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Monitoring the colonization of alluvial deposits using multitemporal UAV RGB ‐imagery
Author(s) -
Laslier Marianne,
HubertMoy Laurence,
Corpetti Thomas,
Dufour Simon
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
applied vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.096
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1654-109X
pISSN - 1402-2001
DOI - 10.1111/avsc.12455
Subject(s) - vegetation (pathology) , colonization , alluvium , remote sensing , physical geography , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , ecology , geomorphology , geography , biology , medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology
Aims (a) Evaluate the potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ( UAV ) technology for very high resolution monitoring vegetation dynamics. (b) Describe and explain the colonization pattern of dewatered alluvial deposits by vegetation during early successional stages at an intra‐annual scale. Location Sélune River, Normandy, France. Methods We assessed vegetation cover using models based on UAV imagery and field samples at very fine spatial (cm) and temporal (intra‐annual) scales. A UAV flight was conducted every two months from January to July 2015, and vegetation was measured during image acquisition phases. Vegetation cover was mapped for each image acquisition date (four UAV orthomosaics) using a nonlinear regression model (Support Vector Regression algorithm). Then, the maps of vegetation cover were compared to evaluate the colonization process. Results Vegetation cover was predicted from UAV with high accuracy (mean correlation coefficient: 0.90). Analysis of the maps revealed that colonization of the alluvial deposits by vegetation was rapid in spring. Conclusions This study shows that intra‐annual vegetation dynamics on alluvial deposits is rapid and that the colonization pattern can be observed in early successional stages. Very high spatial resolution images acquired by UAV can be used to create detailed maps to evaluate vegetation cover development.