Large scale mapping of shallow water benthic habitats and bathymetry in the coastal waters of the Baltic sea by means of airborne hyperspectral remote sensing

Mapping shallow water bathymetry and benthic habitat with conventional methods is time consuming and expensive. Moreover, many coastal areas are not accessible by hydrographic ships and even small boats. Remote sensing is then the only alternative. We show that collecting of airborne imagery has the same cost per unit of study area than high resolution satellite data even if the size and orientation of the study site is not favorable for airborne campaigns. The bathymetry map produced from HySpex airborne imager data is reliable.