Corals & benthic habitat mapping using DubaiSat-2: a spectral-spatial approach applied to Dalma Island, UAE (Arabian Gulf)

ABSTRACT

Satellite remote sensing-based monitoring of coastal habitats, like those in the Arabian Gulf, presents a special challenge due to the attenuation of light through the turbid atmosphere and water, as well as the spectral similarity of many benthic habitats. The present study aims to evaluate the potential of DubaiSat-2 imagery in mapping corals and benthic habitat in the vicinity of Dalma Island, United Arab Emirates (UAE). To do so, this study proposes a spectral-spatial method that uses a combination of different remote sensing techniques in order to discern benthic communities with reference to their spatial distribution. This method involves multi-level segmentation, non-linear feature analysis and ensemble learning methods for the characterization of corals, benthic classes and underlying seabeds. Maximum Likelihood and Random Forest, pixel-based methods, were also used for comparison of classification performances. Comparative data are derived from published marine habitat maps. The spectral-spatial method achieves 96.60% overall accuracy. Maximum Likelihood and Random Forest classification methods are assessed to be 92.59% and 94.52% accurate, respectively. The application of the proposed method and the use of DubaiSat-2 imagery can help in achieving well-designed coastal management plans in the region.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) for the provision of data. The authors are also very thankful to Dr. Richard John Obrien Perry from the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, for the valuable discussion and comments all along this work. The authors are also indebted to the Editor, Prof. Costas Varotsos, and two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped to improve the quality of the paper considerably.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.