Mapping the subtidal distribution of the invasive alga Codium fragile spp. tomentosoides in coastal waters of Nova Scotia using the Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI)

The feasibility of using imagery acquired by a Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) to map subtidal habitats and the distribution of the invasive alga Codium fragile spp tomentosoides in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada was examined. The performance of water column correction; maximum likelihood and minimum distance algorithms; and ancillary bathymetric data in classifying a portion of a mosaiced image of Mahone Bay was assessed in a comparison of 16 different classification schemes using five quantitative measures of accuracy (Average, Overall, Producer's and User's Accuracy, and the Kappa coefficient). Four habitats were identified a priori for classification: (1) Codium meadows (areas with >50% Codium cover and no kelp); (2) kelp beds consisting mainly of Laminaria spp. (areas with >50% kelp cover and no Codium); (3) Codium/kelp mixed stands (areas where both Codium and kelp are present and together comprise >50% of the cover); and (4) Sand (areas with >50% sand cover). These four habitats were divided into 12 classes based on habitat type and depth (2, 4, or 6 m).* (Abstract shortened by UMI.); *This dissertation is multimedia (contains text and other applications not available in printed format). The CD requires the following system application: Microsoft Office.