Landcover Classification in the Taieri River Catchment, New Zealand: A Focus on the Riparian Zone

Abstract

Riparian vegetation has a fundamental influence on the biological, chemical and physical nature of rivers. The quantification of riparian landcover is now recognised as being essential to the holistic study of the ecosystem characteristics of rivers. Medium resolution satellite imagery is now commonly used as an efficient and cost effective method for mapping vegetation cover; however such data often lack the resolution to provide accurate information about vegetation cover within riparian corridors. To assess this, we measure the accuracy of SPOT multispectral satellite imagery for classification of riparian vegetation along the Taieri River in New Zealand. In this paper, we discuss different sampling strategies for the classification of riparian zones. We conclude that SPOT multispectral imagery requires considerable interpretative analysis before being adequate to produce sufficiently detailed maps of riparian vegetation required for use in stream ecological research.