Digital Image Processing of High Resolution Aerial Photograph of Shallow Marine Sanctuary, Victoria, Australia

In this paper the potential of remote sensing as a tool to study marine sanctuary has been explored. There are two main methods that can be used to extract information from the aerial photograph/satellite imagery; visual interpretation and digital image processing. Visual interpretation takes advantage of the human skills to recognize data "content" by combining several elements of image interpretation. It relies on experience, a prior knowledge and skilled analysts qualities to produce excellent results. Alternatively, digital image classification employs computer techniques which are mostly based on the reflection values of individual pixels and use statistical pattern recognition methods. In the current study, the main area of interest was distribution of sand, rocky reef, rocky rubble and sea grass in the sanctuary. The study showed that the supervised classification approach was a superior technique to employ for such studies as compare to other traditional approaches. Here, the higher degree of interaction between the analyst and the machine complements the limitations of each other. Furthermore, the analyst is also given the opportunity to "control" which digital signatures best qualify to represent a certain resource class considering the fact that the analyst has access to ground truth data to fine tune the classification