Detecting Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) Infestation Using a Target Recognition Algorithm

Mustafa Mirik,Ahmed Attia,Mimi Roy,Sriroop Chaudhuri,Georges F Backoulou,Song Cui,Yves Emendack

doi:10.4236/ars.2014.33008

Abstract

The outbreaks of invasive plant species can cause great ecological and agronomic problems through aggressively competing for environmental resources that could be otherwise utilized by other desirable species. Thus, it is crucial for detecting small infestations before they reach a significant extent that can cause ecological and economic damages over a large geological area. Remote sensing is a proven method for mapping invasion extent and pattern based on geospatial imagery and indicated great repeatability, large coverage area, and lower cost compared with traditional ground-based methods before. We investigated the feasibility and performances of adopting multispectral satellite imagery analyses for mapping infestation of musk thistle (Carduus nutans) on native grassland, crop field, and residential areas in early June using spectral angle mapper classifier. Our results showed an overall classification accuracy of 94.5%, indicating great potential of using moderate resolution multispectral satellite-based remote sensing techniques for musk thistle detection over a large spatial scale.

Highlights

Non-native invasive plant species are well known for their successful exploitation of environmental resourcesHow to cite this paper: Mirik, M., Emendack, Y., Attia, A., Chaudhuri, S., Roy, M., Backoulou, G.F. and Cui, S. (2014) Detecting Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) Infestation Using a Target Recognition Algorithm
spectral angle mapper (SAM) method identified several additional musk thistle infestations that were not located during the ground survey due to the remote areas from the roads
It was noted during the ground-truthing that undetected musk thistle at three locations consisted of yards of two houses and a barnyard building with musk thistle infestation not larger than 30-m in diameter

Summary

Introduction

Non-native invasive plant species are well known for their successful exploitation of environmental resourcesHow to cite this paper: Mirik, M., Emendack, Y., Attia, A., Chaudhuri, S., Roy, M., Backoulou, G.F. and Cui, S. (2014) Detecting Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) Infestation Using a Target Recognition Algorithm. Along with having a competitive advantage in resource utilization over native species, many non-native weeds grow in the absence of natural enemies [1] [2]. This allows non-native invasive weeds to establish and compete with native plants in the environment [1]. Due to these characteristics, nonnative invasive weeds usually move from small, manageable infestations to larger areas, reaching levels where control is economically prohibitive [3]. Non-native invasive plant species have long been of interest to natural resource managers, ecologists and biological conservationists [8]

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Conclusion