Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2020, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (2): 107-117.doi: 10.11978/2019063CSTR: 32234.14.2019063

• Marine Survey and Monitoring • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Integrating spaceborne optical and SAR imagery for monitoring mangroves and Spartina alterniflora in Zhangjiang Estuary

Di DONG(), Jisheng ZENG, Zheng WEI, Jinhui YAN   

  1. South China Sea Institute of Planning and Environmental Research, South China Sea Bureau of Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou 510300, China
  • Received:2019-07-09 Revised:2019-10-12 Online:2020-03-10 Published:2020-03-10
  • Supported by:
    Open Fund of Key Laboratory of National Bureau of Surveying, Mapping and Geographic Information of China(2017NGCM08);Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China(2018A030310032);Guangdong Key Lab of Ocean Remote Sensing(South China Sea Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences)(2017B030301005-LORS1806)

Abstract:

Mangroves are an important type of coastal wetlands with ecological, environmental, economic, and cultural values. Spartina alterniflora is an invasive alien plant, threatening mangroves in China. The competition between Spartina alterniflora and mangroves is an important ecological issue along the southeast coast of China. Accurate monitoring of Spartina alterniflora and mangroves with remote sensing is of great significance for scientific protection of mangrove ecosystems. We propose a new method to monitor Spartina alterniflora and mangroves, integrating Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 optical imagery. The Yunxiao National Nature Reserve of Mangroves, located in Zhangjiang Estuary, Fujian, China, is chosen as the study area. We select one Sentinel-2A image at low tide in 2016, 2017 and 2018 to obtain the spectral and texture information of vegetation and other objects. The new method comprises of three steps: 1) use rules related to NDVI, EVI, LSWI, and DEM to get the potential masks of Spartina alterniflora and mangroves; 2) use random forest classification method to distinguish Spartina alterniflora and mangroves further; and 3) use all Sentinel-1 A/B images in that year to get the estuarine yearlong seawater body, and use the criterion interaction with sea water to refine the detected Spartina alterniflora and mangroves. The random forest classifier is found suitable for mapping wetlands with overall accuracy of 98.53%, 96.52% and 98.71%, and Kappa coefficients of 0.980, 0.952 and 0.978 in 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively. The total areas of the detected Spartina alterniflora and mangroves in the study region are 109.23 and 56.85 hm 2in 2016, 124.00 and 59.88 hm2 in 2017, and 142.39 and 58.61 hm2 in 2018, respectively, consistent with previous research results in terms of spatial distribution and magnitude of the area.

Key words: mangroves, Spartina alterniflora, remote sensing, hierarchical classification, random forest classification, Zhangjiang Estuary

CLC Number: 

  • P735.52