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Degree

PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geology, 2007.

Abstract

This study determined the capability of moderate resolution satellite imagery of 30 meter pixel dimension to investigate the spatial and temporal changes of Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is a dynamic coastal wetland of Lake Erie. Water quality and land cover reflectance data is interpreted with respect to in-situ sample measurements collected every 16 days in coincidence with the Landsat-5 TM over passing days mainly in summer 2005 and 2006. The study involved a variety of qualitative and quantitative, physical and remote sensing measurements generated from surface water and its constituents, aquatic emergent and terrestrial macrophytes, exposed mudflats, and radiometrically corrected Landsat-5 TM imagery. The prevailing environmental and climatic conditions of the area regulated the spatial and temporal variability of those land cover types.The study developed a suspended sediment concentration calibration method and two land cover variability mapping methods using Landsat-5 TM data. The two wetland mapping methods are based on principal component analysis (PCA) and scattergram segmentation of selected normalized difference remote sensing indices. In addition, the mineralogy and morphology of suspended particulates were investigated using an X-Ray diffraction (XRD) technique and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) which revealed the dominance of silica and calcite in surface water.The surface water samples provided total suspended particulate concentration (TSP) measurements which reported 0.7 correlation against normalized difference water index (NDWI) of bands 1 and 5, establishing a model to quantify TSP concentration in surface water. The principal component analysis (PCA) extracted endmember land covers reporting 87 % of total variance and their spatial and temporal distribution was mapped in order to identify the seasonal variability of macrophytes, open-water, and exposed ground. One dimensional spaces of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference water index (NDWI), and normalized difference ground index (NDGI) segmented their respective scattergrams to identify the land cover interfaces in order to re-map the same land cover variability for better evaluation of the two wetland mapping techniques.

Keywords

Land Cover; Remote Sensing; Old Woman Creek; Wetland; Suspended Sediment; Principal Component Analysis

Advisor

Joseph D Ortiz

Pages

192p.

Document number: kent1194621824
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1194621824

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