Mapping and monitoring programs provide information that is combined with
scientific knowledge of environments to increase understanding of the environmental
function. In some cases this can provide a measure of how different the environment is
to a known “healthy” condition. Models provide critical heuristic and planning tools for
resource managers, by enabling “what if ?” questions to be posed, e.g. how will key
coastal environment structures and processes be altered by certain management
activities?
2.3 INTEGRATING REMOTE SENSING AND MANAGEMENT
The “three-M” concept for the integration of spatial data in coastal environmental
management was derived from the authors’ reviews of relevant literature in the field,
and their experiences evaluating remote sensing solutions to natural resource
management problems in Australian coastal and forest environments. In a number of
the application projects discussed in this chapter, Ecologically Sustainable
Development (ESD) and the United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP’s)
pressure-state-response model have been the basis for the adoption of State of
Environment reporting frameworks using environmental indicators (Wallace and
Campbell, 1998; Phinn et al., 1998a, 2002 a,b; Belfiore, 2003; Trinder, 2003). The use
of environmental indicators as a central tool for environmental management enables the
explicit linkage of the “three-M” approach to remote sensing for mapping, monitoring,
and modeling coastal aquatic environments. The final goal is sustainable ecosystem
management and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM).
The remainder of this chapter presents a progression of concepts and application
examples to demonstrate how remotely sensed data can be integrated directly into
coastal ecosystem management activities through the use of environmental indicators.
The first two sections explain the concept of environmental indicators and their critical
roles within coastal monitoring and management programs. The third section
provides a worked example of matching suitable remotely sensed data to an
environmental indicator for a coastal zone mapping application. This section uses
environmental indicators as the key to specifying a component of the environment that
can be mapped using remotely sensed data. Change and trend detection techniques are
then reviewed, providing a logical expansion of some of the key techniques used for
monitoring coastal environments from remotely sensed data. Two case studies are then
used to present examples where specific coastal environmental management problems
have been addressed by integrating field data, remote sensing techniques, and
community involvement. The applications covered in the case studies progress in scale
from the entire Great Barrier Reef to a local-scale harmful algal bloom in southeast
Queensland. A concluding section draws attention to the need for integrating remotely
sensed coastal environmental indicators within monitoring and management activities
from local to national and international scales.
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Integrated Information Acquisition and Management
scientific knowledge of environments to increase understanding of the environmental
function. In some cases this can provide a measure of how different the environment is
to a known “healthy” condition. Models provide critical heuristic and planning tools for
resource managers, by enabling “what if ?” questions to be posed, e.g. how will key
coastal environment structures and processes be altered by certain management
activities?
2.3 INTEGRATING REMOTE SENSING AND MANAGEMENT
The “three-M” concept for the integration of spatial data in coastal environmental
management was derived from the authors’ reviews of relevant literature in the field,
and their experiences evaluating remote sensing solutions to natural resource
management problems in Australian coastal and forest environments. In a number of
the application projects discussed in this chapter, Ecologically Sustainable
Development (ESD) and the United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP’s)
pressure-state-response model have been the basis for the adoption of State of
Environment reporting frameworks using environmental indicators (Wallace and
Campbell, 1998; Phinn et al., 1998a, 2002 a,b; Belfiore, 2003; Trinder, 2003). The use
of environmental indicators as a central tool for environmental management enables the
explicit linkage of the “three-M” approach to remote sensing for mapping, monitoring,
and modeling coastal aquatic environments. The final goal is sustainable ecosystem
management and Integrated Coastal Management (ICM).
The remainder of this chapter presents a progression of concepts and application
examples to demonstrate how remotely sensed data can be integrated directly into
coastal ecosystem management activities through the use of environmental indicators.
The first two sections explain the concept of environmental indicators and their critical
roles within coastal monitoring and management programs. The third section
provides a worked example of matching suitable remotely sensed data to an
environmental indicator for a coastal zone mapping application. This section uses
environmental indicators as the key to specifying a component of the environment that
can be mapped using remotely sensed data. Change and trend detection techniques are
then reviewed, providing a logical expansion of some of the key techniques used for
monitoring coastal environments from remotely sensed data. Two case studies are then
used to present examples where specific coastal environmental management problems
have been addressed by integrating field data, remote sensing techniques, and
community involvement. The applications covered in the case studies progress in scale
from the entire Great Barrier Reef to a local-scale harmful algal bloom in southeast
Queensland. A concluding section draws attention to the need for integrating remotely
sensed coastal environmental indicators within monitoring and management activities
from local to national and international scales.
219
Integrated Information Acquisition and Management