Abstracts

Riparian Buffer Assessment Using Optimized Classification Method and GIS

Canadian Forces Base Gagetown is the largest military training area in the country and with Canada's commitment to Afghanistan there is an increasing demand for soldier training. Unfortunately, years of environmental neglect and deforestation as caused concerns for environmental sustainability. If nothing is done to restore riparian buffers CFB Gagetown could be ordered to shut down their operation which would have a tremendous effect on soldier training. The main environmental concern is the sedimentation occurring in the streams due to the lack of riparian buffers. Since riparian vegetation is essential for the ecosystem both in and around streams, the Environmental Section at CFB Gagetown intends to restore the buffers in the Range and Training Area (RTA). Using an infrared filter on an Applanix Digital Sensor System (DSS 322) they hope to facilitate the identification of vegetation. The RTA covering 1100 km2 it is essential to determine where the effort should be focused. In this presentation, the author will discuss the optimization of commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) remote sensing software for the classification of land cover to identify areas of critical deforestation in the CFB Gagetown RTA using Applanix Color InfraRed (CIR) imagery. An object-based classification will be performed on the 40 cm resolution CIR imagery to identify the various land cover. The results will then be analyzed using a GIS to identify areas where riparian zones need the most attention. Those critical areas are the ones on which the Environmental Section intends to focus in their restoration effort.