| The Intermountain West has suffered from substantial reductions in the quantity and quality of sagebrush ecosystems. Remotely sensed data provide a resource to land managers when making management decisions. This research evaluated airborne and satellite imagery to detect sagebrush community structural attributes including percent canopy cover, live cover, density, size-vigor, and spatial arrangement of shrubs. High-resolution color infra-red aerial photography, panchromatic and multi-spectral satellite imagery including data from OrbImage, IKONOS, and Landsat ETM+ were used. Comparisons were based upon spatial and spectral properties of each image. An object-oriented approach to measure sagebrush cover was also explored.; Results indicate that the quantification of sagebrush cover can be done accurately in mid-level canopy cover areas regardless of the imagery used. Confidence in cover estimates diminished where sagebrush was sparse or extremely dense. Not all structural variables were quantifiable using coarser imagery. The object-oriented approach enabled automatic delineation of sagebrush cover within stands. |
