Abstract
Uromycladium acaciae, also known as wattle rust, is a rust fungus that has adversely impacted black wattle (Acacia mearnsii) in South Africa. This study assessed the potential of the Landsat 8 multispectral sensor to detect canopy damage caused by wattle rust on two plantation farms near Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal. The Landsat 8 bands and vegetation indices detected forest canopy damage caused by Uromycladium acaciae with an accuracy of 88.24% utilising seven bands and the Partial Least Squares Discriminate Analysis (PLS-DA) algorithm. Additionally, the model was optimised using the Variable Importance in Projection (VIP) method which only selected the most influential bands in the model. The coastal aerosol band (430nm-450nm), red band (640nm-670nm), near infrared (850nm-880nm) and NDVI were exclusively used in the optimised model and an accuracy of 82.35% was produced. The study highlighted the potential of remote sensing to detect canopy damage caused by a rust fungus and contributes towards a monitoring framework for analysing trends using freely available Landsat 8 imagery
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
