Fractional vegetation cover of East African wetlands observed on ground and from space

Wetlands are important ecosystems providing numerous ecosystem services. They are of particular importance to communities in East Africa where agriculture is the most important economic sector and where food availability to households critical. During an intensive field campaign in the dry season of 2013 were Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) measurements, botanical vegetation cover and vegetation structure estimates acquired in three wetland test sites within the East African region. FVC cover data were collated in three strata: ground layer, midstorey and overstorey (woody vegetation greater than 2 m). Fractional cover estimates for the green and no-green vegetative fraction were calculated for Landsat MODIS imagery. These FVC data products were evaluated a) with FVC field data and b) relative to each other for their usability in the East African region. First results show some promise for further studies

A new conceptual framework for integrating earth observation in large-scale wetland management in East Africa

Wetlands are abundant across the African continent and provide a range of ecosystem services on different scales but are threatened by overuse and degradation. It is essential that national governments enable and ensure the sustainable use of wetland resources to maintain these services in the long run. As informed management decisions require reliable, up-to-date, and large coverage spatial data, we propose a modular Earth observation-based framework for the geo-localisation and characterization of wetlands in East Africa. In this study, we identify four major challenges in spatial data supported wetland management and present a framework to address them. We then apply the framework comprising Wetland Delineation, Surface Water Occurrence, Land Use/Land Cover classification and Wetland Use Intensity for the whole of Rwanda and evaluate the ability of these layers to meet the identified challenges. The layers’ spatial and temporal characteristics make them combinable and the information content, of each layer alone as well as in combination, renders them useful for different wetland management contexts