Description: The Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (RBNERR) received a grant for a three-year project to help local communities manage freshwater flows in the Rookery Bay Estuary. In an effort to understand changes to the Rookery Bay estuary, Scheda Ecological Associates, Inc. (Scheda) scientists performed a literature review and an analysis of available historic aerial imagery to assess the potential of documenting changes in estuarine habitats over time. Photo interpretation of a series of aerials can be an effective means to assesschanges in habitat types. This process includes visual review of habitats; SAV, oyster beds, and hard bottom communities, based on visual “signatures”in the photographs. During this process, it was noted that there had never been aerial photography specifically flown to identify submerged aquatic resources within the Rookery Bay Estuary. The project team decided to acquire high definition, geo-referenced aerial photography that would provide baseline data and could then be utilized to detect changes within the natural community. By comparing the results of the baseline mapping data to future mapping efforts, a trend analysis of the benthic habitats can be produced. This trend analysis map can then be used to gauge changes in response to future river flow alterations over time.
Copyright Text: Photo Science, Inc. (Quantum Spatial), Scheda Ecological Associates, Inc.