Abstract
Coastal dunes provide the hinterland with natural protection from marine dynamics. The specialized plant species that constitute dune vegetation communities are descriptive of the dune evolution status, which in turn reveals the ongoing coastal dynamics. The aims of this paper were to demonstrate the applicability of a low-cost unmanned aerial system for the classification of dune vegetation, in order to determine the level of detail achievable for the identification of vegetation communities and define the best-performing classification method for the dune environment according to pixel-based and object-based approaches. These goals were pursued by studying the north-Adriatic coastal dunes of Casal Borsetti (Ravenna, Italy). Four classification algorithms were applied to three-band orthoimages (red, green, and near-infrared). All classification maps were validated through ground truthing, and comparisons were performed for the three statistical methods, based on the k coefficient and on correctly and incorrectly classified pixel proportions of two maps. All classifications recognized the five vegetation classes considered, and high spatial resolution maps were produced (0.15 m). For both pixel-based and object-based methods, the support vector machine algorithm demonstrated a better accuracy for class recognition. The comparison revealed that an object approach is the better technique, although the required level of detail determines the final decision.
Highlights
Sand dunes are key environmental elements of coastal systems
Both of the classification algorithms recognized the five vegetation classes considered as irregular belts almost parallel to the coastline: Bare sand and Cakiletum” (BSCA), AGAM, MG, GD, and Coastal shrub and arboreal formations” (CSAF)
For the pixel-based classification (Figure 5), the single vegetation strips showed nonhomogeneous coverage because many of the pixels were assigned to classes that were different from those of the membership (Figure 5, subplots a and b)
Summary
Sand dunes are key environmental elements of coastal systems They represent one of the few natural barriers that can defend the inland territories from extreme high tides, storms, and tsunamis, by absorbing the wave energy. In a detailed study by Sytnik et al [3], they reported on the large modifications to the coastal ecosystem of the Casal Borsetti dunes (Ravenna, Italy) study area over the last century. The majority of these modifications have directly affected the local dune systems, while being aimed at the mitigation of erosion phenomena and development of beach touristic infrastructures
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