Abstract
Sand dunes are complex systems that contain several habitats, often as mosaics or transitions between types. Several of these habitats are afforded protection under European Legislation and in the UK nationally within Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Natural England has a statutory duty to report to Europe on the conservation status and condition of sand dunes; and is required to report to the UK Government on designated sites. To achieve this we have sought ways of capturing, analysing and interpreting data on the extent and location of sand dune habitats. This requires an ability to be able to obtain data over large areas of coastline in an efficient way. Natural England and Environment Agency Geomatics have worked collaboratively for over 16 years, sharing data and ecological knowledge. In 2012 work started to evaluate the use of remote sensing to map UK BAP and Annex I sand dune habitats. A methodology has now been developed and tested to map sand dune habitats. The key objective was to provide an operational tool that will help to map these habitats and understand change on sites around England. This has been achieved through analysis of LIDAR and Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) data using Object Orientated Image Analysis. Quality Control (QC) and accuracy assessments have shown this approach to be successful and 11 sites have been mapped to date. These techniques are providing a new approach to monitoring change in coastal vegetation communities and informing management of protected sites.
Highlights
The paper is based on a presentation on the use of remote sensing to monitor sand dunes in England given at the Sand Dune Hydro-Ecology Group seminar held in Swansea in September 2013
When the original spectral bands used in the rules do not allow for accurate discrimination of that class should the spectral bands be changed. This has not occurred often and is mostly due to some sites having heavily mown, dry improved grassland compared to more productive growth on other sites or heavy senescence in bracken. By using this classification process and making these changes at each site, we are able to operationally use and repeat sand dune classifications, in an approach we describe as a Semi-Automated Classification
Examples of where sand dune habitats are rapidly changing through accretion and/or erosion are at Haverigg Haws where the site is rapidly accreting forming new shingle and dunes; Drigg Dunes where cattle grazing has recently been introduced; and Sandscale where the data has been used with historical air photographs to map the declining area of bare sand in the dune system, supporting a move to remobilise areas of dune (Nicola Evans, Natural England Lead Adviser 2016, Personal Communication)
Summary
The paper is based on a presentation on the use of remote sensing to monitor sand dunes in England given at the Sand Dune Hydro-Ecology Group seminar held in Swansea in September 2013 This presentation summarised the initial project, which was looking at whether remote sensing could be used to map sand dune habitats in a repeatable and effective method, combining the expertise of remote sensing analysts and ecological specialists. Reported here is an overview of the collaborative project; the operational tool - including data preparation and image classification, and an update on the work that has taken place up to 2016 This project started in 2012 and is part of a wider programme of collaborative working between Natural England and Environment Agency Geomatics that has taken place over the past 16 years (Petchey et al 2011). A key benefit of this work has been to show how public bodies (and others) working together to share
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