Pilot project: Assessing riparian vegetation and physical form using remote sensing

The aims of this project were to: (1) assess how effectively the riparian vegetation and physical form components of the ISC can be assessed using remotely sensed image data; and (2) determine whether remote sensing of the streamside zone and physical form can be included in the next state-wide application of the ISC in 2009. Additional objectives of this research included: (1) assessing if remotely sensed image data can be used to measure riparian vegetation and physical form; (2) assessing and contrasting SPOT-5 image data with image data of higher spatial resolution, i.e. QuickBird image data; (3) determining whether remotely sensed image data can be related back to the ISC field assessment data; and (4) estimating costs of using remotely sensed image data as part of the 2009 state-wide ISC assessment to derive measurements of streamside zone and physical form variables. The aims and objectives of this report are divided into a number of image processing and analysis steps. After an initial description of the image and field data sets and a presentation of the study area, this report will be presented in three main sections: (1) image preparation; (2) derivation of riparian streamside zone and physical form variables from the image data; and (3) further results, process verification and reporting of (a) the ability to integrate ISC metrics with those measurements derived from the image data and (b) a cost estimate for rolling out the remote sensing approach across Victoria. The report will finish off with an outline of limitations of this research and present a number of recommendations to overcome or reduce these limitations in future work.