Abstract
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America is an extremely important habitat for a diverse range of wetland ecosystems that provide a wealth of socio-economic value. This paper describes the ecological characteristics and importance of PPR wetlands and the use of remote sensing for mapping and monitoring applications. While there are comprehensive reviews for wetland remote sensing in recent publications, there is no comprehensive review about the use of remote sensing in the PPR. First, the PPR is described, including the wetland classification systems that have been used, the water regimes that control the surface water and water levels, and the soil and vegetation characteristics of the region. The tools and techniques that have been used in the PPR for analyses of geospatial data for wetland applications are described. Field observations for ground truth data are critical for good validation and accuracy assessment of the many products that are produced. Wetland classification approaches are reviewed, including Decision Trees, Machine Learning, and object versus pixel-based approaches. A comprehensive description of the remote sensing systems and data that have been employed by various studies in the PPR is provided. A wide range of data can be used for various applications, including passive optical data like aerial photographs or satellite-based, Earth-observation data. Both airborne and spaceborne lidar studies are described. A detailed description of Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) data and research are provided. The state of the art is the use of multi-source data to achieve higher accuracies and hybrid approaches. Digital Surface Models are also being incorporated in geospatial analyses to separate forest and shrub and emergent systems based on vegetation height. Remote sensing provides a cost-effective mechanism for mapping and monitoring PPR wetlands, especially with the logistical difficulties and cost of field-based methods. The wetland characteristics of the PPR dictate the need for high resolution in both time and space, which is increasingly possible with the numerous and increasing remote sensing systems available and the trend to open-source data and tools. The fusion of multi-source remote sensing data via state-of-the-art machine learning is recommended for wetland applications in the PPR. The use of such data promotes flexibility for sensor addition, subtraction, or substitution as a function of application needs and potential cost restrictions. This is important in the PPR because of the challenges related to the highly dynamic nature of this unique region.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundWetlands are a known provider of substantial economic, environmental and social value through a host of vital services [1]
The purpose of this paper is to describe the ecological characteristics and importance of Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) wetlands and the use of remote sensing for mapping and monitoring applications in wetland projects in the region
The AWCS broadly matches the CWCS at the five major wetland class levels and accommodates additional classification criteria tailored for wetlands within the province, subdividing class into wetland form and type using the following definitions: Class: recognised on the basis of properties of the wetland that reflect the overall origin of the wetland ecosystem and the nature of the wetland environment
Summary
Wetlands are a known provider of substantial economic, environmental and social value through a host of vital services [1]. Wetlands have been found to play a significant role in climate change mitigation [12,13,14,15] Despite their known value, wetland ecosystems are declining at an unprecedented rate, in regions undergoing development [16]. Wetland ecosystems are declining at an unprecedented rate, in regions undergoing development [16] One such region is the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of. Prairie pothole wetlands are highly productive nutrient sinks [29,30] and provide flood attenuation and purification, as well as water storage [4]. Many of the pothole wetlands are ephemeral and highly variable in size and permanency [33] as a result of varying water levels related to source availability from precipitation, runoff, groundwater, and streams. Terminology and nomenclature for PPR wetlands follows language defined with the AWCS [32]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
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 call
