Habitat mapping and quality assessment of heathlands using a modified kernel-based reclassification technique

This article presents a method for acquiring habitat maps, intended for monitoring and evaluating the conservation status of heathland vegetation, starting from thematic land cover maps. The procedure is a modified kernel-based reclassification technique, that fits into a complete habitat quality assessment framework. Part one of the procedure shifts a small square kernel over the land cover map and assigns a habitat type to each position that complies with a single set of expert rules, related to the land cover composition in that position. Part two fills the gaps, by assigning a habitat type to any of the map positions that don´t conform to any of the rules, or to more than one set of rules, by using a distance measure. The technique is tested on real data from a heathland site and shows some promising results.