Innovative Mussel mapping (KB-14-012-062)

Mapping in the Wadden Sea started for about 30 years ago. The Landsat TM and MSS-4 data is used to map a sediments by grain size and composition. With the advances in satellite technology, the data from higher resolution, e.g. RapidEye in 5 meters and radar SAR TerraSAR-X mapped the changes along the Wadden Sea coast and appearance of mussel beds.

The Landsat-8 is belong to Landsat series of satellites launched by National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA (USA) on February 11, 2013. The mission continued spatial, spectral and temporal resolution of previous missions.

The novel idea of this research is to use the information from new Landsat-8 satellite in detecting location and presence of the mussel and oyster beds on intertidal flats in the Dutch Wadden Sea. The study also explored a development of algorithm which can be used every year on new image series to generate the map, covering the entire area of the Dutch Wadden Sea in pre-survey.

The research aims to develop algorithm to use remote sensing (satellite data) from new Landsat-8 sensor to map presence of mussel and oyster beds, as a basis for field validation.

This research is performed within Kennisbasis Onderzoek (KB) / Beleidsondersteunend onderzoek (BO) / Wettelijke onderzoekstaken (WOT) of the EL&I-program.

 

Conclusion:

The developed products and expertise will allow IMARES to stay on top of scientific developments in this field. In combination with sufficient field validations extra information will be generated that can be widely applied in research. The demand for mussel bed contours by third (research) parties is already high.

Overall, it will expand the expertise of IMARES and WUR concerning new, innovative methods on using satellite data from new sensors, e.g. Landsat-8. It is new application and the results and methods can be expanded into entire area of the international Wadden Sea.

It is beneficial to use this technique as a tool in pre-survey, as it will assist to improve the time efficiency, reduce the time spent on mapping and allows shifting focus from (quantitative) mapping activities to more qualitative monitoring of shellfish beds. Challenges in mapping the locations of mussel and oyster beds during field surveys may include the constraint of the number of locations that can be visited each year and areas that are difficult to access. However, satellite data provide regular full synoptic views over large areas.

Field surveys will continue to play an important role and it will remain an essential component and as a main validation instrument. It is advisable to use the combination of such advanced technology and surveying tools.