Multihab - multispectral unmanned aereal vehicle imaging for coastal habitat characterization and monitoring

• Grant number: 19/22028-0
• Support type: Research Program on Global Climate Change - Regular Grants
• Duration: October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Physical Geography
• Principal researcher: Luis Americo Conti
• Grantee: Luis Americo Conti
• Home Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Assoc. researchers: Alexander Turra ; Colin Woodroffe ; Marília Cunha Lignon ; Roberto Lima Barcellos ; Teodoro Isnard Ribeiro de Almeida

Abstract

Coastal mapping programmes are quickly becoming a priority for government and agencies and scientific organizations worldwide and the current context of global changes (enhanced environmental dynamism and large-scale human sea use) induces new challenges for digital mapping. The need to better define and understand the land/sea interface is based on several interrelated factors, including sea-level rise and its impacts on coastal populations, the growth of reliance on a blue economy, and the necessity to maintain critical nearshore habitats in the midst of changing landscapes. We proposed to use state-of-the-art coastal mapping technology to produce high resolution digital maps and interpretative layers for mangroves and coastal wetlands areas of São Paulo and Pernambuco State. This project will demonstrate how groundtruthed Unmanned Aerial Veichles (UAV) technology can produce detailed mangrove habitat maps and thus determine the areas of environmental potential risk and/or sensitivity. Furthermore, it will develop management tools and options in an area of high resource potential susceptible to impact with different degrees of environmental degradation. This project will determine, in two study areas, potential and restriction of multispectral high resolution (> 10 cm) mapping using UAV in comparison to conventional Satellite remote sensing. (AU)