Multiplatform earth observation systems for the monitoring and conservation of vulnerable natural ecosystems

Abstract

Coastal and inner water lagoon ecosystems are essential due to their high biodiversity and primary production. However, they are extremely complex. Remote sensing can be very useful due to the spatial and spectral improvement of satellites and the availability of airborne or drone hyperspectral sensors. Unfortunately, the mapping of coastal and inner lakes areas is challenging due to the low SNR received at the sensor, as a consequence of the minimum reflectivity of the water surface and the atmospheric disturbances. In this context, the goal of this work is to obtain a robust image processing methodology to generate accurate water quality maps in shallow waters using multiplatform imagery: WorldView-2 (High Resolution Satellite Multispectral Sensor), AHS (Airborne Hyperspectral Scanner) and Pika-L (Drone Hyperspectral Scanner) images. Maspalomas (Gran Canaria, Spain) inner water lagoon ecosystems was studied due to its complexity and the presence of important chlorophyll concentration.