Coastal wetlands hold tremendous economic, recreational, and commercial value. These system are highly sensitive to changes in salinity and hydrology that are brought upon by sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, and human manipulation. Remote sensing is an effective tool to monitor changes to wetland ecosystems, and model ecosystem structural and functional parameters.
In June of 2017, we held a brief workshop at the 2017 Society of Wetland Scientists Meeting in Puerto Rico. At this workshop, we exchanged information about the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of remote sensing applications to estimate wetland biomass and discussed the design of mangrove forest inventories using remote sensing products. In particular, we focused on emerging high-resolution radar and optical techniques that can accurately estimate forest structure and be used in stratified sampling protocols.
Topics covered in this workshop included:
(1) Land cover and land cover change,
(2) canopy height and terrain modeling,
(3) stand age and growth rates,
(4) biomass and carbon modeling, and
(5) forest inventory design.
The main goals of the workshop are to:
- Familiarize audience with recent remote sensing applications in mangrove forests
- Examine remote sensing based forest inventory decision support tools
Overall, the workshop will help to inform the wetland community on the current and emerging observations and research activities in wetland ecosystems that may be applicable to local, regional, and global modeling of wetlands.
Workshop Summary and Resources
Remote Sensing Workshop (pdf w/ notes)
Remote Sensing Workshop (ppt)
Mangrove Science 