ABSTRACT
Wetlands are challenging targets to map and monitor because of their spatial and spectral complexity, as has been detailed throughout this book (see Chapter 3 for a review of major issues). The diversity of remotely sensed data and the techniques available to process these data have increased rapidly since the 1970s, when the United States and other countries began to systematically map national wetland resources. Recently developed remote sensing technologies described throughout this book have demonstrated their potential to further improve the detail and reliability of wetland maps. Contributors to this text have a wide variety of wetland mapping, monitoring, and classication expertise and have examined a diverse array of focus areas in terms of habitat type, climate, spatial scale, and topics of interest (e.g., water level and invasive species). These varying focus areas require different datasets and techniques, but when considered broadly, some trends become evident. What follows is a brief description of some of the most promising new developments in remote sensing data and techniques highlighted in this text and implications for future wetland mapping and
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 533 LiDAR ............................................................................................................................................ 534 Synthetic Aperture Radar ............................................................................................................... 534 Landsat Time Series ....................................................................................................................... 535 Data Fusion .................................................................................................................................... 535 Advanced Classication Techniques .............................................................................................. 536 Faster, Lower-Cost Data Dissemination ........................................................................................ 536 Other Advances .............................................................................................................................. 537
UAS ........................................................................................................................................... 537 Advances in Temporal, Spatial, and/or Spectral Resolution ..................................................... 537 Hyperspectral Imagery .............................................................................................................. 538
Future Challenges for Wetland Mapping and Monitoring ............................................................. 538 Predicting Wetland Function ..................................................................................................... 538 Detection of Wetland Water Regimes ....................................................................................... 539 Plant Species and Properties .....................................................................................................540 Submerged Wetlands and Aquatic Habitats .............................................................................. 541
International Wetland Denition and Classication Standard ....................................................... 541 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 543 References ...................................................................................................................................... 543
monitoring. The systems and techniques that are highlighted are still very active within the research domain but have also begun to contribute to operational wetland mapping. Topics requiring more research before broader application operationally are discussed in the section-Other Advances.
