Abstract
Wetland impact assessments are an integral part of infrastructure projects aimed at protecting the important services wetlands provide for water resources and ecosystems. However, wetland surveys with the level of accuracy required by federal regulators can be time-consuming and costly. Streamlining this process by using already available geospatial data and classification algorithms to target more detailed wetland mapping efforts may support environmental planning efforts. The objective of this study was to create and test a methodology that could be applied nationally, leveraging existing data to quickly and inexpensively screen for potential wetlands over large geographic regions. An automated workflow implementing the methodology for a case study region in the coastal plain of Virginia is presented. When compared to verified wetlands mapped by experts, the methodology resulted in a much lower false negative rate of 22.6% compared to the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) false negative rate of 69.3%. However, because the methodology was designed as a screening approach, it did result in a slight decrease in overall classification accuracy compared to the NWI from 80.5% to 76.1%. Given the considerable decrease in wetland omission while maintaining comparable overall accuracy, the methodology shows potential as a wetland screening tool for targeting more detailed and costly wetland mapping efforts.
Highlights
Wetlands are a vital natural resource providing habitat for a variety of wildlife and plants, flood and storm surge protection, water quality improvement through treatment of runoff, and recharge of aquifers [1]
This trend is especially prominent in scene A6, where most VDOT wetlands are missed by the National Wetland Inventory (NWI)
VDOT wetlands in this area may be the result of data not included in the screening tool like groundwater levels, which are important in this region but difficult to quantify topographic inputs that take into slope,higher curvature, and flow accumulation have been found due to limited observational data.account
Summary
Wetlands are a vital natural resource providing habitat for a variety of wildlife and plants, flood and storm surge protection, water quality improvement through treatment of runoff, and recharge of aquifers [1]. A significant number of wetlands in the U.S have been destroyed or repurposed for agricultural or development purposes [2]. The need to protect wetlands is widely recognized and required by federal law and regulations, through Section 404 of the Clean Water. Entities including state departments of transportation (DOTs) must consider potential impacts to wetlands in their infrastructure development projects. DOTs in particular, as well as other organizations, must sufficiently prove that a selected construction plan is the Least Environmentally Damaging Practical
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