575
In data preparation, the NWI map features
were re-selected to eliminate those areas considered upland. Any area mapped as lacustrine,
palustrine, or riverine were included and considered as wetlands. Digital soil coverages generally
required more processing than NWI data. The
county soil surveys for the metro area vary greatly
in quality and suitability for mapping. Digital
processing was used to fi ll in the gaps related to
several variations with regard to the use of modern soil taxonomy, ortho-rectifi ed photobase, etc.
Once attribute information and line work is
complete, re-selecting is used to choose only
those soil-mapping units considered hydric by a
minimum 75 % hydric component criteria.
Scenario in Africa
Africa has unparallel resource of biodiversity
(BD). But it is not well documented and well
managed mainly because of not much use of
modern tools like RS and GIS in exploration
and management of the bioresources of Africa.
Threats to biodiversity include (a) population
pressure on habitats as land converted for
urban development and agricultural production
expands to produce more food; (b) over-harvesting of plants and animals as a result of
increasing consumption; (c) trade in endangered species and inadequate enforcement of
CITES; (d) introduction of alien invasive species; (e) industrial pollution threatens biodiversity in coastal areas and other wetlands; and (f)
deforestation.
Caribbean Region
Not much information is available with regard to
the use of modern RS and GIS tools in the assessment of management of bioresources. However,
an account is briefl y given below.
Natural Resources
(a) Pollution has been a great concern for the
region. Pollution is linked to the mineral extraction
in Jamaica, Guyana, etc. (b) Pollution is linked to
extraction and processing of petrol in Trinidad
and Tobago. (c) Diffi cult access to water in most
islands with constraints for the development of
irrigated agriculture.
Agriculture and Fishery
(a) Increase of agriculture production in the
islands is said to be dependent on the intensifi cation with risks of pollution along with erosion, lack of water resources, etc.
(b) Over-exploitation of marine resources in
the region with environmental risk, economic risk, etc.
26.13 Inference
The dynamic nature of wetlands necessitates the
widespread and consistent use of satellite-based
remote sensors and low cost, affordable GIS tools
for effective management and monitoring.
Further, wetland delineation remains as a
problematic issue for governmental agencies
involved with environmental monitoring.
Remotely sensed data, particularly aerial photographs, are important for mapping wetlands at
regional scales. New digital remote sensing technologies (e.g. medium- to high-resolution
multi- band satellite and airborne imagery of
visible, near-infrared, mid-infrared, thermal and
radar spectral regions) may improve National
Wetlands Inventory (NWI) mapping efforts by
increasing map accuracy and reducing map production costs. NASA has been playing a key role
in this regard. NASA’s Commercial Remote
Sensing Programme performed a study to evaluate the utility of commercially available remote
sensing technology for deriving wetland classifi -
cation and mapping products for the NWI. GIS
tools found in ArcInfo software proved to be
indispensable for quantifying and visualising
comparisons of test and reference wetness maps.
GISs also assisted in wetness signature evaluation and development by enabling analysts to
cross-tabulate unsupervised classifi cations of
remotely sensed data with NWI wetness maps.
Further, the wetness map from AIRSAR imagery
has greater overall agreement (71 %) with the
NWI wetness classifi cation compared to ATLAS
daytime multispectral data (63 %) and ATLAS
nighttime thermal data (59 %).
Further, birds are one of the most vulnerable
groups of animals which need protection. As such,
26.13 Inference
In data preparation, the NWI map features
were re-selected to eliminate those areas considered upland. Any area mapped as lacustrine,
palustrine, or riverine were included and considered as wetlands. Digital soil coverages generally
required more processing than NWI data. The
county soil surveys for the metro area vary greatly
in quality and suitability for mapping. Digital
processing was used to fi ll in the gaps related to
several variations with regard to the use of modern soil taxonomy, ortho-rectifi ed photobase, etc.
Once attribute information and line work is
complete, re-selecting is used to choose only
those soil-mapping units considered hydric by a
minimum 75 % hydric component criteria.
Scenario in Africa
Africa has unparallel resource of biodiversity
(BD). But it is not well documented and well
managed mainly because of not much use of
modern tools like RS and GIS in exploration
and management of the bioresources of Africa.
Threats to biodiversity include (a) population
pressure on habitats as land converted for
urban development and agricultural production
expands to produce more food; (b) over-harvesting of plants and animals as a result of
increasing consumption; (c) trade in endangered species and inadequate enforcement of
CITES; (d) introduction of alien invasive species; (e) industrial pollution threatens biodiversity in coastal areas and other wetlands; and (f)
deforestation.
Caribbean Region
Not much information is available with regard to
the use of modern RS and GIS tools in the assessment of management of bioresources. However,
an account is briefl y given below.
Natural Resources
(a) Pollution has been a great concern for the
region. Pollution is linked to the mineral extraction
in Jamaica, Guyana, etc. (b) Pollution is linked to
extraction and processing of petrol in Trinidad
and Tobago. (c) Diffi cult access to water in most
islands with constraints for the development of
irrigated agriculture.
Agriculture and Fishery
(a) Increase of agriculture production in the
islands is said to be dependent on the intensifi cation with risks of pollution along with erosion, lack of water resources, etc.
(b) Over-exploitation of marine resources in
the region with environmental risk, economic risk, etc.
26.13 Inference
The dynamic nature of wetlands necessitates the
widespread and consistent use of satellite-based
remote sensors and low cost, affordable GIS tools
for effective management and monitoring.
Further, wetland delineation remains as a
problematic issue for governmental agencies
involved with environmental monitoring.
Remotely sensed data, particularly aerial photographs, are important for mapping wetlands at
regional scales. New digital remote sensing technologies (e.g. medium- to high-resolution
multi- band satellite and airborne imagery of
visible, near-infrared, mid-infrared, thermal and
radar spectral regions) may improve National
Wetlands Inventory (NWI) mapping efforts by
increasing map accuracy and reducing map production costs. NASA has been playing a key role
in this regard. NASA’s Commercial Remote
Sensing Programme performed a study to evaluate the utility of commercially available remote
sensing technology for deriving wetland classifi -
cation and mapping products for the NWI. GIS
tools found in ArcInfo software proved to be
indispensable for quantifying and visualising
comparisons of test and reference wetness maps.
GISs also assisted in wetness signature evaluation and development by enabling analysts to
cross-tabulate unsupervised classifi cations of
remotely sensed data with NWI wetness maps.
Further, the wetness map from AIRSAR imagery
has greater overall agreement (71 %) with the
NWI wetness classifi cation compared to ATLAS
daytime multispectral data (63 %) and ATLAS
nighttime thermal data (59 %).
Further, birds are one of the most vulnerable
groups of animals which need protection. As such,
26.13 Inference