ML072640597

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Rutgers. 2006. Barnegat Bay - Little Egg Harbor Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Mapping
ML072640597
Person / Time
Site: Oyster Creek
Issue date: 06/06/2006
From:
Rutgers State Univ of New Jersey
To:
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
2130-07-20506, TAC MC7624
Download: ML072640597 (25)


Text

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Mapping: Barnegat Bay Projects Web @ CRSSA Page. IofI RUTGcERS CRSSA ON-GOING: Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Mapping 2004/05.

DATA POSTED 09/21/04: Y..r 2003.Subimerged Aquatic. Vegetation GIS data available >.

EARINEGAT BAY -LITTLE EGG Hi., RBC0 R Due to the ecological importance of seagrasses and recent indications of disease and dieback, we have synthesized existing mapped survey information concerning the spatial and temporal distribution of seagrass beds in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. Over the past four decades, various government agencies and scientists have surveyed and mapped seagrass distributions in the bay. These maps were digitized and input to a Geographic Information System (GIS) to facilitate visual and spatial pattern analysis.

SAV MAPPING METHODS VIEW_MAPS CITATIONS GIS DATA DOWNLOADS FAQ I ABOUT SAV Web site updated September 2004 to include the Year 2003 SAV mapping information as part of CRSSA's continuing Co.,astal Studies and for the B;r-negat Bay National Estuary Program; web site updates with .support from CRSSA. 'This SAV web ,zile was originally created by CR.SSA in 2002 with fUndirng by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) through the 3acgjes Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve (JCNERP.) for 3CNERR Coastal Decisior, Maker and education outreach programs. Highlighted are the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) data used by CRSSA (Rick Lathrop, John Bognar) and.Rutcers University Marine and Coastal Sciences (Sybil Seitzinger, Renee Styles) in their research efforts published 2001. Also highlighted are Year 2003 SAV data generated by CRSSA (Rick Lathrop, Paul Montesano, Scott Haag) utilizing 1-meter resolution digital aerial photography. SAV graphics/maps under 'View Maps' created by Scott Haag. Initial graphic design arid continued support by John Bognar. Site last updated September 23, 2004.

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11,g**. S 1979 "198Q-87 1996-99 .j.: 2003 Gallery 1960's and 1970's Mapped information on the spatial distribution of seagrass beds for Barnegat Bay was derived from several sources. The first systematic survey was undertaken in 1968 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1976). The methods for this study were not detailed but are presumed to be a boat-based survey. There were several mapping efforts during the 1970's. The lower portion of Little Egg Harbor was mapped based on spring time aerial photography acquired in 1977, as a pilot project to examine the feasibility of mapping submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV),

including seagrass beds, with aerial photography (Good et al. 1978). Based on the success of this project, the Earth Satellite Corporation mapped the state's entire Atlantic coast and produced a 1:24,000 scale map series for the entire bay based on interpretation of black & white aerial photography and low altitude sea plane reconnaissance during the summer of 1979 (photos taken June and August, field checked July through September) (Macomber and Allen 1979). For both the 1968 and 1979 survey, four general types of SAV communities were mapped (eelgrass Zostera marina, widgeongrass Ruppia maritima, mixed eelgrass and widgeongrass and sea lettuce U/va lactuca dominated) at various levels of density. We table digitized the above paper maps for later GIS analysis using existing shoreline GIS data as a base map. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) incorporated the Earth Satellite Corporation maps into the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) for the state of New Jersey.

. .ake me-to -the top 1985-87 During the years 1985 to 1987, information on eelgrass distribution, water depth and bottom sediments was collected in conjunction with an estuarine shellfish inventory of Barnegat and Little Egg Harborbays (Joseph et al.,1992). These surveys spanned the spring, summer and autumn seasons. Benthic samples were collected at approximately 0.4 km (one-quarter mile) intervals in the deeper waters (greater than 0.9 m; 3 feet) of the bay, for a total of 489 stations. The extreme northern end of the Bay (i.e., Metedeconk River) was not surveyed. Based on this survey, the distribution of eelgrass beds was then interpolated and mapped onto a nautical chart base map and produced as figures (Joseph et al. 1992). The resulting map included two areas that were not explicitly sampled (i.e. the boat did not enter due to the shallow depth and no benthic samples http://deathstar.rutgers.edu/projects/runj/sav/htmlUMappingMethods.lht6/0 6/6/2006

Untitled Document Page 2 of 3 were taken) but where visual reconnaissance noted the occurrence of eelgrass beds. These two areas were included as containing eelgrass (for a total of 896 ha) in our analysis. We table digitized photocopies of the maps, using existing shoreline GIS data as a base map to provide ground control points.

t"ake me. to the top 1996-99 A field survey of seagrasses was conducted during the summers of 1996, 1997 and 1998 (McLain and McHale 1996) and 1999 (Bologna et al. 2000). The middle portion of the bay was mapped in 1996, the northern portion in 1997 and the southern portion (e.g., Little Egg Harbor) in 1998. The southern portion of the bay was re-mapped in 1999 using a differentially corrected (post-processing) global positioning system (GPS).

During boat-based surveys, SAV beds were identified and boundaries were mapped onto a 1:40,000 scale NOAA nautical chart (Charts # 12324 and 12316). The dominant species (i.e., Zostera or Ruppia) was noted. These annotated charts were then table digitized and integrated with the GPS mapped data.

" take me to the top 2003 The purpose of this study was to map the areal extent and density of submerged aquatic vegetation within the Barnegat Bay and Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey as part of ongoing monitoring for the B.ar.rnegatBay Nati onal Esstuary. Program.. We examined the utility of multi-scale image segmentation/object-oriented image classification approaches to seagrass mapping. Our remotely sensed approach allowed for determination of seagrass at 4 levels of density (including shallow sand/mud flats with < 10% seagrass cover), rather than a simple presence/absence, with a comparatively high degree of consistency and accuracy (68% overall accuracy for 4 categories and 83% accuracy for a simpler presence/absence map). While the aerial digital camera imagery employed in this study had the advantage of flexible acquisition, suitable image scale, fast processing return times and comparatively low cost, it had inconsistent radiometric response across the individual images. While we were not successful in using the eCognition software to develop a rule-based classification that was universally applicable across the 14 individual image mosaics that comprised our 73,000 ha study area, the manual classification approach that we developed provided a flexible and time effective approach to mapping seagrass. This multi-scale image segmentation approach coupled with field transect/point surveys has the potential to be more replicable than strictly boat-based surveys and/or visual image interpretation and allow for more robust conclusions regarding change in areal extent, location and spatial pattern of seagrass beds through time. In the present study based on imagery collected in May 2003, we mapped 5,184 ha of seagrass beds. This area is less than the 6,083 ha of seagrass documented from boat-based surveys conducted between 1996-1999. We do not believe that the difference of 899 ha represents a significant change in seagrass extent between the dates of the two studies, but most likely is an artifact of the difference in mapping techniques.

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  • T,SSA SAV web site designed and maintained by CRSSA. Original 2002 web site start-up funding b'v the New Jersey Department of Environmiental Protection (NJDEP) through the .Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve (JCNERR) for .]CNERR Coastal Decision Maker and education outreach programs; continued web updates with support from CRSSA. SAV site is a seoment of CRSSA's Barnegat Bay__web.site. Page last updated September 23, 2004. See front/horne SAV page for more credit information.

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CRSSA Home Page Pag~e I of I G I-a U t o n ra n T FI W& I TA n Cen ter for Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis Since 1989, the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA) has been located in a dedicated two-story section of the Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences building on the Cook College campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. CRSSA provides students, faculty, staff, and other researchers with state-of-the-art facilities for remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) teaching and research.

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