Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument 4-Band Aerial Collection

Submitted by atripp on

The primary objectives of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument (KAWW),Maine, mapping project were to provide the following: an accurate, tested, and up-to-date vegetation map; a vegetation classification standardized to the U.S. National Vegetation Classification and supported by vegetation plot data collected within the Monument; and a field key to vegetation for the entire monument. The fulfillment of these project goals will allow the Monument to make informed management decisions for KAWW, which is a potential location for a living history timber management demonstration area and associated visitor amenities. The report products will present the Monument with an up-to-date inventory of vegetation types within KAWW and provide descriptive botanical and ecological information that can be referenced to locations in a geodatabase. The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, conducted the mission planning, aerial image acquisition, processing from raw to 4-band (red, green, blue, near-Infrared) images, and vegetation maps. The images were collected at 0.15-meters (6 inches) per pixel using co-located Phase One iXU-RS180 camera set in a gyro-stabilized SOMAG mount that can be directly georeferenced using simultaneously generated exterior orientation (X, Y, Z expressed by GPS and roll, pitch, and yaw as detected by the inertial measurement unit).

RGB (red, green, blue) image from October 2019 of the southern shore of Lake Katahdin and surrounding forest. The image is oriented with North to the top and is approximately 1 kilometer N-S.

Platform
Author Name
Benjamin Finley
Author Email
bfinley@usgs.gov