
work_keys_str_mv	AT leebvanardenne applyingairbornelidartomapsaltmarshinlandboundaries AT gaillchmura applyingairbornelidartomapsaltmarshinlandboundaries
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Applying Airborne LiDAR to Map Salt Marsh Inland Boundaries

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