Development of Environmental Indicators for the U.S. Great Lakes Basin Using Remote Sensing Technology

Abstract

In 2001 we initiated a study of remote sensing technology to complement our development of environmental indicators for the U.S. Great Lakes coastal region. Our objectives were to: 1) quantify land use/land cover (LULC) and change for the U.S. portion of the Great Lakes basin between 1992 and 2001; 2) identify salient LULC change categories that are most likely to affect near-shore ecosystems; 3) recommend landscape indicators to guide managers toward long-term sustainable development; 4) develop methodologies to quantify SAV within near-shore areas of the Great Lakes; and 5) use historically low water levels in Lakes Michigan and Huron to produce a digital elevation model of recently exposed lake bed using radar interferometry to better model coastal wetland inundation events as lake water levels returns to normal. In addition, we completed four focused studies in the Great Lakes basin: 1) two studies to determine the degree of accuracy of Quiclcbird satellite imagery to identify specific vegetation types within a wetland; 2) an examination of 63 years (1940 to 2003) of land use change in a 100 km2 area in western Lake Erie; and 3) a study to test the use of Hyperion hyperspectral satellite imagery for mapping PhragmitesL an invasive plant species in the Great Lakes. All of the objectives were successfully completed, except objective 5 in which we had technical difficulties with the use of radar interferometry because of changes in ice and snow in the region. A total of six peer-reviewed publications have been completed and three additional publications are either in review or in preparation. The land use/land cover map produced for 1992 and 2001 will serve an extremely important baseline for future monitoring of change in the U.S. Great Lakes basin. A special issue of the Journal of Great Lakes Research is in preparation that summarizes additional work on this project. It is scheduled for publication in 2007.