Assessment of mangrove forests in the Pacific region using Landsat imagery

Bibek Bhattarai; Chandra P. Giri

doi:10.1117/1.3563584

1 January 2011 Assessment of mangrove forests in the Pacific region using Landsat imagery

Bibek Bhattarai, Chandra P. Giri

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, Vol. 5, Issue 1, 053509 (January 2011). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3563584

Abstract

The information on the mangrove forests for the Pacific region is scarce or outdated. A regional assessment based on a consistent methodology and data sources was needed to understand their true extent. Our investigation offers a regionally consistent, high resolution (30 m), and the most comprehensive mapping of mangrove forests on the islands of American Samoa, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna Islands for the year 2000. We employed a hybrid supervised and unsupervised image classification technique on a total of 128 Landsat scenes gathered between 1999 and 2004, and validated the results using existing geographic information science (GIS) datasets, high resolution imagery, and published literature. We also draw a comparative analysis with the mangrove forests inventory published by the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) of the United Nations. Our estimate shows a total of 623755 hectares of mangrove forests in the Pacific region; an increase of 18% from FAO's estimates. Although mangrove forests are disproportionately distributed toward a few larger islands on the western Pacific, they are also significant in many smaller islands.

©(2011) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Citation Download Citation

Bibek Bhattarai and Chandra P. Giri "Assessment of mangrove forests in the Pacific region using Landsat imagery," Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 5(1), 053509 (1 January 2011). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3563584

Published: 1 January 2011

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available