Hyperspectral field database in support to coastal wetland mapping

This paper presents the hyperspectral field measurements acquired at Arcachon (France) over sediments and vegetation species characteristic of the macrotidal lagoon. The reflectance spectra are analyzed to define the variables of interest in order to propose a classification scheme useful for management purposes. The main results show that coupling winter to summer optical multispectral imagery allows discriminating invasive (Spartina anglica) from endemic (Spartina maritima) lower salt-marsh vegetation species. Also, the bottom color and henceforth sediment mineralogy largely influences the determination of seagrass meadows cover. In addition, preliminary results show the potential of identifying biofilms over sandy to muddy sand. Finally, the characterization of macro-algae deposits on the intertidal flats may involve the exploitation of finer and more numerous spectral bands than those typical of classical multispectral imagery.