Wetland Dynamics Inferred from Spectral Analyses of Hydro-Meteorological Signals and Landsat Derived Vegetation Indices

The dynamic response of coastal wetlands (CWs) to hydro-meteorological signals is a key indicator for understanding climate driven variations in wetland ecosystems. This study explored the response of CW dynamics to hydro-meteorological signals using time series of Landsat-derived normalized differe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRemote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 12
Main Authors Tahsin, Subrina, Medeiros, Stephen C., Singh, Arvind
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.01.2020
Subjects
Aquatic ecosystems
Drought
Dynamic response
Dynamics
Ecosystems
Fishing
Forested wetlands
Frequency domain analysis
Hydrometeorology
Landsat
Landsat satellites
Normalized difference vegetative index
Phenology
Precipitation
Remote sensing
Scrub
Spectra
Spectral analysis
Spectrum analysis
Storm surges
Time series
Vegetation
Vegetation index
Water levels
Wetlands
Apalachicola Bay
Florida
United States > US
Apalachicola River
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Summary:The dynamic response of coastal wetlands (CWs) to hydro-meteorological signals is a key indicator for understanding climate driven variations in wetland ecosystems. This study explored the response of CW dynamics to hydro-meteorological signals using time series of Landsat-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values at six locations and hydro-meteorological time-series from 1984 to 2015 in Apalachicola Bay, Florida. Spectral analysis revealed more persistence in NDVI values for forested wetlands in the annual frequency domain, compared to scrub and emergent wetlands. This behavior reversed in the decadal frequency domain, where scrub and emergent wetlands had a more persistent NDVI than forested wetlands. The wetland dynamics were found to be driven mostly by the Apalachicola Bay water level and precipitation. Cross-spectral analysis indicated a maximum time-lag of 2.7 months between temperature and NDVI, whereas NDVI lagged water level by a maximum of 2.2 months. The quantification of persistent behavior and subsequent understanding that CW dynamics are mostly driven by water level and precipitation suggests that the severity of droughts, floods, and storm surges will be a driving factor in the future sustainability of CW ecosystems.
ISSN:2072-4292
2072-4292
DOI:10.3390/rs12010012