Optical Remote Sensing of Coastal Habitats, Moss Landing, California, 9-11 January, 2006: workshop proceedings

The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) Workshop on Optical Remote Sensing of Coastal Habitats was convened January 9-11, 2006 at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in Moss Landing, California, sponsored by the ACT West Coast regional partnership comprised of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The "Optical Remote Sensing of Coastal Habitats" (ORS) Workshop completes ACT'S Remote Sensing Technology series by building upon the success of ACT'S West Coast Regional Partner Workshop "Acoustic Remote Sensing Technologies for Coastal Imaging and Resource Assessment" (ACT 04-07). Drs. Paul Bissett of the Florida Environmental Research Institute (FERI) and Scott McClean of Satlantic, Inc. were the ORS workshop co-chairs. Invited participants were selected to provide a uniform representation of the academic researchers, private sector product developers, and existing and potential data product users from the resource management community to enable development of broad consensus opinions on the role of ORS technologies in coastal resource assessment and management. The workshop was organized to examine the current state of multi- and hyper-spectral imaging technologies with the intent to assess the current limits on their routine application for habitat classification and resource monitoring of coastal watersheds, nearshore shallow water environments, and adjacent optically deep waters. Breakout discussions focused on the capabilities, advantages ,and limitations of the different technologies (e.g., spectral & spatial resolution), as well as practical issues related to instrument and platform availability, reliability, hardware, software, and technical skill levels required to exploit the data products generated by these instruments. Specifically, the participants were charged to address the following: (1) Identify the types of ORS data products currently used for coastal resource assessment and how they can assist coastal managers in fulfilling their regulatory and management responsibilities; (2) Identify barriers and challenges to the application of ORS technologies in management and research activities; (3) Recommend a series of community actions to overcome identified barriers and challenges. Plenary presentations by Drs. Curtiss 0. Davis (Oregon State University) and Stephan Lataille (ITRES Research, Ltd.) provided background summaries on the varieties of ORS technologies available, deployment platform options, and tradeoffs for application of ORS data products with specific applications to the assessment of coastal zone water quality and habitat characterization. Dr. Jim Aiken (CASIX) described how multiscale ground-truth measurements were essential for developing robust assessment of modeled biogeochemical interpretations derived from optically based earth observation data sets. While continuing improvements in sensor spectral resolution, signal to noise and dynamic range coupled with sensor-integrated GPS, improved processing algorithms for georectification, and atmospheric correction have made ORS data products invaluable synoptic tools for oceanographic research, their adoption as management tools has lagged. Seth Blitch (Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve) described the obvious needs for, yet substantial challenges hindering the adoption of advanced spectroscopic imaging data products to supplement the current dominance of digital ortho-quad imagery by the resource management community, especially when they impinge on regulatory issues. (pdf contains 32 pages

Tourist mobility at coastal mass destinations: implications for sustainability

The aim of this paper is to analyse the spatial behaviour of mass tourism demand in coastal destinations and its implications from the point of view of sustainable tourism development. The paper is based on primary research carried out in one of the main Mediterranean tourist destinations, Benidorm (Spain). This research involved the use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices for the tracking of a sample of 257 tourists (from Spain and United Kingdom). Although the research has an experimental basis, these advanced technologies allow new approaches to spatial analysis in order to achieve a better understanding of tourist mobility at coastal destinations. Until now, most studies of intradestination movements have been applied to urban and cultural destinations, where the points of interest and tourist routes are easily identifiable. However, spatial behaviour of mass tourism in coastal destinations has rarely been studied in detail using new tracking technologies. While tourist movements may seem, a priori, predictable, the identification of mobility patterns offers interesting results about the main characteristics of the tourist experience, the relationship with the urban model, the use of public and private spaces, the perception of the destination, and the differences between segments of demand. The conclusions of the study are relevant from the methodological and theoretical point of view, and include some recommendations for planning and destination management in the context of sustainability.This research has been carried out within the framework of the project “New approaches for tourism destinations planning and management: conceptualization, case studies and problems. Definition of smart tourist destinations models” (CSO2014-59193-R) under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness

Seafloor characterization using airborne hyperspectral co-registration procedures independent from attitude and positioning sensors

The advance of remote-sensing technology and data-storage capabilities has progressed in the last decade to commercial multi-sensor data collection. There is a constant need to characterize, quantify and monitor the coastal areas for habitat research and coastal management. In this paper, we present work on seafloor characterization that uses hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The HSI data allows the operator to extend seafloor characterization from multibeam backscatter towards land and thus creates a seamless ocean-to-land characterization of the littoral zone

Mapping and classification of ecologically sensitive marine habitats using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery and object-based image analysis (OBIA)

Nowadays, emerging technologies, such as long-range transmitters, increasingly miniaturized components for positioning, and enhanced imaging sensors, have led to an upsurge in the availability of new ecological applications for remote sensing based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sometimes referred to as “drones”. In fact, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry coupled with imagery acquired by UAVs offers a rapid and inexpensive tool to produce high-resolution orthomosaics, giving ecologists a new way for responsive, timely, and cost-effective monitoring of ecological processes. Here, we adopted a lightweight quadcopter as an aerial survey tool and object-based image analysis (OBIA) workflow to demonstrate the strength of such methods in producing very high spatial resolution maps of sensitive marine habitats. Therefore, three different coastal environments were mapped using the autonomous flight capability of a lightweight UAV equipped with a fully stabilized consumer-grade RGB digital camera. In particular we investigated a Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow, a rocky coast with nurseries for juvenile fish, and two sandy areas showing biogenic reefs of Sabelleria alveolata. We adopted, for the first time, UAV-based raster thematic maps of these key coastal habitats, produced after OBIA classification, as a new method for fine-scale, low-cost, and time saving characterization of sensitive marine environments which may lead to a more effective and efficient monitoring and management of natural resource

Better management through measurement: Assessing the conditions of coastal archaeological sites using spatial technologies—applied to Blueskin Bay, New Zealand

The world’s coastlines are becoming increasingly volatile for archaeological sites. This instability can be primarily attributed to climate change and its associated influence on oceanic processes, which are aggravating already unfavourable conditions for the endurance of coastal sites. Alongside these adverse developments have been rapid improvements in the abilities of scientists to observe, measure, and model the effects of those impacts. For archaeologists, advances in computers and spatial technologies offer the capability of quickly and accurately recording real-world positions of archaeological features across large coastal landscapes. This digitised site information can be incorporated into monitoring projects and spatial analysis, ultimately providing opportunities for improved site management strategies. Although these capabilities have been available for some time, many coastal nations, including New Zealand, have failed to fully implement them widely into site surveys or site management. As such, this thesis presents a three-step approach for assessing the conditions of coastal archaeological sites through a synthesis of documentary research, an in-person site survey, and computer-based spatial analysis. This methodological approach is then applied to Blueskin Bay, a New Zealand-based case study area. Together, the three phases divulged a significant amount of information about the estuary including its past and present site conditions, as well as the trajectories of shoreline change (erosion and progradation), and the possible future impact of rising sea levels across site areas. In addition to the presentation and application of the assessment approach are discussions regarding site management in New Zealand, coastal archaeological site impacts, spatial technologies, and the efficacy and limitations of the presented approach

Guidance for benthic habitat mapping: an aerial photographic approach

This document, Guidance for Benthic Habitat Mapping: An Aerial Photographic Approach, describes proven technology that can be applied in an operational manner by state-level scientists and resource managers. This information is based on the experience gained by NOAA Coastal Services Center staff and state-level cooperators in the production of a series of benthic habitat data sets in Delaware, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, as well as during Center-sponsored workshops on coral remote sensing and seagrass and aquatic habitat assessment. (PDF contains 39 pages) The original benthic habitat document, NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP): Guidance for Regional Implementation (Dobson et al.), was published by the Department of Commerce in 1995. That document summarized procedures that were to be used by scientists throughout the United States to develop consistent and reliable coastal land cover and benthic habitat information. Advances in technology and new methodologies for generating these data created the need for this updated report, which builds upon the foundation of its predecessor

Developing a conceptual model of marine farming in New Zealand

Survey and Geographic Information System (GIS) data analysis describes the relative influence of biophysical and human variables on site choices made by marine farmers in New Zealand. Community conflicts have grown in importance in determining farm location and different government planning strategies leave distinct signature patterns. Recent legislation empowers local governments to choose among three strategies for future regional aquaculture development. This paper suggests each strategy could result in different spatial outcomes. Simulation modelling of the type described here can provide a better understanding of farmer responses to management approaches and the range of futures that could result from planning choices made today