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Title:   Author  item
                                            HUANG, CHENGQUAN - University Of Marylanditem
                                            PENG, YI - University Of Marylanditem
                                            LANG, M - Us Forest Service (FS)item
                                            IN-YOUNG, Y - University Of Marylanditem
                                            McCarty, Gregory
  Submitted to: Wetlands
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 10/16/2013
                                    Publication  Date: 12/3/2013
                                    Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/59931Citation: Huang, C., Peng, Y., Lang, M.W., In-Young, Y., McCarty, G.W. 2014. Wetland inundation mapping and change monitoring using landsat and airborne LiDAR data. Remote Sensing of Environment. 141:231-242.Interpretive Summary: Wetlands provide a broad range of ecosystem services, including flood control, sediment and nutrient retention and export, water purification, groundwater replenishment, and rich biodiversity.  The provision of these services is especially vital in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. But many wetland areas in the Mid Atlantic region are inundated or saturated for a relatively short period, usually in the spring after snowmelt and before leaf-out so monitoring the hydrologic condition of wetlands can be difficult. Remote sensing provides a major data source for monitoring wetland dynamics.  The purpose of this study was to develop a new approach to map wetland inundation using a combined data from airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) and spaceborne Landsat.  The results demonstrated that accurate maps of wetland inundation can be developed using this approach and that Landsat images can be calibrated to reveal the inundation state of wetlands over large regions.  The importance of this finding is linked to the 40+ year continuous record of Landsat images which can now be used to look at long term trends in wetland hydrology.  This will enhance our ability to detect influences of climate change on wetland ecosystems and the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
                                Technical Abstract: This paper presents a new approach for mapping wetland inundation change using Landsat and LiDAR intensity data.  In this approach, LiDAR data were used to derive highly accurate reference subpixel inundation percentage (SIP) maps at the 30-m resolution.  The reference SIP maps were then used to establish statistical relationships between SIP and Landsat data.  Inundation changes were mapped by applying the derived relationships to Landsat images acquired in different years. This approach was applied to the upper Choptank River sub-watershed to map wetland inundation for average (2005 and 2007), dry (2009), and wet (2010) years.  The derived SIP maps revealed large changes in wetland inundation among dry, average, and wet years.  Total areas of near complete inundation (SIP > 75%) and high inundation (SIP between 50% and 75%) in the wet year of 2010 were about five and three times of those in the dry year of 2009, respectively.  The wet year also had more medium inundated areas (SIP between 25% and 50%) than the average and dry years, but low inundated areas (SIP < 25%) did not have any particular trend.  The mapped inundation changes were found correlated with local drought conditions and stream flow, with the near complete inundated and highly inundated areas having the highest correlations.  Given the fact that Landsat are globally available and LiDAR data are becoming increasingly more affordable and available, the approach developed in this study has potential for deriving historical inundation changes over the past decades and for monitoring ongoing changes over much larger areas than demonstrated in this study.


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