UAV Photogrammetry for Mapping Vegetation in the Low-Arctic
Plot-scale field measurements are necessary to monitor changes to tundra vegetation, which has a small stature and high spatial heterogeneity, while satellite remote sensing can be used to track coarser changes over larger regions. In this study we explored the potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing)
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1807/74423 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2016-0008 |
| Summary: | Plot-scale field measurements are necessary to monitor changes to tundra vegetation, which has a small stature and high spatial heterogeneity, while satellite remote sensing can be used to track coarser changes over larger regions. In this study we explored the potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) photographic surveys to map low-Arctic vegetation at an intermediate scale. A multicopter was used to capture highly overlapping, sub-centimetre photographs over a 2 ha site near Tuktoyaktuk, NWT. Images were processed into ultra-dense 3D point clouds and 1 cm resolution orthomosaics and vegetation height models using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) methods. Shrub vegetation heights measured on the ground were accurately represented using SfM point cloud data (r2 = 0.96, SE = 8 cm, n = 31) and a combination of spectral and height predictor variables yielded an 11-class classification with 82% overall accuracy. Differencing repeat UAV surveys before and after manually trimming shrub patches showed vegetation height decreases in trimmed areas (-6.5 cm, SD = 21 cm ). Based on these findings, we conclude that UAV photogrammetry provides a promising, cost-efficient method for high-resolution mapping and monitoring of tundra vegetation that can be used to bridge the gap between plot and satellite remote sensing measurements. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. |
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