[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]







          Biological Report 90 (18)
          December 1990




              Federal Coastal Wetland Mapping
                                        Programs



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            -.'fice of the Chief Scientist








                  Biological Report

                    This publication series of the Fish and Wildlife Service co.mprises reports on the results of research,
                  developments in technology, and ecological surveys and inventories of effects of land-use changes on
                  fishery and wildlife resources. They may include proceedings of workshops, technical conferences, or
                  symposia; and interpretive bibliographies.







                               Copies of this publication may be obtained from the Publications Unit,
                             U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1849 C Street, N.W, Mail Stop 130-ARLSQ,
                             Washington, DC 20240, or may be purchased from the National Technical
                             Information Service (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161.












                  The publication of this report was :ftmded, in part, by the National Oceanic and
                  Atmospheric Administration@s Coastal Ocean Program, U.S. Department of Commerce.





















                  ISSN 0895-1926










                             V . S . DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NOAA                            Biological ]Report 90 (18)
                             COASTAL SERVICES CENTER                                        December 1990
                             2234 SOUTH HOBSON AVENUE
                             CHARLESTON , SC 29405-2413


                                Federal Coastal Wetland
                                       Mapping Programs

                    A Report by the National Ocean Pollution Policy Board's
                             Habitat Loss and Modification Working Group


                                                             Edited by
                                                                                 PrOPertY Of CSC 4ibr=7


                                                           Sari J. Kiraly

                                           National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                                      Office of the Chief Scientist
                                               National Ocean Pollution Program Office
                                                    1825 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.
                                                       Washington, D.C. 20235



                                                           Ford A. Cross


                                            National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                                   National Marine Fisheries Service
                                                   Southeast Fisheries Science Center
                                                         Beaufort Laboratory
                                                    Beaufort, North Carolina 28516


                                                                and



                                                         John D. Buffmgton

                                                     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                  Region 8, Research and Development
 zj-                                                      1849 C Street, N. W.
                                                        Washington, D.C. 20240


                                                  U.S. Department of the Interior
                                                     Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                      Washington, D.C. 20240









                 Contents







                                                                                                                    Page


                 Preface      .......................................................................                iv

                 Federal Coastal Wetland Mapping Programs: Overview and
                    Recommendations Sari J. Kiraly, Ford A. Cross, and John D. Buffington      ................        1

                    National Programs
                       The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory. Bill 0. Wilen   ........     9
                       Coastal Barrier Resources System Mapping' Process. Mary C. Watzin    ..................       21
                       National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Habitat Mapping Under the
                         Coastal Ocean Program. James P. Thomas and Randolph L. Ferguson          ..............     27
                       National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Coastal Wetlands
                         Inventory. Don W. Field, Anthony J, Reyer, Charles E. Alexander, Beth D. Shearer,
                         and Paul V. Genovese    .......................................................             39
                       Overview of the Land-Sea Interface Research Program. Armond T Joyce,
                         Richard L. Miller, and Ramona E. Pelletier   .....................................          51
                       Enhanced Environmental Sensitivity Index Mapping Using Remote Sensing and
                         Geographic Information System Technology. Bruce.A. Davis, John R. Jensen,
                         Elijah W. Ramsey, III, and Jacqueline Michel    ...................................         59
                       Wetland Mapping Supported by the U.S, Environmental Protection Agency.
                         John R. Maxted    ............................................................              61
                       U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
                         Program, an Ecological Status and 7@rends Program. John F. Paul, A. F. Holland,
                         Steven C. Schimmel, J. Kevin Summers, and K. John Scott      ........................       72
                       Importance of Hydrologic Data for Interpreting Wetland Maps and Assessing Wetland
                         Loss and Mitigation. Virginia Carter   ..........................................           80
                       The U.S. Geological Survey's National Mapping Division P@-ograms, Products, and
                         Services that can Support Wetlands Mapping. Franklin S. Baxter     ..................       88
                       Soil Conservation Service's Wetland Inventory. Billy M. Teels   .......................       94

                    Regional and Federal-State Cooperative Programs
                       Coastal Mapping Programs at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands
                         Research Center. James B. Johnston and Lawrence R. Handley         ...................     106
                       Monitoring Seagrass Distribution and Abundance Patterns: A Case Study from the
                         Chesapeake Bay. Robert J. Orth, Kenneth A. Moore, and Judith R Nowak        ...........    112
                       Mapping Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in North Carolina with Conventional Aerial
                         Photography. Randolph L. Ferguson and Lisa L. Wood       ...........................       126











                                                                                                              Page
                   Project Plan for Mapping and Geographic Information System implementation of Land
                      Use and Land Cover Categories for the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study.
                      H. M. Cheshire and Siamak Khorram     ..........................................        135
                   Loss of Coastal Wetlands in Louisiana: Cooperative Research to Assess the Critical
                      Processes. S. Jeffress Williams and Asbury H. Sallenger, Jr . ......................    139
                   Marine Wetland Mapping and Monitoring in Florida. Kenneth Haddad         ...............   145
                   Satellite Data and Geographic Information Systems Technology Applications to
                      Wetlands Mapping. Richard H. Sinclair, Jr., Mark R. Graves, and Jack K. Stoll   ......  151
                   The Digital Wetlands Data Base for the U.S. Great Lakes Shoreline. Michael Scieszka    ... 159

              Appendix. Habitat Loss and Modification Working Group                  .....................    173









                Preface







                   This report was prepared by the National Ocean Pollution Policy Board's Habitat Loss and
                Modification Working Group, which is an interagency technical committee established by the National
                Ocean Pollution Policy Board pursuant to recommendations contained in the current National Marine
                Pollution Program Federal Plan for Ocean Pollution Research, Development, and Monitoring. Fiscal
                Years 1988-1992 (Federal Plan). The working group is jointly chaired by the National Oceanic and
                Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Department of
                the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service. The activities of the working group are coordinated through
                NOAA's National Ocean Pollution Program Office,which also directed preparation of the Federal Plan.
                   Understanding the effects of losing or modifying marine habitats as a result of human activities is
                one of six goals identified in the Federal Plan. The working group was charged with undertaking projects
                that would address recommendations outlined in the Federal Plan for achieving this goal at the Federal
                level, and to arrive at products that would be useful for Federal agencies planning and conducting
                habitat programs. Three study areas were selected: coastal wetlands mapping, coastal habitat loss, and
                wetland mitigation.
                   Examining the Federal effort in mapping the Nation@s coastal wetlands was selected as the initial
                project because determining the current areal extent of these wetlands is fundamental to determining
                the actual rates and locations of loss. For this project, a workshop was conducted that included persons
                representing federally funded coastal wetlands mapping programs. The workshop took place in
                December 1989 at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Research Center in Slidell,
                Louisiana. The papers presented at the workshop are contained in this report. They are preceded by an
                overview of the major federally funded programs and the working group's conclusions and
                recommendations as to how the overall Federal effort in coastal wetlands mapping could be improve,
                so that the status and trends of the Nation's coastal wetlands are documented in a timely fashion.


























                                                                    iv








              Federal Coastal Wetland Mapping Programs






                                       Overview and Recommendations



                                                               by




                                                          Sari J. Kiraly

                                       National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                                   Office of the Chief Scientist
                                            National Ocean Pollution Program Office
                                                 1825 Connecticut Avenue, N. W.
                                                     Washington, D.C. 20235



                                                          Ford A. Cross


                                       National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                               National Marine F@isheries Service
                                                   Southeast F'isheries Center
                                                      Beaufort Laboratory
                                              Beaufort, North Carolina 28516-9722


                                                               and



                                                       John D. Buffington

                                                  U.S. Ksh and Wildlife Service
                                              Region 8, Research and Development
                                                       184 9 C Street, N. W,
                                                     Washington, D.C. 20240


                            Introduction                          areas. Fundamental to appropriate management
                                                                  is the development of a comprehensive data base
                New legislative mandates and the increasing       that documents the extent, actual locations, and
              awareness of the value of wetlands have caused      rates of loss of the Nation's remaining wetlands.
              various government and private agencies to in@      Wetlands mapping provides an important basis
              crease their efforts to study and manage these      for such a data base.



                                                                                                                   1








                 2    BiowricAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   The manuscripts contained in this report de-        U.S. Geological Survey. Because the existing data
                 scribe what the Federal goverriment is doing to       base has been developed with user-pays fanding,
                 map the Nation's coastal wetlands. Various as-        a completion date for digitizing all NWI maps
                 pects of a series of Federally funded programs are    cannot be set.
                 described, including the purpose and intent of the       The NWI status and trends analysis was de-
                 programs, technologies used, the type of data and     signed to document losses and gains in the
                 other mapping products generated, and how the         Nation's wetlands. The national sampling grid for
                 information is used. In this paper, we summarize      this analysis consists of stratified random samples
                 the major programs and present the Habitat Loss       of 3,635 4-square mile plots distributed within
                 and Modification Working Group's conclusions          strata formed by State boundaries, physical
                 and recommendations for actions that could be         boundaries, the coastal zone, and the Great Lakes.
                 taken to improve the effectiveness of Federal ac-     Plots are allocated to strata in proportion to the
                 tivities. We hope that this assessment of the vari-   expected amount of wetland acreage. As legisla-
                 ous Federally funded coastal wetland mapping          tively mandated by the Emergency Wetlands Re-
                 programs will reveal strengths, weaknesses, areas     sources Act of 1986, a national status and trends
                 for improvement, and opportunities for better co-     report for the mid-1960's to the mid-1970's has
                 ordination among the Federal agencies and be-         been updated recently. Future updates are to be
                 tween Federal and State agencies as well.             prepared every 10 years.
                     National Coastal Wetland                            The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
                                                                                       Administration
                          Mapping Programs                                As part of its Coastal Ocean Program, NOAA is
                   Two Federal programs are designed to map            developing a comprehensive, nationally standard-
                 coastal wetlands on a comprehensive, nationwide       ized information system for land cover and habitat
                 basis. These programs are conducted by the            change in the coastal region of the United States.
                 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the          Satellite imagery, aerial photography, and surface
                 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-          geographic data will be interpreted, classified, an-
                 tion (NOAA).                                          alyzed, and integrated within a geographic infor-
                                                                       mation system (GIS). The program will delineate
                     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service                coastal wetland habitats and adjacent uplands,
                                                                       and will monitor changes in these habitats on a
                   The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Na-      cycle of 1-5 years. Because maps will be spatially
                 tional Wetlands Inventory (NWI) is the most ex-       registered digital images, land cover change will
                 tensive national wetlands mapping program. In         be detected in a pixel by pixel (30- x 30-m pixels)
                 addition to providing the most comprehensive in-      comparison of different time periods, rather than
                 ventory of the Nation's inland and coastal wet-       by a comparison of stratified random samples. In
                 lands, it provides the basis for many other Federal   addition, maps for a given period will be synoptic,
                 and State mapping efforts. The NWI was initiated      based on satellite images or aerial photographs
                 by FWS in 1975 to generate detailed wetland maps      collected over short (days or weeks) time intervals.
                 (based on Cowardin et al. [1979]), and reports on     This type and frequency of information is required
                 wetland status and trends.                            to determine the linkages between wetlands and
                   By using conventional aerial photography, the       the distribution, abundance, and health of living
                 NWI has produced over 30,000 wetland maps,            marine resources. Monitoring changes on a fre-
                 including over 5,300 detailed 1:24,000-scale maps     quent basis will also allow appropriate manage-
                 covering 100% of the coastal wetlands in the lower    ment steps to be taken in a timely manner.
                 48 States. The program is scheduled to complete          The Coastal Ocean Program mapping effort
                 wetland mapping of the conterminous United            will build upon and complement ongoing mapping
                 States by 1998, and mapping of Alaska will be         programs of other Federal and State agencies by
                 completed as soon as practicable thereafter. In       using existing data to supplement field verifica-
                 addition, 1% of the completed coastal wetland         tion. Current efforts include a change analysis for
                 maps have been digitized for inclusion as a na-       1984-1988 and 1989 for emergent coastal wet-
                 tional mapping data-base category in the National     lands and adjacent uplands of Chesapeake Bay by
                 Digital Data Base under the supervision of the        using satellite imagery. Submerged aquatic vege-








                                                                                             WFTLAND MAPPING PRoGRAms           3



                tation in North Carolina is also being mapped by          mation pertaining to tidal and nontidal wetlands.
                using aerial photography at scales of 1: 12,000 and       This information complements the two-dimen-
                1:24,000. The North Carolina study is being con-          sional information provided by wetlands maps.
                ducted cooperatively with the U.S. Environmental            The USGS's Geologic Division collects, inter-
                Protection Agency's (EPA) Albemarle-Pamlico               prets, and disseminates basic geological informa-
                National Estuary Program, and all maps are                tion on inland and coastal wetlands. Much of this
                being digitized and placed in the State of North          information is displayed on thematic maps and
                Carolina's GIS. The intent of the program is to           includes data on the three-dimensional structure of
                eventually map all coastal regions of the United          wetlands, as well as how wetlands evolve and
                States.                                                   change through time.
                  Operational protocols for delimiting emergent
                and submergent coastal wetlands are being devel-                    The National Oceanic and
                oped through a series of interagency workshops                    Atmospheric Administration
                and meetings. Remote determination of biomass,
                productivity, and functional status of wetlands will        In 1989, NOAA's National Ocean Service and
                be tested, as will new platforms and sensors as           National Marine Fisheries Service completed a
                they become available.                                    comprehensive Coastal Wetlands Inventory of es-
                                                                          tuarine drainage areas of the United States. The
                                                                          project used a 45-acre grid-sampling technique to
                       Other Federal Mapping                              quantify existing NWI wetlands maps that were
                                  Programs                                based on aerial photographs from 1971 to 1985.
                                                                          Data were entered into a GIS data base that can
                         The U.S. Geological Survey                       display and calculate acreage summaries by NWI
                                                                          map, county, State, and estuary. The data base,
                  The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) performs              which contains 5,290 NWI maps and presents data
                numerous mapping and mapping-related activi-              on 507 counties and 92 estuaries, has been useful
                ties. The major base mapping effort is conducted          in providing summaries of wetland distribution
                by the National Mapping Division. Through its             and abundance across large geographic areas.
                National Mapping Program, the division provides           These data will be incorporated into NOAA's Na-
                standard topographic maps at specified scales, as         tional Estuarine Inventory, a comprehensive data
                well as a diversity of cartographic, geographic, and      base useful for evaluating the health and status of
                remotely sensed data, products, and services, in-         the Nation's estuaries.
                eluding wetlands information. Many Federal and
                State programs rely on the USGS's primary map                        The U.S. Environmental
                series as a basis for site-specific wetland and other                    Protection Agency
                environmental studies. The program also provides
                technical assistance to Federal agencies in estab-          Wetland mapping has been supported by the
                lishing their GIS capabilities for the development        U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through
                of wetlands data bases.                                   the Clean Water Act Section 404 and Superfund
                  The National Mapping Division has prepared              programs. There are two basic types of wetland
                1:24,000-scale topographic maps covering most of          mapping activities under these programs: (1) com-
                the Nation. Program emphasis has been shifted to          prehensive planning under the Section 404 pro-
                revising the inaccurate and out-of-date maps of           gram, referred to as "advance identification"
                this series. In addition, development of a new se-        (ADID), and (2) specific studies of certain identi-
                ries of land use and land cover maps at the               fied Superfund sites. Site-specific mapping in the
                1:100,000 scale is being considered. Cooperative          second context focuses on wetland boundary
                efforts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture           changes over time, generally as part of a criminal
                Soil Conservation Service and the NWI should              prosecution, and historical data often provide the
                result in additional products to aid in the study of      goal for restoration of the site to its original condi-
                wetlands, including image base maps and state-of-         tion. Mapping conducted under the ADID program
                the-art GIS's.                                            is intended to steer development away from the
                  The USGS's Water Resources Division collects            most valuable wetlands.
                and disseminates, in written and digital formats,           The EPA is initiating an Enviromnental Moni-
                groundwater and surface water hydrological infor-         toring and Assessment Program (EMAP) to char-








                 4    BiowGicAL RFPoRT 90(18)



                 acterize the condition of the Nation's ecological       gram is currently focused on the severe loss of
                 resources on regional and national scales and over      wetlands in Louisiana. In cooperation with the
                 long periods. The wetland resource component of         State of Louisiana and FWS, USGS is conducting
                 EMAP will develop a program to assess the status        field investigations on wetlands loss to identify
                 and trends of wetland condition and extent. The         natural and human-made causes. The USGS is also
                 proposed EMAP sampling design calls for selection       establishing a GIS network of providers and users
                 of 30 representative 40-km   2 sites within each of     of wetlands data in Louisiana. This system will
                 11 near-coastal geographic regions. Each year,          probably be expanded to include the entire Gulf of
                 25% of these sites will be visited; samples will be     Mexico region.
                 taken from plots within each site to determine            At the request of Congress, USGS recently pre-
                 habitat condition.                                      pared a study plan for conducting coastal and
                    EPA's wetland mapping activities rely, to a          wetlands research to address gaps and needs in
                 large extent, on the mapping conventions devel-         geologic information on wetlands evolution. The
                 oped by the NWI program, and in most instances          plan was prepared in close coordination with other
                 use NWI maps and NWI mapping capabilities. For          Federal agencies and coastal States, and was sub-
                 example, the EPA and FWS collaborate to produce         mitted to Congress in June 1990. For fiscal year
                 reports describing the status and trends of wetland     .1991, wetland studies are planned for Louisiana,
                 acreage (NWI) and condition (EMAP).                     Florida, the Great Lakes, and San Francisco Bay.
                                                                         All of these studies will be done in cooperation with
                                                                         State agencies.
                           Major Regional and                                   The Chesapeake Bay Program
                     Federal-State Cooperative
                           Mapping Programs                                The Chesapeake Bay Program is a joint effort
                                                                         among a number of Federal agencies and the
                     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service                  States bordering the bay. Under this program,
                                                                         submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) has been
                   The FWSs National Wetlands Research Center            surveyed by the Virginia Institute of Marine Sci-
                 has an ongoing program in habitat mapping of            ence. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has
                 wetlands, seagrasses, and uplands. Projects are         mapped SAV on a baywide basis five times be-
                 developed in cooperation with other Federal and         tween 1978 and 1987, with standard aerial photo-
                 State agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of          graphic techniques at a scale of 1:24,000. In addi-
                 Engineers, EPA, and the Louisiana Department of         tion, data from photointerpretation of the imagery
                 Natural Resources. The wetlands center cooper-          have been entered and stored on a Virginia Insti-
                 ates with the NWI and uses NWI procedures for           tute of Marine Sciences's GIS. The result of these
                 photointerpretation, quality control, and quality       efforts is a temporal delineation of SAV that pro-
                 assurance, and produces maps at several scales. In      vides the basis for long-term trends analysis on
                 addition to wetland classification, these maps de-      the distribution and abundance of this resource in
                 pict upland classification so that habitat change       Chesapeake Bay.
                 analyses can determine what type of uplands re-
                 placed wetland areas. The center also is developing                     North Carolina
                 wetland maps to include selected indicator species.
                 Information gathered under the program has been           Under the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine
                 used to develop digital data bases for various          Study (funded by EPA and the State of North
                 coastal areas. These data bases can be entered into     Carolina), North Carolina State University's
                 the center's GIS to implement natural resource          Computer Graphics Center is conducting a land
                 inventories, habitat trend analyses, and carto-         use inventory of Albemarle and Pamlico sounds
                 graphic modeling projects.                              and their tributary basins. This inventory will
                                                                         include over two-thirds of North Carolina's
                          The U.S. Geological Survey                     coastal wetlands and will be prepared from re-
                                                                         motely sensed satellite data. SAV data generated
                    The USGS has an active National Coastal Geol-        by NOAA under its Coastal Ocean Program also
                 ogy Program that includes a number of research          will be included in the inventory. The goal is to
                 field investigations related to wetlands. The pro-      develop a digital land use and land cover inven-








                                                                                           WETLAND MAPPING PRMRAMS 5



                tory of the entire Albemarle-Pamlico drainage           base that provides information on wetland habitat
                area that can be maintained and updated as              changes in a variety of forms (e.g., statistical and
                needed as part of the State's GIS.                      mapped) has been identified by Federal agencies
                                                                        and others as an important tool for decision makers
                                     Florida                            in administering coastal programs. A standardized
                                                                        and centralized data base will allow data collected
                   In 1983, the Florida Department of Natural           by different program under varying legislative
                Resources, Marine Research Institute began build-       mandates to be incorporated into individual GIS's
                ing a digital ecosystem data base through NOAA!s        to suit user needs, and the data can be readily
                Coastal Zone Management Program. Habitat map-           updated to reflect current information.
                ping and trend analysis are key components of the          Because of the value of FWS's National Wet-
                effort. An efficient, cost-effective mapping pro-       land Inventory, it is important that it con-
                gram has been developed based on a combination          tinue and that an effort be made to digitize
                of conventional aerial photography and satellite        the available coastal wetland information. At
                images. State-of-the-art techniques are used for        the Federal level, the NWI is the most comprehen-
                image analysis, resulting in highly accurate maps.      sive nationwide mapping program, providing de-
                A data base for trend analyses also is being created    tailed maps of wetland distribution, including those
                by incorporating other contemporary and histori-        in the coastal zone. The NWI is a valuable resource
                cal data with data collected under the program. All     that serves not only as a useful data base both
                of the data will be incorporated into a GIS to use      within the Federal and private sectors, but also as
                in implementing an ecosystem approach to coastal        the basis of many other Federal and State mapping
                resource management.                                    programs. The status and trends analysis compo-
                                                                        nent, which is based on a stratified random sample,
                                    Michigan                            may not be suitable for assessing trends at the local
                   The Michigan Resource Inventory Program has          level, but is appropriate for assessing trends on a
                prepared a detailed land cover and land use inven-      national scale.
                tory that includes a set of wetland maps. The inven-       Because it is critical that changes in coastal
                tory used conventional infrared aerial photogra-        wetland acreage be monitored on a timely
                phy, primarily oil a 1:24,000 scale, for its mapping    basis so that appropriate management strat-
                effort. In addition, digital products have been pre-    egies can be implemented or existing strate-
                pared from the data and incorporated into the           gies modified, particularly in areas of rapid
                Michigan Resource Information System. The data          habitat loss, the national mapping effort
                collection and digital processing methodology, as       needs to be accelerated. It is also essential that
                well as the products generated, are being used b        the implications of change on coastal ecosystems,
                the International Joint Commission.                  y  including living marine resources, be evaluated
                                                                        while documenting the location and acreage of the
                                                                        Nation!s coastal wetlands. Documentation should
                                                                        be done both at the national level, to assess the
                             Conclusions and                            overall status and trends of the Nation's coastal
                           Recommendations                              wetlands, and at the regional or local level so that
                                                                        more detailed assessments can be made.
                               The Federal Effort                          More focused research is needed to support
                                                                        the development of cost-effective, state-of-
                   Although. many mapping programs are                  the-art mapping technologies with detailed
                under way, a centralized and standardized               digital satellite images and aerial photo-
                national digital mapping data base of coastal           graphs. We anticipate these newer technologies
                wetlands is not available and needs to be de-           will make it possible to map coastal areas more
                veloped. Various Federal agencies conduct pro-          frequently and accurately, which will provide more
                grams to document coastal wetland acreage. Some         up-to-date information for decision makers.
                of the programs are on a nationwide scale; others          It is particularly important that high-res-
                are regional. Methodology, frequency, and degree        olution, georeferenced digital data bases for
                of resolution may vary, primarily based on purpose,     critical habitat types, based on standard pro-
                technology availability, and intended use of the        tocols and synoptic images, be developed.
                products. A georeferenced and computerized data         Such data bases would allow comparison of chron-








                6    Biowr_icAL REPoRT 90(18)



                ological digital data to assess both national and       C'urrently, considerable coordination among Fed-
                local trends in wetland coverage. Developing a          eral agencies exists. One example of coordination
                standardized set of protocols for extracting digital    activities is the cost-sharing agreements between
                information on wetlands coverage from satellite         the NWI and many Federal and State agencies. In
                images and aerial photographs is fundamental to         addition, interagency coordination was important
                such an effort. NOAA!s Coastal Ocean Program is         in preparing NOANs Coastal Wetlands Inventory,
                developing standardized protocols to produce            which was based on maps prepared as part of the
                georeferenced, digital data bases and digital maps      NWI. Habitat mapping under NOAA!s Coastal
                from satellite images. The NOAA program is con-         Ocean Program is another example of an integrated
                fined to the coastal zone and, in part, relies on NWI   'Federal agency effort that will result in a compre-
                maps for ground truthing of satellite images. This      hensive data base for the Nation's coastal wetlands
                effort, which complements rather than duplicates        and will provide timely information for document-
                the NWI effort, should continue.                        ing trends in wetlands and SAV acreage.
                   Because of the relative importance of sub-              Coordination among Federal, State, re-
                merged aquatic vegetation (SAV) to coastal              gional, and local levels needs to be improved.
                ecosystems, a Federal initiative should be de-          A number of Federal mapping programs are al-
                veloped to standardize SAV mapping and to               ready coordinating efforts with State agencies (e.g.,
                provide a national data base. Currently, map-           FWS's National Wetlands Research Center coastal
                ping is being conducted by the State of Florida, the    mapping projects, USGS coastal erosion and wet-
                Chesapeake Bay Program, and NOAA"s Coastal              land loss projects, EPXs Albemarle-Pamlico Estu-
                ocean Program for the North Carolina coast. In          ary Program, and NOAA!s Coastal Ocean Pro-
                1991, EPA will begin mapping SAV in the Gulf of         gram). However, Federal cooperation with State
                Mexico. However, SAV is not being mapped consis-        mapping projects should be increased and national
                tently on a national scale. In addition, standard       protocols developed so that State mapping efforts
                protocols for mapping SAV, such as those being          can be integrated with, and complement, other
                developed by NOAA!s Coastal Ocean Program, are          regional and national projects. Ultimately, coordi-
                needed and should be instituted for future mapping      nation and cooperation at this level will allow the
                programs.                                               development of a comprehensive data base of
                   Fundamental cartographic information,                coastal wetland habitats and could provide the
                such as that developed by USGS and NOAA,                model for continued coordination efforts for other
                needs to be updated, particularly for areas             habitat types. An example of such an effort is the
                where shorelines have eroded or accreted                Michigan Resource Inventory Program, which is
                substantially. Also, coordination and mainte-           coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
                nance of the national data bases, which provide         neers and the International Joint Commission in
                standardized and uniform quality photographic           making its data available. A possible mechanism
                coverage of the 48 conterminous States on a 5-year      for improved coordination of programs at the State
                acquisition cycle, should be continued. In addition,    level is the Coastal Zone Management Program
                existing cartographic, geologic, and hydrographic       administered by NOAA. Also, the coastal mapping
                information should be digitized and collated into a     and change analysis protocols being developed by
                coastal wetland GIS.                                    NOAA!s Coastal Ocean Program could provide the
                                                                        vehicle by which standardization of methodology
                      Federal and State Coordination                    and data generation could occur.
                                                                           Existing mechanisms for coordinating
                   Coordination among the Federal agencies              agency programs could be used for develop-
                should continue, and efforts should be made             ing a consensus on how Federal agencies
                to identify additional opportunities for coop-          should be planning and promoting research
                erative mapping programs. Coastal wetland               on state-of-the-art wetlands mapping tech-
                mapping programs are being conducted by Federal         nology. In addition, these coordination mech-
                and State agencies for a variety of purposes, and at    anisms should be used to aid in the identifi-
                different levels of resolution. It is important that    cation of additional mapping efforts that are
                these efforts be coordinated, not only because no       needed, and to promote even closer coordina-
                single program can meet all user needs, but also so     tion and interaction among the coastal map-
                that duplication of effort, wasteful resource alloca-   ping programs. One existing mechanism is the
                tion, and incompatibility of data can be minimized.     interagency National Ocean Pollution Policy









                   "                               U. S.  DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                                      NOAA, National                   Marine Fisheries Serv.
                                      Southeast Fisheries Science Center
                    @Nrls Of          Beaufort Laboratory
                                      101 Pivers Island Road
                                      Beaufort, NC 28516

                To -              Addressee




                From:             Dr. Ford A. Cross, Director


                                  Enclosed are recent publications of
                                  the Beaufort Laboratory - for your
                                  information.
































                :NSWTTAL PORM C   0-02 A 110-471
                 SC WORD OV DAO 21-2
 








                                                                                              WETLAND MAPPING PRoGRAms           7




                Board, which addresses Federal agency coordina-           gies, built upon existing programs, legislative man-
                tion for marine (including coastal) pollution re-         dates, and management expertise, should provide
                search and monitoring. Another mechanism is the           a framework for identifying and implementing co-
                Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-16,          ordinated mapping efforts at the national and re-
                which, as revised, provides for the establishment of      gional levels.
                an interagency committee to promote the coordi-
                nated development, use, sharing, and dissemina.-
                tion of surveying, mapping, and related spatial
                data. The President's Domestic Policy Council Task                           Reference
                Force on Wetlands, which is charged with develop-
                ing a national policy for attaining no net loss of        Cowardin, L. M., V Carter, R C. Golet, and E. T. LaRoe.
                wetlands, is another potential mechanism for inter-          1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater
                agency cooperation. Finally, multiagency initia-             habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,
                tives for developing coastal management strate-              FWSVOBS-79/31. 103 pp.









                                                                                                              NATioNAL PRwpAms           9



                 National Programs






                 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory



                                                                            by




                                                                      Bill 0. Wilen


                                                            U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                            National Wetlands Inventory
                                                                 400 Arlington Square
                                                              Department of the Interior
                                                               18th and C Streets, N. W.
                                                               Washington, D.C. 20240


                               ABSTRACT.-In 1974, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service directed its Office of Biological
                               Services to design and conduct an inventory of the Nation's wetlands. The mandate was to
                               develop and disseminate a technically sound, comprehensive data base concerning the
                               characteristics and extent of the Nation's wetlands. This data base should be used to foster
                               wise use of the Nation's wetlands and to expedite decisions that may affect this important
                               resource. To accomplish this, state-of-the-art principles and methodologies pertaining to all
                               aspects of wetland inventory were assimilated and developed by the newly formed project. By
                               1979, when the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) Project became operational, it was clear
                               that two very different kinds of information were needed. First, detailed wetland maps were
                               needed for site-specific decisions. Second, national statistics developed through statistical
                               sampling on the current status and trends of wetlands were needed to provide information to
                               support the development or alteration of Federal programs and policies.


                                 Authorization                                 soon as practicable thereafter for Alaska and non-
                                                                               contiguous portions of the United States.


                    The Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986
                 directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the                              Introduction
                 Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to
                 produce by 30 September 1990, and at 10-year
                 intervals thereafter, reports to update and im-                  The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has always
                 prove the information in the report Status and                recognized the importance of wetlands to water-
                 Trends of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats in the              fowl and other migratory birds, in part because
                 Conterminous United States, 1950's to 1970's                  10-12 million ducks breed annually in the United
                 (Frayer et al. 1983). This act also requires the Fish         States, and millions more overwinter here. Conse-
                 and Wildlife Service to produce, by 30 September              quently, FWS has a direct interest in protecting
                 1998, National Wetlands Inventory maps for the                wetlands, especially wetlands where waterfowl
                 remainder of the contiguous United States and, as             breed and overwinter.








                 10    BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                    We know that wetlands also play an integral          gency plans, natural resource inventories, and
                 role in maintaining the quality of human life           habitat surveys.
                 through material contributions to the national            National estimates of the current status and
                 economy (through the food supply, water supply          trends (i.e., losses and gains) of wetlands, devel-
                 and water quality, flood control, and fish, wildlife,   oped through statistical sampling, also are needed.
                 and plant resources) and thus to the health, safety,    These estimates will be used to evaluate the effec-
                 recreation, and economic well-being of all United       tiveness of existing Federal programs and policies,
                 States citizens.                                        identify national or regional problems, and in-
                                                                         crease general public awareness of wetlands.
                  Need for a National Wetlands Inventory
                    In 1954, the FWS conducted a nationwide wet-                Pre-operational Phase
                 lands survey that focused on important waterfowl
                 wetlands. This survey covered roughly 40% of the          Before actually beginning wetland mapping in
                 lower 48 States. Although this survey was not a         1979, the National Wetlands Inventory Project
                 comprehensive wetlands inventory by today's             reviewed existing State and local wetland inven-
                 standards, it was instrumental in stimulating pub-      tories and existing classification schemes to deter-
                 lic interest in the conservation of waterfowl wet-      mine the best way to inventory wetlands.
                 lands. These findings were published in a well-         Researchers determined that a remote sensing
                 known FWS report Wetlands of the United States,         technique would be the best method to inventory
                 commonly referred to as Circular 39 (Shaw and           wetlands.
                 Fredine 1956).
                    Since this survey, however, wetlands have un-           Review of Existing Wetland Surveys
                 dergone many changes, both natural and human-             The first step of the pre-operational phase was
                 induced. These changes, coupled with an increased       to review existing wetland inventories. The NWI
                 understanding of wetland values, led FWS to es-         consulted with Federal and State agencies to learn
                 tablish the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI)           where and when wetland surveys had previously
                 Project. The NWI goal is to generate and dissemi-       been completed, what inventory techniques were
                 nate scientific information on the characteristics      employed, where to obtain copies of any wetland
                 and extent of the Nation's wetlands. We hope this       maps that may have been produced, and the status
                 information will foster wise use of the Nation's        of State wetland protection. Only a handful of
                 wetlands and provide data for making quick and          States had inventoried their wetlands, and most of
                 accurate resource decisions. Decision makers are        these had only mapped coastal wetlands. These
                 not able to make informed decisions about wet-          results were published in a 1976 FWS report (U.S.
                 lands without knowing how many wetlands, and            Department of the Interior 1976).
                 of what type, are where.
                        Needed Wetland Information                       Review of Existing Classification Systems
                                                                           Before the inventory could begin, NWI research-
                    Two different kinds of information are needed:       ers had to decide how to classify wetlands. Thus,
                 detailed maps and status and trends reports. De-        in 1975, FWS brought together 15 of the Nation's
                 tailed wetland maps are needed for assessing the        top wetland scientists to evaluate the usefulness
                 effects of site-specific projects. These maps serve a   of existing wetland classification schemes for the
                 purpose similar to the Soil Conservation Service's      National Wetlands Inventory. These scientists de-
                 soil survey maps, the National Oceanic and Atmo-        termined that none of the existing systems could
                 spheric Administration's coastal geodetic survey        be used or modified for the NWI and that a new
                 maps, and the U.S. Geological Survey's topo-            classification system should be developed.
                 graphic maps. Detailed wetland maps are used by
                 local, State, and Federal agencies-as well as by              Development of a New Wetlands
                 private industry and organizations-for many                         Classification System
                 purposes, including comprehensive resource man-
                 agement plans, environmental impact assess-               The FWS's wetlands classification system (Cow-
                 ments, facility and corridor siting, oil spill contin- ardin et al. 1979) was developed by a team of four









                                                                                                     NATioNAL PRoGRAms        11




                 wetland ecologists, one each from the U.S. Fish          sile animal species, or dominant plant and animal
                 and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S.       species. Cowardin et al. only provide examples of
                 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-             the many dominance types possible. Those using
                 tion, and the University of Rhode Island, with the       this classification system are expected to identify
                 assistance of local, State, and Federal agencies, as     these dominance types and use them as part of the
                 well as many private groups and individuals. The         hierarchical classification system. It is also proba-
                 new system went though four major revisions and          ble that as the system is used in more detail to meet
                 extensive field testing before its official adoption     a user's site-specific needs, the need for additional
                 by FWS on 1 October 1980.                                subclasses and special modifiers will become clear.
                    This classification system describes ecological         This classification system has been adopted by
                 units having certain common natural attributes,          many national and international organizations.
                 arranges these units in a system that aids resource      Illinois, Michigan, and Oregon have passed State
                 management decisions, furnishes units for inven-         wetlands legislation that relies heavily on NWI
                 tory and mapping, and provides uniformity in wet-        wetland information for implementation. The NWI
                 land concepts and terminology throughout the             was the first phase of a long-range State wetland
                 United States. Although it is not an evaluation          Plan for Illinois. Indiana and Minnesota have wet-
                 system, it does provide the information upon which       lands legislation currently under consideration
                 evaluations can be made.                                 that will also depend heavily on NWI maps and
                    Wetlands are extremely diverse and complex            digital data. The first International Wetlands Con-
                                                                       *  ference met in New Delhi, India, on 10-17 Septem-
                 The FWS classification system defines the limits         ber 1980. Conference participants passed a motion
                 of wetlands according to ecological characteristics      to adopt this classification system.
                 and not according to administrative or regulatory
                 programs. In general terms, wetlands are defined
                 in Cowardin et al. (1979) as lands where satura-               Selecting a Remote Sensing Tool
                 tion with water is the dominant factor determining          Because of the magnitude of the NWI, remote
                 the nature of soil development and the types of
                 plant and animal communities living in the soil          sensing was the obvious technique for inventory of
                 and on its surface.                                      the Nation's wetlands. The basic choice was be-
                    This state-of-the-art wetland classification sys-     tween high-altitude photography and satellite im-
                 tem presents a method for grouping ecologically          agery (Landsat). After comparing Landsat's capa-
                 similar wetlands. The system is hierarchical, with       bilities with FWS's and other agencies' needs for
                 wetlands divided among five major systems at the         wetland information, it was evident that Landsat
                 broadest level: Marine, Estuarine, Riverine, La-         could not provide the needed data for classification
                 custrine, and Palustrine. Each system is further         detail and wetland determinations within the de-
                 subdivided by subsystems that reflect hydrologic         sired accuracy requirements.
                 conditions, such as Subtidal versus Intertidal in          The National Wetlands Inventory Project has
                 the Marine and Estuarine systems. Below subsys-          continued testing satellite technologies. Along
                 tem is the class level, which describes the appear-      with the National Aeronautic and Space
                 ance of the wetland in terms of vegetation (e.g.,        Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NWI
                 Emergent, Aquatic Bed, Forested), or substrate if        conducted a year-long test of the multispectral
                 vegetation is inconspicuous or absent (e.g., Un-         scanner to detect and map wetlands in Alaska.
                                                                          With Ducks Unlimited, NWI also tested Thematic
                 consolidated Shore, Rocky Shore, Streambed).             Mapper data, as well as data from the French
                 Each class is further divided into subclasses. The       satellite called SPOT. A year-long test is now being
                 classification system also includes modifiers to         conducted by the Earth Observation Satellite
                 describe hydrology (water regime), water chemis-         Company to test the feasibility of using Thematic
                 try (PH, salinity, and halinity), and special modifi-    Mapper satellite data to detect wetlands, map wet-
                 ers relating to human activities (e.g., impounded,       lands, or update existing wetlands maps. None of
                 partly drained, farmed, artificial).                     these tests has provided any hope that present
                    Below the class level, the classification system is   satellite configurations can provide the needed
                 open-ended and incomplete. The dominance type is         data for classification detail and wetness determi-
                 the taxonomic category subordinate to subclass.          nations within desired accuracy requirements of
                 Dominance types are determined on the basis of           the National Wetlands Inventory Project and its
                 dominant plant species, dominant sedentary or ses-       State and Federal cooperators.








                12    BiowrxcAL REPoRT W18)



                   Organizational Structure of                           reports, and textual and geographic computerized
                         the National Wetland                            data bases.
                            Inventory Project                                National Wetlands Inventory Maps
                   The Fish and Wildlife employs a small staff of           The primary product of the NWI is large-scale
                biologists assembled into two basic groups; Na-          (1:24,000) maps that show the location, shape, and
                tional Wetlands Inventory central control group          characteristics of wetlands and deepwater habi-
                and regional wetland coordinators. The NWI proj-         tats on U.S. Geological Survey base maps. These
                ect leader works out of the Washington, D.C., office     detailed maps are excellent for site-specific project
                and coordinates the budget, annual work plans,           evaluation.
                and strategic planning.                                     To produce final National Wetlands Inventory
                   The NWI Central Control Group in St. Peters-          maps, seven major steps must be completed:
                burg, Florida, is the focal point for all operational    (1) preliminary field investigations, (2) interpreta-
                activities of the NWI. This group acquires all ma-       tion of high-altitude photographs, (3) review of
                terials necessary for performing an inventory, pro-      existing wetland information, (4) regional and na-
                vides technical assistance and work materials to         tional consistency quality control of interpreted
                the regional coordinators, and produces the wet-         photos, (5) draft map production, (6) interagency
                lands maps. A private service support contractor         review of draft maps, and (7) final map production.
                is responsible for map production, and provides          Swartwout (1982) and Crowley et al. (1988) evalu-
                needed personnel (about 100 technicians and pro-         ated NWI maps and determined that the maps
                fessionals).                                             were 95 and 91% accurate, respectively. Accuracy
                   Regional wetland coordinators at FWS's seven          determinations included errors of omission as well
                Regional Offices are responsible for the inventor        as commission. This high accuracy was achieved
                                                                      y  because of the NWI technique, which involves a
                of wetlands within their regions and ensuring that       combination of field studies, photointerpretation,
                all NWI products meet regional needs. They man-          use of existing information, and interagency re-
                age contracts for wetland photointerpretation, co-       view of draft maps.
                ordinate interagency review of draft maps, secure
                cooperative funding from other agencies, produce
                regional wetland reports, and disseminate NWI                Wetland Status and Trends Reports
                products. Their addresses, phone numbers, and              The national wetlands status and trends analy-
                areas of responsibility are listed 'in the Appendix.     sis study originated from the need for national
                   Photointerpretation and fieldwork are per-            estimates on the present extent of our Nation's
                formed by contractors hired by FWS. These con-           wetland resources in the lower 48 States and on
                tractors photointerpret wetlands with stereo-            corresponding losses and gains over the past 20
                scopes. In addition, they review soil maps, conduct      years. A statistical survey of U.S. wetlands in the
                field checks, and examine existing information on        mid- 1950's and mid- 1970's was conducted through
                an area's wetlands to ensure accurate identifica-        conventional air photointerpretation techniques.
                tion of wetlands.                                        The status of wetlands in the mid-50's and mid-
                                                                         70's was determined, and estimates of losses and
                                                                         gains during that interval were computed. The
                           Operational Phase                             national sampling grid consists of a stratified ran-
                                                                         dom sample of 3,635 4-square-mile plots distrib-
                                                                         uted within strata being formed by State bound-
                   The operational phase of the NWI, initiated on        aries, and the 35 physical subdivisions described
                1 October 1979, involves two main efforts: wet-          by Hammond (1970). Additional strata were added
                lands mapping and wetlands status and trends             to include (1) a coastal zone stratum encompassing
                analysis. In addition to the wetlands maps and           those wetlands near coastal influence, and (2) the
                trends reports produced through statistical analy-       area immediately adjacent to the Great Lakes.
                sis, NWI produces other products that complement         S ample units were allocated to strata in proportion
                the mapping effort, including a preliminary list of      to the expected amount of wetland and deepwater
                hydric soils, the National List ofPlant Species that     habitat acreage estimated as determined by the
                Occur in Wetlands (Reed 1988), numerous wetland          earlier work of Shaw and Fredine (1956). The









                                                                                                                     NATioNAL PfiomAA@            13



                  results of this study were published in four major                 with the Soil Conservation Service, developed the
                  reports by Prayer et al. (1983); Tiner (1984); U.S.                first list of the Nation's hydric soils. Since then, the
                  Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1984);                  Soil Conservatiolf Service has chaired the Inter-
                  and Goldstein (1988).                                              agency National Technical Committee for Hydric
                     About 215 million acres of wetlands existed in                  Soils. The National List of Hydric Soils of the
                  the conterminous United States (i.e., lower 48                     United States, December 1987 (U.S. Department of
                  States) at the time of the Nation's settlement. In                 Agriculture 1987) is available from the Soil Con-
                  the mid- 1970's, only 99 million acres, or 46% of the              servation Service. This soils list is useful for mak-
                  original wetland acreage remained; these 99 mil-                   ing wetland determinations in the field, or in the
                  lion acres included 93.7 million acres of palustrine               office through use of soil survey maps.
                  wetlands and 5.2 million acres of estuarine wet-
                  lands. Wetlands now cover about 5% of the land                        List of Plants that Occur in Wetlands
                  surface of the lower 48 States.
                     Between the mid-1950's and mid-1970's, about                       The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published
                  11 million acres of wetlands were lost, while                      the National List of Plants Species that Occur in
                  2 million acres of new wetlands were created.                      Wetlands: 1988 National Summary (Reed 1988).
                  Thus, in that 20-year interval alone, there was a                  The plants in this list' are divided into four indi-
                  net loss of 9 million acres of wetlands or an aver-                cator categories based on the plants' frequency of
                  age annual net loss of 458,000 acres. This annual                  occurrence in wetlands: (1) obligate-always
                  loss equals an area about half the size of Rhode                   found in wetlands (greater than 99% of the time);
                  Island. Agricultural development was responsible                   (2) facultative wet-usually found in wetlands
                  for 87% of recent national wetland losses, urban                   (66-99% of the time); (3) facultative sometimes
                  development caused 8%, and other development                       found in wetlands (33-66% of the time); and
                  caused 5%.                                                         (4) facultative upland-seldom found in wetlands
                     The most extensive wetland losses were in Ar'                   (less than 33% of the time).
                  kansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ne-                          The wetland plant list data base is a listing of
                  braska, North Carolina, North Dakota, South                        plants associated with wetlands, as defined by the
                  Dakota, and Texas. Greatest losses of forested                     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's wetland definition
                  wetlands were in the lower Mississippi Valley,                     and classification system (Cowardin et al. 1979). It
                  with the conversion of bottomland hardwood for-                    lists scientific and common names of plants, distri-
                  ests to farmland. Shrub wetlands were hardest hit                  bution, and regional wetland indicator status of
                  in North Carolina, where pocosins in wetlands                      almost 6,700 plant species. It can be accessed by
                  were converted to cropland or pine plantations, or                 plant name, region, State, and wetland indicator
                  mined for peat. Inland marsh drainage for agri-                    status. The data base is updated as additional
                  culture was most significant in the Prairie Pothole                information is received.
                  region of the Dakotas and Minnesota, Nebraska's                       The wetland plant species data base             2 has two
                  Sandhills and the Rainwater Basin, and Florida's                   parts. The first, PLANTS, contains detailed
                  Everglades. Between the mid-1950's and mid-
                  1970's, estuarine wetland losses were heaviest in
                  the Gulf States of Louisiana, Florida, and Texas,                  1  This listis available from the Superintendent ofDocuments,
                  Most of Louisiana's coastal marsh losses were                         U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 20402,
                  attributed to submergence by coastal waters. In                       phone (202)783-3235, Stock Number 024-010-00682-0; cost
                                                                                        is $12.00. Thirteen regional subdivisions of the list are
                  other areas, urban development was the major                          available from the National Technical Information Service,
                  direct human-induced cause of coastal wetland                         5285 Port Royal Rd., Springfield, Va. 22161, phone
                  loss. Dredge and fill for residential development                     (703)487-4650. State lists are also available.
                  in coastal areas was most significant in Califor,                  2  Regional subdivisions ofthewetland plant list data base are
                  nia, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.                        available on floppy disks in ASCII format for use on IBM
                                                                                        XT/AT-compatible machines running the equivalent or
                                                                                        MS-DOS 2.0 or higher. Contact the Office or Conference
                                                                                        Services, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.
                         Hydric Soils List (Wetland Soils)                              80523, phone (303)491-7767. State subdivisions of the
                                                                                        wetland plant list data base are available in a wide variety
                     Hydric soils are defined by soil saturation for a                  of formats on floppy disks for use on IBM PC
                  significant period or by frequent flooding for long                   XTIAT-compatible machines running the equivalent of
                                                                                        MS-DOS 2.0 or higher. Contact 13IO-DATA, INC., PO. Box
                  periods during the growing season. To clarify the                     280605, 331 Wright Street, 7-107, Lakewood, Colo. 80228,
                  meaning of "hydric soils," the NWI, in cooperation                    phone (303)987-2557.








                      14     BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                      taxonomic, distributional, and habitat informa-                     major rivers, and other areas that reflect the goals
                      tion on more than 6,200 wetland plants found in                     of the North American Waterfowl Plan.
                      the United States and its territories. The second                       The actual priority of mapping depends on the
                      part, BOOKS, contains bibliographic citations for                   availability of funds and the existence of high-
                      more than 280 sources such as floras, checklists,                   quality aerial photography. Obtaining acceptable
                      and botanical manuals used to compile PLANTS.                       photographs for the Prairie Pothole region has
                                                                                          been particularly difficult because of the need to
                                                                                          capture optimum water conditions. Consequently,
                                         Wetland Reports                                  the NWI has established a special agreement with
                                                                                          NASA to obtain this photography. The NWI pro-
                         Two basic wetland reports are developed by the                   duces wetland maps at a rate of 5% per year in the
                      NWI; map reports and State wetland reports. The                     lower 48 States and at 2% annually in Alaska. This
                      map reports briefly outline NWI procedures and                      is the equivalent of 3,200 1:24,000-scale quads a
                      findings (e.g., list of wetland plant communities,                  year in the lower 48 States and 60 1:63,360-scale
                      photointerpretation problems). Map reports are                      quads in Alaska.
                      available for all mapped areas. By contrast, the
                      State wetland report is a comprehensive publica-
                      tion on the results of the NWI in a given State. It                                  Map Dissemination
                      is prepared on completion of the wetlands inven-                        More than one million copies of draft and final
                      tory in a State. The State report includes wetland                  wetlands maps have been distributed by the NWI.                  4
                      statistics and detailed discussions of NWI tech-
                      niques, wetland plant communities, hydric soils,                    This figure does not include the secondary distri-
                      and wetland values. To date, State reports have                     bution made through the State-run distribution
                      been produced for Delaware and New Jersey. NWI                      centers in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware,
                      expects to prepare reports for Connecticut, Flor-                   Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana,
                      ida, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and                        Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi,
                      Washington when statistics become available.                        Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
                                                                                          York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode
                                                                                          Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Washing-
                      The Wetlands Values Citation Data Base                              ton, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
                         The wetlands values citation data base                3  is a        National Wetlands Inventory Digital
                      bibliographic listing of more than 12,000 scientific
                      articles about the functions and values of wet-                                              Data Base
                      lands. Field names include author, year, sequence,                      The NWI is constructing a georeferenced wet-
                      title source, and subject.                                          land data base      5 with geographic information sys-
                                                                                          tem (GIS) technologies. Digitizing is done in arc-
                                                                                          node format, with attributes assigned to the left,
                                                                                          center, and right sides of each arc. Wetland attri-
                                   Status of Mapping                                      butes are coded according to Cowardin et al.
                                                                                          (1979). As digitization occurs, points are converted
                         The National Wetlands Inventory has produced                     to latitude/longitude coordinates. As a result, all
                      wetland maps for 68% of the lower 48 States and                     map data are stored in a common, ground-based
                      21% of Alaska (Figs. 1 and 2). Mapping priorities                   geographic reference system.
                      are based principally on the needs of FWS andother
                      Federal and State agencies. Priorities include the
                      coastal zone (including the coastline of the Great                      Information on the availability of the National Wetlands
                      Lakes), prairie wetlands, playa lakes, floodplains of                   Inventory maps and ordering information may be obtained
                                                                                              by calling (toll-free) 1-800-USA-MAPS.

                                                                                              Copies of data-base files can be purchased at cost from the
                      3  The information is available on floppy disks in ASCII format         NWI Office in St. Petersburg, Florida, phone (813)893-3873.
                         for use on IBM PC/XT/AT-compatible machines running the              The data are provided on magnetic tape in MOSS export,
                         equivalent of MS-DOS 2.0 or higher. Contact the Office of            DLG3 optional, and ELAS, ICES, GRASS formats. Other
                         Conference Services, Colorado State University, Fort                 products available at cost include acreage statistics by quad,
                         Collins, Colo. 80523, phone (303)491-7767.                           county, or study area, and color-coded wetland maps.

















































                   DISTRIBUTION MAPS AVAILABLE               ...


                   DRAFT MAPS AVAILABLE


                   WORK UNDER CONTRACT


            L
             N     WATERFOWL AREAS OF CONCERN         TELEPHONE 1-800-USA-MAPS FOR MAP INFORMATION JANUARY 1, 1
               --

            Fig. 1. Status of the National Wetlands Inventory in relation to waterfowl habitat areas.






















                                  DISTRIBUTION MAPS AVAILABLE                                        TELEPHONE 1-800-USA-MAPS FOR
                           m                                                                         MAP INFORMATION

                                  DRAFT MAPS AVAILABLE


                                  WORK UNDER CONTRACT


                                  WATERFOWL AREAS OF
                                  CONCERN






























                                                                                                                     JANUARY 1, 1990







             Fig. 2. Status of the National Wetlands Inventory in Alaska in relation to waterfowl habitat areas.






















































                   DICITIZATION COMPLETE


                   DIGITIZATION FUNDED


                                                       TELEPHONE 1-800-USA-MAPS FOR MAP INFORMATION JANUARY 1, 1

             Fig. 3. Status of National Wetlands Inventory digital data.








                  18    BiowmcAL RFPoRT 90(18)



                     To date, more than 5,700 NWI maps, represent-        United States, 1950's to 1970's by 30 September
                  ing 10.5% of the continental United States, have        1990, and thereafter at 10-year intervals. Other
                  been digitized (Fig. 3). Statewide data bases have      activities will produce National Wetlands Inven-
                  been built for Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New        tory maps for the remainder of the contiguous
                  Jersey, and Washington, and are in progress for         United States by 1988 and, as soon as practicable
                  Indiana and Virginia. NWI digital data also are         thereafter for Alaska and noncontiguous portions
                  available for portions of 20 other States.              of the United States.
                     These digital data are being used for applica-          The top priority activity for funding increase is
                  tions such as resource management planning, im-         to intensify the national sampling grid used to
                  pact assessment, wetland trend analysis, and in-        determine national wetlands status and trends.
                  formation retrieval.                                    This would allow accurate regional wetland acre-
                                                                          age change and loss information to be developed
                    Map and Digital Data: Users and Uses                  for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, Great Lakes
                                                                          watershed, lower Mississippi River alluvial plain,
                     The number of map users has grown steadily           and lower Prairie Pothole region in 1992, 1993,
                  since the maps were first introduced. Requests are      and 1994, respectively. In future years, this fund-
                  common from individuals, private organizations,         ing increase will allow the development of accu-
                  industry, consulting firms, developers, agencies        rate regional data for the southeastern United
                  from all levels of goverm-nent, and educational and     States and the Playa Lakes region in the South-
                  research groups. User surveys have documented           west. Regional intensifications of the wetlands
                  over 100 different uses of the wetland maps. Re-        inventory will support other resource efforts un-
                  source managers in FWS and in the States are            derway within the States and the Department of
                  provided with information on wetland location and       the Interior, and will fill a significant wetland
                  type, which is essential for effective habitat man-     information data gap identified by the National
                  agement and acquisition of important wetland            Wetlands Policy Forum. The intensifications will
                  areas. These areas are needed to perpetuate wa-         provide the information needed to develop or alter
                  terfowl populations and other migratory bird pop-       management programs to ensure sound steward-
                  ulations as called for in the North American Wa-        ship and protection. The coastal intensification
                  terfowl Management Plan.                                will provide the wetlands data needed to support
                     The Department of Agriculture uses the maps          the Secretarial Initiative on Global Change.
                  as a major tool in the identification of wetlands for      A second priority will be to operate the current
                  the administration of the "Swampbuster" provis-         wetlands Status and trends effort in a continuous
                  ions of the 1985 Food Security Act. Copies of all       mode, with reporting done at 5-year intervals, and
                  draft and final maps are sent to the Soil Conserva-     with interim estimates as necessary. A continuous
                  tion Service's county offices.                          wetland trends inventory would involve updating
                     Regulatory agencies use the maps to help in          a percentage of the plots each year; for example,
                  advanced identification, determining wetland val-       10% of the plots would be updated each year on a
                  ues, and mitigation requirements. Private sector        10-year cycle. Advantages gained from a continu-
                  planners use the maps to determine the location         ous trend process include better coordination with
                  and nature of wetlands to aid in framing alterna-       resource priorities, better responsiveness to State
                  tive plans to meet regulatory requirements. These       and regional needs, more accurate and current
                  maps are instrumental in preventing problems            assessment of wetland resources, and better use
                  that arise because the maps eliminate confusion         of existing data.
                  over whether an area is a wetland. They are also
                  instumental because they provide facts that allow
                  sound business decisions to be made quickly, accu-
                  rately, and efficiently.                                           Acknowledgments

                                                                             I thank the staff and contract personnel of the
                              ]Future Activities                          National Wetlands Inventory for their work over
                                                                          the last decade. The accomplishments presented
                     Future activities of the FWS include updating        in this paper could not have been achieved without
                  the report entitled Status and Trends of Wetlands       the financial support of many Federal, State, and
                  and Deepwater Habitats in the Conterminous              local cooperators. The accuracy of the maps, in








                                                                                                           NATioNAL PRoGRAms          19



                good part, is the result of the voluntary map review         Hammond, E. H. 1970. Physical subdivisions of
                by many Federal, State, local, and private sector                the United States. Pages 61---(A in National atlas of
                agencies and organizations, as well as persons                   the United States. U.S. Geological Survey,
                such as G. Fore of Texas. I thank C. Lee for typing              Washington, D.C.
                the manuscript and M. Bates for her review.                  Reed, P B., Jr. 1988. National list of plant species that
                                                                                 occur in wetlands: national summary. U.S. Fish
                                                                                 Wildl. Serv., Biol. Rep. W2A). 2M pp.
                                                                             Shaw, S. P, and C. G. Fredine. 1956. Wetlands of the
                                   References                                    United States. U.S. Fish Wild. Serv., Circ. 39.67 pp.
                                                                             Swartwout, D. J. 1982. An evaluation of National
                Cowardin, L. M., V Carter, F C. Golet, and E. T. LaRoe.          Wetlands Inventory in Massachusetts. M.S. thesis,
                   1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater                University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 123 pp.
                   habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,    Tiner, R W, Jr. 1984. Wetlands of the United States:
                   FWSVOBS-79/31.130 pp.                                         current status and recent trends. U.S. Fish and
                Crowley, S., C. O'Brien, and S. Shea. 1988. Results ofthe        Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory,
                   wetland study and the 1988 draft wetland rules.               Washington, D.C. 59 pp.
                   Report by the Agency of Natural Resources Divisions       U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. 1984.
                   of Water Quality, Waterbury, Vt. 33 pp.                       Wetlands: their use and regulation. OTA-0-026.
                Frayer, W, E., T. J. Monahan, D. C. Bowden, and R A.             208 pp.
                   Graybill. 1983. Status and trends of wetlands and         U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation
                   deepwater habitats in the conterminous United                 Service. 1987. Hydric soils of the United States. In
                   States, 1950's to 1970's. Department of Forest and            cooperation with the National Technical Committee for
                   Wood Sciences, Colorado State University,                     Hydric Soils. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil
                   Fort Collins. 32 pp.                                          Conservation Service, Washington, D.C.
                Goldstein, J. H. 1988. The impact of Federal programs
                   on wetlan ds. Vol. L The lower Mississippi alluvial U.S. Department ofthe Interior. 1976. Existing State and
                   plain and the Prairie Pothole region. Report to               local wetlands surveys 1965--75. U.S. Fish and Wildlife
                   Congress by the Secretary of the Interior. 114 pp.            Service, Washington, D.C. 453 pp.








                   20   BioLoGim REPoRT W18)



                                     Appendix. Regional Wetland Coordinators


                  Region                Geographic Area                        Regional Wetland Coordinator

                     1        California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada,         Regional Wetland Coordinator
                                Oregon, Samoa, Washington                      U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                                               Eastside Federal Complex
                                                                               911 N.E. 11th Avenue
                                                                               Portland, Oregon 97232-4181
                                                                               Comm: (503) 281-6154
                                                                               FTS: 429-6154

                     2        Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas             Regional Wetland Coordinator
                                                                               U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                                               500 Gold Avenue, S.W., Room 4012
                                                                               Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103
                                                                               Comm: (505) 766-2914
                                                                               FTS: 474-2914

                     3        Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minne-        Regional Wetland Coordinator
                                sota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin                U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                                               401 East 80th Street
                                                                               Bloomington, Minnesota 55425-1600
                                                                               Comm: (612) 725-3417
                                                                               ITS: 725-3417

                     4        Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ken-        Regional Wetland Coordinator
                                tucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North           U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,           R.B. Russell Federal Building
                                Virgin Islands                                 75 Spring Street, S.W., Suite 1276
                                                                               Atlanta, Georgia 30303
                                                                               Comm: (404) 331-6343
                                                                               FTS: 841-6343

                     5        Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland,          Regional Wetland Coordinator
                                Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New              U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode          One Gateway Center, Suite 700
                                Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Vir-           Newton Corner, Massachusetts 02158
                                ginia                                          Comm: (617) 965-5100
                                                                               FTS: 829-9379

                     6        Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska,             Regional Wetland Coordinator
                                North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wy-          U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                oming                                          P.O. Box 25486
                                                                               Denver Federal Center
                                                                               Denver, Colorado 80225
                                                                               Comm: (303) 236-2985
                                                                               FTS: 776-2985

                     7        Alaska                                           Regional Wetland Coordinator
                                                                               U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                                               1011 East Tudor Road
                                                                               Anchorage, Alaska 99503
                                                                               Comm: (907) 786-3471
                                                                               FTS: 869-3471









                                                                                                               NATIONAL PRoGRAms           21







                             Coastal Barrier Resources System Mapping Process



                                                                              by


                                                                     Mary C. Watzini

                                                             U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                          National Wetlands Research Center
                                                                  1010 Gause Boulevard
                                                                Slidell, Louisiana 70458


                                ABSTRACT.-The Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982 (PL. 97--M) established the Coastal
                                Barrier Resources System (system), a452,834-acre system ofundeveloped, unprotected coastal
                                barriers along 666 shoreline miles of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Within the
                                186 units of the Coastal Barrier Resources System, most Federal expenditures that encourage
                                development are prohibited. Section 10 of the act directed the Department of the Interior (DOI)
                                to conduct a study and prepare a report to Congress on the Coastal Barrier Resources System.
                                The report, delivered to Congress in December 1988, recommended additions to, or deletions
                                from, the Coastal Barrier Resources Systern, and listed modifications to the boundaries of
                                system units. The DOI's recommendations, if passed by Congress, would add about 790,884
                                acres and 423 miles of shoreline to the Coastal Barrier Resources System. The coastal barriers
                                included in the Coastal Barrier Resources System by Congress in 1982 were designated based
                                on definitions and delineation criteria developed by the DOI in 1981-82. The criteria used by
                                the DOI to delineate barriers included in the 1988 recommendations to Congress differed from
                                those used in 1981 in several respects, reflecting advances in the scientific understanding of
                                coastal barriers, and the functional requirements of a good dermition. I outline the mapping
                                criteria used in 1981-82 and in 1984-87 during the Section 10 study. I also discuss some of
                                the problems encountered in consistently identifying and delineating features across a
                                heterogeneous national coastline, and I comment on future reinventories of coastal barriers.


                      Background on the Coastal                                  Federal expenditures that encourage develop-
                   Barrier Resources Act and the                                 ment are prohibited.
                                                                                    The CBRA was the end result of several years
                                Section 10 Study                                 of study by Congress and the Department of the
                                                                                 Interior (DOI) of Federal programs and their ef-
                                                                                 fects on the development of coastal barriers. In
                     The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA                     1977, the DOI initiated studies to assess options
                  or act) of 1982 (P.L. 97-348) established the                  for modif@@ing about 40 Federal programs that af-
                  Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS or sys-                 fect coastal barriers, including the National Flood
                  tem), a 452,834-acre system of undeveloped, un-                Insurance Program. The results of these studies
                  protected coastal barriers along 666 shoreline                 were released in a draft Environmental Impact
                  miles of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico                 Statement in January 1980. Congressional action
                  coasts. Within the 186 units of the CBRS, most                 followed in 1981 with the enactment of Section 341
                                                                                 ofthe Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA).
                   Present address: Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wilcuife           Section 341 of OBRA amended the National
                   Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, Aiken Center,     Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to prohibit the issu-
                   University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. 05405                  ance of new Federal flood insurance policies after








                  22    BioLoGicAL Rm@oRT 90(18)



                  1 October 1983 for any new construction or sub-          acted by Congress, would add about 790,884 acres
                  stantial improvement of structures on undevel-           and 423 miles of shoreline to the CBRS.
                  oped coastal barriers. The OBRA directed the DOI
                  to (1) designate coastal barriers based on a defini-
                  tion provided in the OBRA, and (2) report to Con-         Definition and Delineation of
                  gress with recommendations relating to the term
                  "coastal barrier." On 13 August 1982, the DOI                        Coastal Barriers
                  submitted a report to Congress endorsing the gen-
                  eral definitions and delineation criteria for coastal      Section 3(lXA) of the Coastal Barrier Resources
                  barriers contained in the OBRA, and designating          Act defines a coastal barrier as a depositional
                  188 coastal barriers that met those criteria. After      feature that "(i) consists of unconsolidated sedi-
                  the DOI delivered its report to Congress, but before     mentary materials, (ii) is subject to wave, tidal,
                  final OBRA implementation, Congress enacted the          and wind energies, and (iii) protects landward
                  Coastal Barrier Resources Act.                           aquatic habitats from direct wave attack." This
                    In addition to a ban on Federal flood insurance,       definition is essentially identical to that included
                  the act also prohibited Federal assistance for a wide    in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act in 1981.
                  range of other programs that encourage develop-          The definition includes barrier islands, barrier
                  ment of coastal barriers, such as U.S. Army Corps        spits, bay barriers, and tombolos.
                  of Engineers structural development projects and           Although the definition of coastal barriers is
                  cost-sharing programs for the construction of            based on structural and compositional character-
                  roads, bridges, water supply systems, and sewers.        istics and is scientifically sound, it was not suffi-
                  Section 6 of the act does allow certain Federal          cient for delineating the boundaries of individual
                  activities such as the maintenance of shipping           barrier units designated for inclusion in the CBRS.
                  channels, essential military activities, emergency       Delineation criteria that were pragmatic, concise,
                                                                           related to features in the ground, and applicable
                  disaster relief, research, and recreational projects.    over the full range of coastal barrier variation
                    The purposes of the CBRA are to minimize the           needed to be developed. The original criteria devel-
                  loss of human life, reduce damage to fish and wild-      oped in 1981-82 relied primarily on features that
                  life habitat and other valuable natural resources of     were observable on the ground, maps, and aerial
                  coastal barriers, and reduce the wasteful expendi-       photographs. These were modified somewhat in
                  ture of Federal revenues. The effect of the act is to    1984-87 during the Section 10 study. In the follow-
                  place the financial risk associated with develop-        ing sections, I discuss the major criteria used for
                  ment on those who choose to live on, or who invest       both the 1981-82 and the 1984-87 delineations.
                  in, the coastal barriers.                                Details appear in the report to Congress (U.S.
                    Section 10 of the act directed the DOI to conduct      Department of the Interior 1988).
                  a study and prepare a report to Congress that              Minimum size. Because the CBRA allowed for
                  contained recommendations for additions to, or de-       portions of undeveloped barriers to be included in
                  letions from, the CBRS, and for modifications to the     the CBRS, criteria for minimum size were neces-
                  boundaries of system units. The studies to prepare       sary. The major concern was not to include pieces
                  the Section 10 report to Congress began in late 1983     that were so small that they could not function as
                  and culminated in 1988 with a final 22-volume            natural geological and ecological units. Two cri-
                  report with 4 appendixes.-The study was conducted        teria were established: the unit must include at
                  by a task force representing the U.S. Fish and           least 1/4 mile of shoreline on the ocean side and the
                  Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service,           unit must extend across the barrier from the beach
                  U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other Depart-         to the bayside aquatic habitats.
                  ment of Interior offices, under the direction of the       Developmental status. The difficulty in distin-
                  Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and            guishing developed from undeveloped coastal bar-
                  Parks. The final report includes a description of the    riers lies in the fact that relatively few coastal
                  CBRS, background information about the coastal           barriers are pristine. Many barriers have been
                  barriers and coastal programs of each State or           visibly altered, and others that may seem undevel-
                  Territory, an assessment of conservation alterna-        oped contain structures such as highways or recre-
                  tives for the CBRS, and recommendations for spe-         ational facilities. The Coastal Barrier Resources
                  cific additions to, or deletions from, the boundaries    Act states only that few artificial structures should
                  of the CBRS. The DOI's recommendations, if en-           be present and that the areas should function









                                                                                                 NATioNAL PRoGRAms 23



                naturally. Hence, determining whether a coastal          helped distinguish linear sand shoals from true
                barrier was developed required the establishment         barriers.
                of several thresholds and criteria:                      Associated aquatic habitat. The CBRA defines
                ï¿½ The unit contains fewer than one roofed and          an "undeveloped coastal barrier" to include all
                  walled building for every 5 acres of fastland        associated aquatic habitats: "adjacent wetlands,
                  (nonwetland). These buildings must be                marshes, estuaries, inlets, and nearshore waters."
                  constructed according to Federal, State, or local    This definition reflects the specific conservation
                  legal requirements and have a projected ground       purposes of the CBRA to protect the fish, wildlife,
                  area exceeding 200 square feet.                      and other natural resources of coastal barriers. All
                ï¿½ No structures or human activities significantly      such associated aquatic habitats are inseparable
                  impede geological and ecological processes (i.e.,    parts ofthe coastal barrier ecosystem. The original
                  the area functions naturally).                       units of the CBRS, however, only include mini-
                ï¿½ For units making up only a portion of a barrier,     mum aquatic habitat because the 1982 congres-
                  the boundary line is drawn along the 'break' in      sional designations were based on DOI delinea-
                  development.                                         tions for a prohibition on just the sale of Federal
                                                                       flood insurance as required by the Omnibus Bud-
                  Composition.   In 1982, only coastal barriers        get Reconciliation Act. Those delineations focused
                composed of unconsolidated sand and gravel were        on the undeveloped fastland portion of the barriers
                included in the CBRS. Although coastal barriers        where residential development might occur.
                generally consist entirely of unconsolidated sedi-       Coastal barriers protect the aquatic habitats
                ment composed of sand or gravel, sediments do          between the barrier and the mainland. These hab-
                sometimes include silt, clay, cobbles, or larger       itats are critically important for many fish and
                rocks, or can be consolidated. Areas can be identi-    wildlife species, including most species harvested
                fied that contain carbonate-cemented deposits          in the Nation's commercial fish and shellfish in-
                (such as the Florida Keys), that consist primarily     dustries. The barrier and its associated habitats
                of silt and clay (such as fringing mangroves and       are one ecological system, and the health and
                cheniers), or that contain discontinuous outcrops      productivity of the entire system depend on the
                of bedrock or coarse glacial deposits that never-      rational use of all the component parts.
                theless function as coastal barriers. In the Sec-        "Associated aquatic habitat" includes all wet-
                tion 10 study, the DOI did not require barriers to     lands (e.g., tidal flats, swamps, mangroves, and
                be composed only of sandy, unconsolidated sedi-        marshes), lagoons, estuaries, coves between the
                ments, and recommended to Congress that the            barrier and the mainland, inlets, the nearshore
                definition of coastal barriers in Section 3(l)(A) be   waters seaward of the sand-sharing system, and,
                amended by deleting subparagraph (i) (see previ-       in some tropical areas, the coral reefs associated
                ous definition).                                       with the nearshore mangroves. Under normal
                  Wind, wave, and tidal energies. Winds, waves,        weather conditions, only aquatic habitats imme-
                and tides are the immediate forces that maintain       diately adjacent to coastal barriers are exposed to
                or modify coastal barriers. Criteria were needed       direct wave attack. Major storms, however, rou-
                to determine whether sufficient wind, wave, and        tinely affect the entire landward aquatic habitat.
                tidal energies were present for a landform to be       Such habitat survives major storms because
                considered a coastal barrier. Two criteria were        coastal barriers receive the brunt of the ocean's
                developed:                                             energies. Storm waves break on the barrier beach,
                                                                       leaving a diminished wave to travel into the wet-
                ï¿½ A linear or curvilinear beach is present. This       land. At the same time, the wetland stores storm
                  kind of beach indicates the existence of             floodwaters, easing the flood pressure on the
                  sufficient physical energy as well as an             mainland. In the Section 10 study, the associated
                  adequate supply of sediment to satisfy the           aquatic habitat was considered as the entire area
                  statutory definition of a barrier. By using this     subject to diminished wind, wave, and tidal en-
                  criterion, mud flats, exposed marshes, and other     ergy during a major storm because ofthe presence
                  emergent coastal features lacking this linearity     of the coastal barrier. This is a considerably more
                  are clearly distinguished from barriers.             expanded area than was included in 1981-82.
                ï¿½ A beach ridge or berm is located along the             Delineation ofthe landward boundary. Once an
                  seaward side of the barrier. This criterion          undeveloped coastal barrier and its associated








                 24    BioLomcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                 aquatic habitat were identified, boundary delin-        ocean coast. Nonetheless, these secondary barriers
                 eation was made in the manner presented next.           are formed of unconsolidated sediments just like
                 1. General case:                                        more oceanic coastal barriers, and more impor-
                    The landward boundary is a continuous line           tantly, they also protect critical fish and wildlife
                    that follows the interface between the aquatic       habitat and provide substantial protection for the
                    habitat and the mainland, as defined on              mainland during major storms. In the Section 10
                    topographic maps or aerial photographs by a          study, secondary barriers were delineated and rec-
                    change in vegetation.                                ommended for addition to the CBRS.
                                                                           Geographic scope. When the Coastal Barrier
                 2. Special conditions:
                    a. Open water body greater than 1-mile wide          Resources Act was enacted in 1982, Congress only
                       landward of the coastal barrier. The bound-       included barriers on the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf
                       ary is drawn through the open water about 1       of Mexico coastlines in the CBRS. Although the
                       mile landward of the farthest landward ex-        DOI compiled information about coastal barriers
                       tent of wetlands on the protected side of the     along the Great Lakes, Pacific Coast, Alaska, Ha-
                       coastal barrier. If a discernible natural chan-   waii, and American Samoa, it did not include
                       nel, artificial channel, or political boundary    these areas in its final recommendations because
                       exists in the open water about 1 mile land-       the legislative history of the act did not clearly
                       ward of the coastal barrier, it is used as the    indicate that Congress intended this act to include
                       landward boundary. The boundary is drawn          other coastlines.
                       along the channel side nearest the coastal          Undeveloped andunprotected coastalbarriers in
                       barrier.                                          the Florida Keys, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Is-
                    b. Continuous wetlands that extend for more          lands also were not included in the CBRS in 1982.
                       than 5 miles landward of the coastal barrier.     These barriers border the Atlantic Ocean and are
                       The boundary is generally drawn through the       subject to the same dynamic forces and develop-
                       wetlands along an identifiable natural chan-      mental pressures as other Atlantic coastal barriers.
                       nel, artificial channel, or political boundary    These coastal barriers fully qualify for addition to
                       nearest to the 5-mile limit. If such features     the CBRS under the DOI's definitions and were
                       are lacking, the boundary is drawn through        delineated and recommended for inclusion in the
                       the wetland generally parallel to, and 5 miles    system in the Section 10 report to Congress.
                       landward of, the mean high waterline on the         Otherwise-protected coastal barriers. Congress
                       unprotected side of the barrier.                  excluded from CBRS undeveloped coastal barriers
                    Delineation on the seaward side'. Each unit con-     that are "included within the boundaries of an area
                 tains the entire sand-sharing system, including         established under Federal, State, or local law, or
                 the beach, shoreface, and offshore bars. In 1982,       held by a qualified organization as defined in Sec-
                 the seaward boundary of the CBRS units was not          tio.n 170(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954,
                 delineated. In the Section 10 study, the sand-shar-     primarily for wildlife refuge, sanctuary, recrea-
                 ing system of open coast barriers was defined as        tional, or natural resource conservation purposes"
                 the 30-foot bathymetric contour. In large coastal       (hereafter referred to as "otherwise-protected"
                 embayments, the sand-sharing system is more             areas). About one-third of the Atlantic and Gulf
                 limited in extent. It was defined as the 20-foot        coasts fall into this otherwise-protected category.
                 bathymetric contour or a line about 1 mile sea-         Although these barriers were not recommended for
                 ward of the shoreline, whichever is nearer the          addition to the CBRS, they were delineated in the
                 secondary barrier.                                      Section 10 study for informational purposes.
                    Secondary barriers. Secondary barriers are             Summary. All CBRS units were delineated
                 located in large, well-defined bays (e.g., Nar-         on United States Geological Survey (USGS)
                 ragansett Bay, Chesapeake Bay) or in lagoons on         1:24,000-scale topographic quadrangles. Table 1
                 the mainland side of coastal barrier systems if a       lists the number of coastal barrier units, shoreline
                 suitable sediment source and sufficient wind,           lengths, and acreages included in the CBRS in 1982
                 wave, and tidal energies exist. These barriers are      and in the final 1988 Section 10 report to Congress.
                 maintained primarily by waves generated inter-          Note that the delineations included in the report to
                 nally by wind, rather than open ocean waves. Con-       Congress are recommendations only; no changes
                 sequently, these barriers are generally smaller         can be made in the CBRS without congressional
                 and more ephemeral than barriers along the open         action.








                                                                                                            NATioNAL PRocRAw          25



                  Table 1. Summary of the existing Coastal Barrier            barrier in 1982. From these photographs, maps
                     Resources System (1982) and the Department of            were prepared delineating fastland (any nonwet-
                     the Interior's recommendations to Congress               land), wetland, open water, developed areas, and
                     under Section 10 (1988).                                 selected cultural features (Table 2). These maps
                                                                              were prepared as mylar overlays to 1:24,000-scale
                                 Existing Coastal      Coastal Barrier        USGS topographic quadrangles. The center digi-
                                 Barrier Resources Resources System           tized these maps using a Geographic Information
                                      System           as recommended         System, and compiled acreage statistics about
                  Number of units          186                  461           each CBRS unit. These maps and statistics were
                  Shoreline length                                            intended to serve as baseline data accurately char-
                     (miles)               666.4               1,088.9        acterizing the CBRS. For details concerning this
                  Total acreage       452,834             1,243,678           effort, see Appendix A of the report to Congress
                  Fastland acreage    100,934               139,703           (Watzin and Baumann 1988).
                                                                                 The center also studied shoreline change and
                                                                              habitat loss in 19 of the 186 original CBRS units.
                     National Wetlands Research                               We compared historic maps with the 1982 maps to
                                                                              quantify changes, and we examined the processes
                   Center Mapping of the Coastal                              and human activities in and around the barriers to
                       Barrier Resources System                               understand the causes of change. We found that in
                                                                              addition to natural changes, all but 1 of the 19
                                                                              CBRS units had experienced culturally related im-
                     The FWS's National Wetlands Research Center              pacts. Dredging has occurred in or near 17 barrier
                  (center) has constructed a digital data base of the         units, 15 units have shoreline stabilization struc-
                  existing 1982 Coastal Barrier Resources System.             tures in or near them, and 8 units have dams
                  This data base was prepared from large-scale                upstream, reducing the sediment supply to the
                  (1: 12,000 or 1: 24,0000) color-infrared photographs        coast. Most areas that have experienced human
                  taken of each Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal           influences are eroding (Table 3).



                  Table 2. Interpretation classes used in a 1982 inventory of the Coastal Barrier Resources System.

                  Symbol                       Legend                            Symbol                Legend
                                                           Coastal Barrier Interpretation
                     FL          Fastland                                          M       Structure and associated developed area
                     WL          Landward wetlands including tidal                 F @3    Concentrated structures and associated de-
                                    flats (between fastland and open                          veloped areas (number represents total
                                    waters)                                                   count)
                     F/W5        Fastland with interior wetland                            Jetties, docks, groins
                                    (number represents approximate
                                    percentage of the interior
                                    wetland-in this example, 5%)
                     low         Interior open water, water totally en-            ---     Road
                                    closed within the barrier fastland
                                    or wetland
                     Ow          Open water                                                Study area boundary

                                                        Peripheral Land Use Interpretation

                     1           Developed (includes residential, indus-            5      Open water
                                    trial, recreational)
                     2           Undeveloped (includes open space)                 ---     Road
                     3           Agriculture                                               Limit of interpretation
                     4           Wetland








                   26    BioLomcAL REPorrr 90(18)



                   Table 3. Summary of human perturbations in the 19 Coastal Barrier Resources System units in the study.
                        (Columns do not total because each unit can experience more than one kind ofperturbation.)

                                                                                Number of units by condition
                      Human perturbation                                Eroding           Accreting             Stable                Total

                      Dredging                                              15                  2                   0                    17
                      Structures-updrift                                    7                   1                   0                    8
                      Structures-downdrift                                  5                   2                   0                    7
                      Structures-within                                     7                   2                   0                    9
                      Dams upstream                                         8                   0                   0                    8
                      None                                                  1                   0                   0                    1
                      Number of study units per condition                   16                  3                   0                    19




                      Periodic Reinventory of the                                 Coastal Barrier Resources System. The acreage of
                       Coastal Barrier Resources                                  fastland in each unit gives a general indication of
                                                                                  the developable land in each unit, and the count
                                          System                                  of structures indicates the development status of
                                                                                  those units. At the same time, however, the clas-
                      The CBRA mandates that             the CBRS be re-          sification system used in the inventory was so
                   inventoried at least every 5 years to update the               simplistic that the inventory does not provide
                   official system maps. Section 4(c)(3) states:                  much useful habitat data for fish and wildlife
                                                                                  management, or sufficiently accurate shoreline
                      The Secretary shall conduct, at least once                  data (because of discrepancies in classifying tidal
                      every five years, a review of the [CBRS] maps               flats). Future inventories should correct these
                      . . .  and make, in consultation with                       problems. ne CBRA Section 10 study, however,
                      appropriate officers . . . such minor                       was a once-only event. There is no mechanism for
                      modifications to the boundaries of system                   an ongoing inventory or for change analyses of
                      units as are necessary solely to reflect                    these coastal habitats.
                      changes that have occurred in the size or
                      location of any system units as a result of
                      natural forces.                                                                 References
                      The first such review was conducted in 1988.
                   High-altitude infrared photographs (1:65,000                   U.S. Department of the Interior, Coastal Barriers Study
                   scale) of the CBRS were collected during 1986-88                  Group. 1988. Report to Congress: Coastal Barrier
                   and visually compared with the 1982 photographs                   Resources System. Vols. 1-22. Executive summary.
                   to determine if units had migrated out of their                   Appendixes A-D. Washington, D.C.
                   existing boundaries. Only one unit, Cedar Island               Watzin, M. C., and R. H. Baumann. 1988. Shoreline
                   in Virginia, needed a boundary modification.                      change and wetland loss in the Coastal Barrier
                   There is no indication that the DOI intends to                    Resources System: a case study analysis. Appendix A
                                                                                     in Report to Congress: Coastal Barrier Resources
                   collect new photographs for this reinventory in the               System. U.S. Department of the Interior,
                   future.                                                           Washington, D.C. 146 pp.


                            Future Needs for the
                                                                            1     1 On 16 November 1990, Congress passed the Coastal Barrier
                   Inventory of Coastal Barriers                                    Improvement Act of 1990 (PL. 101-591). This actreauthorizes
                                                                                    the CBRA and codifies many of the recommendations in the
                                                                                    1988 report to Congress. The act adds 384 units and 819,666
                      The 1982 inventory of the CBRS provides                 a     acres to the CBRS. These additions include 80 new units and
                   retrievable data base on the entire existing                     about 30,000 acres along the Great Lakes coast.









                                                                                                                NATioNAL PwxmAms           27



                      National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Habitat
                                      Mapping Under the Coastal Ocean Program



                                                                               by




                                                                      James P Thomas


                            National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service
                                                  Office of Research and Environmental Information
                                                                 1335 East West Highway
                                                             Silver Spring, Maryland 20910


                                                                               and



                                                                   Randolph L. Ferguson

                            National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service
                                                                Southeast Fisheries Center
                                                                    Beaufort Laboratory
                                                             Beaufort, North Carolina 28516


                                 ABSTRACT.-Timely documentation of the location, abundance, and change in coastal
                                 wetlands is critical to their conservation and to effective management of marine fisheries. The
                                 rapid changes occurring in these valuable wetlands require monitoring on a 1- to 5- year cycle.
                                 Therefore, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, within its Coastal Ocean
                                 Program, is initiating a cooperative interagency and State and Federal effort to map coastal
                                 wetlands and adjacent upland cover and change in the coastal region of the United States
                                 every 2 to 5 years, and to annually monitor areas of significant change.
                                   In the first year, fiscal year 1990, the program concentrated on protocol development and
                                 prototype studies in Chesapeake Bay and coastal North Carolina. Through a series of
                                 workshops and working group meetings, a documented standard protocol will be developed
                                 for classifying and mapping habitat location, abundance, and change in the coastal zone of the
                                 United States. The Chesapeake Bay prototype study will use Landsat Thematic Mapper
                                 imagery and collateral data to map emergent coastal wetlands and adjacent upland cover and
                                 change. The coastal North Carolina study will use aerial photography to map and determine
                                 change in submerged aquatic vegetation. In outyears, coastal wetlands and adjacent upland
                                 cover and change maps will be generated for various coastal regions of the United States,
                                 beginning in the Gulf of Mexico. Extant land use and habitat mapping data bases in other
                                 Federal and State agencies will be used, where appropriate, to minimize data acquisition cost,
                                 supplement ground truth, and assist in verification. This program is cooperative with other
                                 Federal and State agencies.


                      Coastal wetlands are being destroyed by dredge               and shellfish resources in the coastal United
                   and fill operations, impoundments, toxic pollu-                 States. Continued loss of these wetlands may lead
                   tants, eutrophication, and, for submergents, exces-             to a collapse of coastal ecosystems and associated
                   sive turbidity. Coastal wetlands with emergent                  fisheries. Documentation of loss or gain of coastal
                   and submergent vegetation (salt marshes, man-                   wetlands is critical to their conservation and to
                   groves, macroalgae, and submerged aquatic vege-                 effective management of marine fisheries (Haddad
                   tation [SAV]) support a majority of marine finfilsh             and Ekberg 1987; Haddad and McGarry 1989).








                28     BiowGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                Such information is necessary to respond to Pres-           The 1- to 5-year monitoring cycle will provide
                ident Bush's call for no net loss of wetlands.           feedback to habitat managers on the success or
                   Timely quantification of wetland area, location,      failure of habitat management policies and pro-
                and rate and cause of loss is needed now (Kean et al.    grams. Frequent feedback to managers will help
                1988). Management decisions can then be proactive        ensure the continued integrity or recovery of
                and based on fact, rather than supposition of the        coastal ecosystems and the attendant productivity
                effects of coastal development on coastal wetlands       and health of fish and other living marine re-
                and wetland-dependent fisheries (Fig. 1). Current        sources at minimal cost. In addition, the geograph-
                projections for U.S. population growth in the            ical data base developed under the program will
                coastal zone suggest accelerating losses of wetlands     allow both the manager and the researcher to
                and adjacent habitats as waste loads and competi-        evaluate, and ultimately to predict, cumulative
                tion for limited space and resources increase (U.S.      direct and indirect effects of coastal development,
                Congress 1989). Agencies responsible for coastal         on wetland habitats and living marine resources.
                management must be kept current with regard to              Remote sensing (from satellites and aircraft)
                the extent and status of wetlands and adjacent           and other techniques will be used to quantify and
                uplands. Changes in wetlands are occurring too           map coastal wetlands and adjacent uplands. The
                fast and too pervasively to be monitored once a          first cycle will document status and change (retro-
                decade. Therefore, National Oceanic and Atmo-            spectively). The data base, increasing with each
                spheric Administration (NOAA), within its Coastal        subsequent monitoring cycle, will be an invaluable
                Ocean ]Program, is initiating a cooperative inter-       resource for research; evaluation of local, State
                agency and State and Federal effort to map coastal       and Federal wetland management strategies; and
                wetlands and adjacent upland cover and change in         construction of predictive models. As such, this
                the U.S. coastal region every 2 to 5 years, and to       program directly supports NOAA's legislated re-
                annually monitor areas of significant change.            sponsibilities in estuarine and marine science,

                                                 Monitoring and Research
                         for Understanding, Prediction and Management



                         Human                               Management,                                Economic
                         Change               4W             Regulations,                               Change
                                                              Planning




                   Land use                   Land Cover                          Habitat                      Fisheries
                   Change                     Change                              Change                       Change

                Fig. 1. An overview of the NOAA habitat mapping paradigm. Long-term and self-sustaining economic, ecological,
                   and fisheries productivity of the coastal zone requires planning and management of human activity. Habitat
                   classification and change analysis, the initial focus of this program, provide a basis for such planning and
                   management.








                                                                                                   NATIONAL PROGRAms       29



                monitoring, and management contained in the             mapping SAV and other habitats in selected lim-
                Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act; the Magnuson        ited areas, as suggested by Patterson (1986) and
                Fishery Conservation and Management Act; the            Lade et al. (1988). This combination should be the
                Coastal Zone Management Act; the Clean Water            most effective for accomplishing stated objectives
                Act; the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctu-        at minimal cost.
                aries Act; the National Environmental Policy Act;
                and others.
                                                                          Relation to Other Programs

                                                                          NOAA!s habitat mapping effort will -work with
                                  Approach                              and use data from other Federal and State agen-
                  Based on a standard protocol, habitat-classified      cies during all program phases. It will build on and
                maps will be generated from remotely sensed data        complement existing coastal habitat mapping pro-
                                                                     "  grams and provide essential timeliness, synoptic-
                including satellite imagery (Landsat Thematic           ity, and frequency of repetitive cycles not currently
                Mapper UK, Multispectral Scanner [MSS]' or              available. The 1- to 5-year monitoring cycle is
                SPOT) and conventional aerial photography.              critical to NOAA for effective coastal habitat man-
                Coastal uplands and wetlands within NOAA!s de-          agement and research on a local, regional, and
                fined "estuarine drainage areas" (NOAA 1985), or        national scale.
                modifications of them, will be mapped retrospec-          Extant land use and habitat mapping data
                tively, and monitored every 2 to 5 years (annually      bases in other Federal and State agencies will be
                in locations of rapid development or significant        used, where feasible, to minimize data acquisition
                change). Habitat-classified maps and historical         cost, supplement ground truth, and assist in veri-
                data from other programs, as well as from wetland       fication. Current Federal land use and habitat
                and estuarine ecologists and fishery biologists, will   mapping programs within the U.S. Departments
                supplement the surface-level verification compo-        of Interior, Agriculture, Defense, and Commerce,
                nent of the program. This approach is intended to       as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection
                build upon and complement ongoing coastal zone          Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space
                sampling and mapping programs carried out by            Administration, can provide valuable historical
                other Federal and State agencies. It will provide       and collateral data for this program (Fig. 2). Por-
                timely and synoptic habitat maps, including SAV,        tions of habitat mapping programs, ongoing in
                and maps of habitat change in the coastal region        many States, will be incorporated, where appropri-
                of the United States. These maps will complement        ate, into the overall program to reduce redundancy
                and augment the more geographically comprehen-          in data acquisition, ground truthing, and field ver-
                sive National Wetlands Inventory maps produced          ification. A number of geographically limited TM-
                by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).            and SPOT-based land use and habitat mapping
                   MSS, TM, and SPOT imagery have been used             programs are in their early stages (e.g., in Florida,
                successfully to detect all types of wetlands            Chesapeake Bay, and Albemarle and Pamlico
                (Haddad and Harris 1985; Lade et al. 1988). Sat-        sounds in North Carolina). It is our intent to en-
                ellite imagery, however, has neither been tested        courage such programs through cooperation and
                nor applied to mapping wetlands on a regional or        joint or supplemental funding to provide compara-
                national scale. The use of satellite imagery for        ble and compatible data for mutual use.
                mapping of wetlands promises a number of advan-
                tages over conventional aerial photography includ-
                ing timeliness, synopticity, and reduced costs.                Program Development
                While aerial photography is appropriate for con-
                struction of habitat-classified maps, satellite imag-     NOAA's habitat mapping effort under the
                ery is better suited and less costly for rapid, re-     Coastal Ocean P!rograin is part of CoastWatch-
                peated observations over broad regions (Haddad          Land Applications and Estuarine Habitat Studies,
                and Harris 1985; Bartlett 1987; Klemas and              both components of the Coastal Ocean Program.
                Hardisky 1987). Although the program will stress        As such, the habitat mapping effort will involve
                the use of satellite imagery, particularly for emer-    (internally) four of NOAA!s line organizations: the
                gent coastal wetlands and adjacent uplands, aerial      National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); the
                photography or a combination of photography and         Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
                satellite imagery (TM or SPOT) will be used for         (OAR); the National Ocean Service (NOS); and the








                     30     BiowmcAL REPoRT W18)




                                                                                                                                               NOAA-
                                                                                           Environmental,                                      NOS,NESDIS,
                                                      NOAA-NOS NMFS                        Demographic, Economic &                             Census NMFS, NW@
                          Historical &                FWS                                                                                      USGS
                                                         G                                 Fisheries Data                                      EPA
                          Collateral Data             uUSDA                                                                                    FWS
                                                      DOD                                                                                      COE
                                                      EPA                                                                                      Scs
                                                      NASA                                                                                     states
                                                      states                                       bib..
                          Habitat Classification
                          Mapping & Change                                                                  Land Use, Habitat Change &
                          Analysis                                       Data Archival                      Fish: GIS Development,
                                                               r             and                            Modelling, Prediction
                                     NOAA- NIVIFS, NOS                   Dissemination


                                                                               NESDIS, NOS
                                                                                                                              NOAA - NMFS, OAR, NOS
                          Protocol                                                                                            Other - Federal, State, Academia
                          -st -ve 4Z is M e Ii I---,
                     Team                             Habitat Function                                             Habitat/Fisheries
                     Federal
                     State                                                                                         Linkage Research
                     Academia                         Research
                                                                                                                Team
                                                      Team                                                      NOAA - NMFS, OAR, NOS
                                                      NOAA - NIVIFS, OAR, NOS                                   Other - Federal, State, Academia
                                                      Other - Federal, State, Academia

                     Fig. 2. Programmatic relations of NOAA habitat mapping. Relationships of programmatic elements (emphasized
                          blocks), external data and research needs, and program output to management. The text beside each box
                          indicates the responsible or contributing NOAA and external agencies.



                     National Environmental Satellite, Data and Infor-                          graphical information systems (GIS), or wet-
                     mation Service (NESDIS). Externally, the effort                            lands in each coastal region of the United
                     will involve other Federal and State programs, as                          States. The published document resulting
                     previously mentioned. The program will (Fig. 2):                           from these meetings will be the operational
                        9 Establish a national operational protocol.                            protocol to be followed by those generating
                          This protocol will provide a uniform basis for                        the classified images within, or cooperatively
                                                                                                with, the program.
                          classification (i.e., identification of land and                  0   Generate, summarize, and distribute habi-
                          habitat cover types) from scene to scene and                          tat-classified data and maps. SAV, emergent
                          time to time, thereby allowing comparison of                          coastalwetlands and adjacent uplands in the
                          two or more scenes or times. Methods will be                          United States co'astal region will be mapped
                          selected that will be valid for all regions and                       every 1 to 5 years. The derived products will
                          will be able to accommodate various types of                          be applicable to research and management.
                          remote sensing data. The protocol for gener-                          They will include (1) classified, color-en-
                          ating, ground truthing and controlling the                            hanced, geocorrected, and registered images
                          quality of the habitat classifications, and the                       in digital format; (2) hard-copy inventory
                          use of historical and collateral data, will be                        maps showing habitat classifications with
                          L"' w





                       at.

























                          produced through a series of workshops and                            geographic references; and (3) reports de-
                          working group meetings. These meetings will                           scribing and tabulating the classification
                          have input from Federal and State agencies                            slimm        by State, county, and hydrologic
                          producing or using habitat-classified data in                         unit. Maps will be produced at a 1:250,000
                          the coastal zone, and from professionals with                         scale. However, data for all areas will be
                          related expertise in remote sensing, geo-                             retained at full mapping resolution. Thus,









                                                                                                     NATioNAL PRwRAms 31



                     finer-scale maps (1:24,000) could be produced            through the CoastWatch-Land Applications
                     for selected areas on a cost-recoverable basis.          manager by the group responsible for the
                  0  Determine, summarize, and map change in                  processing of the imagery. Such copies will
                     areal coverage of each habitat classification.           meet the following programmatic needs:
                     Change in land and habitat cover in the U.S.             quality control, integration and archiving of
                     coastal region will be mapped every 1 to 5               data, guidance, oversight, and planning.
                     years. To delineate change, pixel by pixel (or        0  Apply habitat classification and change anal-
                     equivalent) comparison between scenes from               ysis to habitat and fisheries research and
                     two different times will be done. Such change            management. This program will integrate its
                     will be presented as geocorrected and regis-             products with other spatial data (e.g., demo-
                     tered maps (1:250,000 scale), with State,                graphics, land use, pollution, living marine
                     county, or hydrological boundaries added.                resources, fisheries, and economics) to gener-
                     Mapped data for all areas will be retained at            ate a data base with a depth and scale pre-
                     full mapping resolution. Thus, finer-scale               viously unavailable to researchers and man-
                     maps (1:24,000) could be produced for se-                agers. The data base will be researched by a
                     lected areas on a cost-recoverable basis. Ad-            multidisciplinary team to generate guidance
                     ditionally, synthesis reports, with text and             and feedback to habitat management and
                     tables listing change (hectares) for each hab-           research personnel and to aid in Federal and
                     itat classification by State, county, and hy.            State long-range regional planning for habi-
                     drologic unit, will be produced.                         tats and fisheries.
                     Remotely determine biomass, productivity,
                     and health status of habitats. This is a re-
                     search activity to develop methodology and                  Discussion of Methods
                     algorithms for image processing that will
                     allow the determination of biomass, produc-            The spatial and temporal resolution of data and
                     tivity, and functional health status of coastal      landward and seaward extent of the study area are
                     wetlands habitat by remote sensing. The use          critical issues for the program. Imagery must re-
                     of such algorithms would allow large areas of        solve and detect changes in coastal wetlands af-
                     wetlands to be surveyed and assessed by sat-         fecting living marine resources at scales suitable
                     ellite or aircraft much more rapidly and eas-        to support habitat research and conservation;
                     ily (Bartlett 1987). By comparing two or more        allow modeling of the link between coastal habi-
                     time periods, change in biomass, productiv-          tats, coastal ecosystem functioning, and fisheries;
                     ity, or some other as yet undefined observable       and support strategic habitat and fisheries man-
                     factor affecting or correlated with spectral         agement. Change or loss of coastal wetlands must
                     reflectance could be used to index functional        be documented on time scales necessary to avoid
                     health. This activity requires ground-based          or decrease future losses and to assist in focusing
                     research to relate remotely sensed spectral          efforts to address the no net loss of wetlands policy
                     radiances to biomass, productivity, and, po-         for the benefit of living marine resources. Areas of
                     tentially, other factors indicative of the func-     significant change will be mapped more frequently
                     tional health of coastal wetlands.                   (i.e., every 1 or 2 years), and areas of relatively
                                                                          little change will be mapped less frequently (i.e.,
                     Archive and disseminate data. The digital            every 3 to 5 years).
                     data base will be archived and disseminated            The landward and seaward extent of the area
                     in standard exchange formats as either an            mapped must include the coastal waters and the
                     optical disc or data tape. NOAA/NESDIS/Na-           adjacent uplands that most directly affect coastal
                     tional Oceanographic Data Center in Wash-            wetland habitats. The NOAA/NOS "estuarine
                     ington, D.C., will distribute the data base on       drainage area" (i.e., the land/water component of
                     a cost-recoverable basis to outside users.           an entire watershed that most directly affects an
                     Hard-copy maps will be produced, archived,           estuary) or a modification of that area will be used
                     and distributed to outside users by the              to defme the landward boundary (NOAA 1985).
                     NOAA/National Ocean Service on a cost-re-            The seaward boundary, beyond the estuary, will be
                     coverable basis. For those participating in the      defined by the 10-in isobath in most cases. How-
                     program, both the digital data and prelimi-          ever, in special circumstances it may need to be
                     nary habitat-classified maps will be provided        defined to 50 in or deeper (Orth et al. 1990).








                32     BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   Compared with aerial photography, digital re-         verification of the preliminary habitat-classified
                mote sensing from satellites offers the advantages       maps will be accomplished by local, State, and
                of synoptic, large-area coverage and frequent repe-      Federal experts and NOAA-supported surveys.
                tition (Dobson 1987).Translation of digital spectral     The program also will make use of historical and
                data to habitat classifications can be done objec-       collateral data as much as possible for ground
                tively, rapidly, and reproducibly. The major advan-      truthing and verification. These collateral data
                tage is that starting with digital input data, remote-   sources potentially will include NOAA-supported
                sensing specialists, with existing software and          field surveys, individual State surveys, the FWS's
                equipment, can analyze and communicate far more          National Wetlands Inventory, the U.S. Geological
                information about much larger areas faster and at        Survey's (USGS) Land Use Data Analyses, the
                far lower cost than is possible with aerial photogra-    county soils and wetlands surveys of the U.S. Soil
                phy (Haddad and Harris 1985; Bartlett 1987). In          Conservation Service (SCS), the National High
                fact, the spatial resolution available from TM and       Altitude Aerial Photography Program, and the
                SPOT imagery is more precise than that available         wetland and coastal surveys of the U.S. Army
                on many analog habitat maps (Dobson 1987).               Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Pro-
                   Three satellite sensors provide a diverse capa-       tection Agency, and the National Aeronautics and
                bility. MSS data provide a spatial resolution (pixel     Space Administration.
                size) of 79 by 56 in. Each scene covers an area on          The program will produce a documented, com-
                the ground about 180 by 180 kin. TM data are             puterized digital data base of all habitat classifica-
                collected for pixels of 30 by 30 m, with the same        tions, including those (e.g., SAV) obtained by aerial
                size scene as MSS. SPOT pixels are 20 by 20 in for       photography. These data are to be incorporated
                spectral data (10 by 10 in for panchromatic data)        into a user-friendly GIS capable of iritercomparing
                and cover an area on the ground of 60 by 60 kin.         habitat-classified data and surface-level data, in-
                TM offers a greater spectral range (seven intermit-      cluding biological, demographic, edaphic, eco-
                tent bands from 0.45 to 12.5 pm than MSS (four           nomic, fisheries, and physical data, in statistical
                contiguous bands from 0.5 to 1.1 pm) or SPOT             ways and in graphics.
                (three intermittent bands from 0.5 to 0.89 pm).
                   The higher spatial resolution and greater spec-                 Proposed Activities
                tral discrimination of TM and the higher spatial
                resolution of SPOT relative to MSS are valuable             Proposed activities for NOAA habitat mapping
                characteristics, but they come at a higher cost (full    are depicted in Fig. 3.
                scenes are $4,900 for geocoded- TM, $3,200 for              Task 1. During fiscal year (FY) 90-91, through
                SPOT Level II, and $200 for MSS data before              a series of workshops and working group meetings,
                1988). Because they are more data intensive, TM          a documented standard protocol for classifying and
                and SPOT images also require greater data pro-           mapping habitat location, abundance, and change
                cessing and storage space per unit of surface area       in the coastal region of the United States is being
                on the ground. Both the MSS and the TM data are          developed (Fig. 4). A preliminary protocol devel-
                capable of providing classified results with 80 to       oped for the Chesapeake Bay area is being evalu-
                90% accuracy. TM can provide better discrimina-          ated and modified as necessary. Habitat classifica-
                tion of wetland types, whereas TM and SPOT data          tions will allow SAV, mangroves, marshes, and
                are better able to resolve small features. At this       other coastal wetlands and adjacent upland habi-
                point we favor TM or SPOT data for routine imag-         tats, and potentially subdivisions of these habitat
                ery of the coastal zone. MSS data, however, have         types, to be determined. The protocol will be flexi-
                value for retrospective analyses because image           ble, yet allow comparison of data such that statis-
                acquisition began in 1972, compared with 1982 for        tical analyses of areal coverage, location, and rate
                TM, and 1986 for SPOT. In areas of special inter-        of change can be computed for specified habitat
                est, where even greater resolution and discrin-Ana-      classifications. Flexibility is needed to take into
                tion may be needed (e.g., SAV), low-altitude verti-      account data of different spatial and temporal
                cal aerial photography will be used.                     scales, and from many regions and sources. Data
                   Clustering analysis techniques will be used to        input will include that from satellite sensors (TM,
                generate the habitat types. Classification methods       MSS, and SPOT), aircraft sensors (color, infrared,
                will be evaluated to determine which best account        and black and white photography), and on-foot
                for latitudinal/longitudinal and tidal effects. Field    surveys. Each has different spatial, spectral, and









                                                                                                      NATioNAL PRoGRAms 33




                                                                      l"Y90     FY9 1,   FY92      FY93      FY94,     FY95
                A. PROTOCOL DEVELOPMENT
                        Workshops
                        Ches. Bay Wetl, Uplands Prototype
                        N.C. Seagrass Prototype
                        Regional Projects

                B/C. LAND COVER/ HABITAT
                         CHANGE
                           Gulf of Mexico       Atlantic
                           West Coast
                           Seagrass surveys
                              NC
                              FL
                              TX


                A SUPPORTING RESEARCH
                         Biomass, productivity, health

                E. INTEGRATION & MODELING
                          Land, habitat, fish, and
                          economics

                Fig. 3. Activities schedule for NOAA habitat mapping.



                temporal resolutions. Likewise, the protocol will            Participants at the workshops and working
                allow for use of data from other major sources (e.g.,     group meetings include technical experts in the
                FWS's National Wetlands Inventory, USGS's                 collection, processing, and use of habitat-classifi-
                Land Use Data Analysis, SCS's soil survey maps,           cation data (e.g., ecologists, fishery biologists, sat-
                the National ffigh Altitude Photography Program,          ellite image processors, geographic data-base spe-
                State surveys, and others). The protocol topics will      cialists, modelers, and habitat and fisheries
                include:                                                  managers).
                 ï¿½  habitat classifications (e.g., Cowardin et al.           Task 2. In FY90, a prototype effort classifying
                    [1979] for wetlands, Anderson et al. [1976]           and merging four TM scenes from two different
                    for uplands, or some modification of the two);        periods (1984 and 1988/89) for the estuarine drain-
                 ï¿½  selection and surface-level sampling of train-        age area of Chesapeake Bay will be accomplished.
                    ing sites;                                            The classified, merged scenes will be produced as
                                                                          color-enhanced maps (scale 1:100,000), one for
                 ï¿½  image selection from satellites, mission au-          each period. The two periods will be compared
                    thorization for aerial photography, and qual-         pixel by pixel (or equivalent), and a change analy-
                    ity control of images;                                sis map (scale 1:100,000) will be produced. Finer-
                 ï¿½  image processing, use of historical and collat-       scale maps (1:24,000) covering any portion of the
                    eral data, photointerpretation and digitiza-          area can be produced for each period or for change
                    tion, and change analysis;                            analysis on a cost-recoverable basis. Tables will
                 ï¿½  map projection and scale, and other graphic           summarize the areal extent (in hectares) of habitat
                    and statistical products; and                         classifications at each period and the changes that
                 ï¿½  quality control of image acquisition,                 occurred from one period to the next. We have
                    georeferencing, habitat classification, data          access to, and will incorporate into this task, a
                    processing, digitization, and map projection          previous habitat classification of the Chesapeake
                    and scale.                                            Bay area for 1978 (Dobson and Bright 1989), and








                34   BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)





                                                        Protocol                         Functional
                                                      Development                     Health Research
                          Digital Data                            FAerial Photography
                         Tape Purchase                                    Acquisition
                                                                           Z
                                                  GroundTruthing for
                                                  Image Classification


                                                                                           Field Cliecls
                                         Fessing Imagery & Photography                            A
                                                           I
                                                Use of Collateral Data  .771


                                              First Time Period (Second Time Period)
                                               Tables - Co., State, Water Unit
                                               Maps - 1:24,000
                                                       1:250,000
                                              Classification






                                                    Field V rification
                                                           e




                                                  Change Analyses
                                                 Tables & Maps (as above)





                                                     Digital Data

                              Archive                   MAPS                   GIs Input
                              NODC                       NOS                     NMFS
                                                     I                          NOSOAR

                Fig. 4. Framework for protocol development.









                                                                                                   NA,NONAL PRoaR"s 35



              change analyses for Metonikin Inlet, Virginia, and       coasts, or analyses of new coastal areas, could
              vicinity (1974-1982). During FY91, a statistical         begin in FY94.
              evaluation of the results, and additional protocol          In FY92 and beyond, SAV mapping will be ex-
              testing will take place.                                 tended to include Florida, Texas, and other Gulf of
                 Task 3. During FY90-91, researchers will con-         Mexico and east and west coast States, and moni-
              tinue a prototype effort to map SAY in the sounds        toring will be established for North Carolina. High-
              of eastern North Carolina (Ferguson et al. 1989;         quality, baywide, digitized information about the
              Ferguson and Wood 1990). This task will use ex-          annual distribution of SAV in Chesapeake Bay
              tant (1985 and 1988) and supplemental aerial pho-        (Orth et al. 1990) already is available through the
              tography at scales of 1:12,000 to 1:50,000 and will      combined FederaVState Chesapeake Bay Pro-
              produce photographic scale tracings and 1:24,000-        gram, with supplemental funding from the NOAA
              scale maps to document location, area, and change        Coastal Zone Management P@rogram to the States
              in area of SAY coverage. Photointerpretation ofthe       Of Maryland and Virginia. Once the SAY mapping
              presently available 1:12,000- and 1:20,000-scale         effort is in place in North Carolina and other
              photography (1985) will be completed for SAV in          States, repeat surveys for change analyses should
              the area from Bogue Inlet to Drum Inlet. Pho-            take place every 2 to 4 years. These surveys will be
              tointerpretation of photography at the 1:24,000          merged   with   surveys of emergent wetlands and
              scale (1988) will be completed in the area from          adjacent uplands to form an integrated mosaic.
              Cape Lookout to Oregon Inlet. A portion of this             Task 6. In FY91, depending on funding, re-
              photography (Cape Lookout to Drum Inlet, 1985,           searchers will begin to relate the functional health
              and Drum Inlet to Ocracoke Inlet, 1988) already          (biomass, primary and secondary productivity) of
              has been interpreted, digitized, and published as a      tidal wetlands to the spectral radiances observed
              NOAA chart (Ferguson et al. 1989; Ferguson et al.        through remote sensing. Our initial effort will be
              1991). The photography from 1988 overlaps this           a literature survey and report describing previous
              area and will allow change analysis between 1985         research, status oftechnology and knowledge, and
              and 1988.                                                directions for future research. The literature sur-
                 Task 4. In FY91, the protocol will be tested          vey serves two purposes: it will evaluate the po-
              through a number of regional prototype demon-            tential for remote discernment of the functional
              strations around the country (location and number        health of emergent wetland types, and it will
              determined in FY91). These regional prototypes           determine what additional field studies are
              will include regional representatives of each habi-      needed to achieve this goal. The ultimate goal is
              tat-classified type and will be distributed along the    to determine the conditions in which remote sens-
              coastal zone of the United States such that latitu-      ing can subclassify functional states of major hab-
              dinal, longitudinal, and tidal differences (i.e., veg-   itat classifications.
              etation type, height, biomass, season, and degree           Beyond FY91, based on the literature survey,
              of inundation) will be considered. Special tests will    wetland types of diverse functional health would be
              be conducted to determine where and when water           observed to seek spectral definitions of health and
              level changes affect the data from one period to the     productivity. This effort would involve fieldwork
              next. NOAA/State Estuarine Research Reserves,            such as that described by Crouse (1987) and Gross
              EPA/State National Estuary Program areas, and            et al. (1987) who used hand-held radiometers to
                                                                       examine both affected and -unaffected marsh areas.
              FWS refuges will be used, where appropriate, as          Hand-held radiometric measurements would be
              sites for these demonstrations.                          compared with concurrent spectral radiance mea-
                 Task 5. In FY91, habitat classification and           surements obtained from satellites -(and perhaps
              change analyses for emergent coastal wetlands            aircraft) passing over the experimental sites. The
              and adjacent uplands will begin via the purchase         plan is to study a series of experimental sites rep-
              of remotely sensed data tapes for the Gulf of Mex-       resentative of different areas of the coastal zone of
              ico or Atlantic coasts ofthe United States, depend-      the United States. These areas will be selected in
              ing on funding. Processing will begin in FY92.           concert with the regional prototype demonstrations
              Purchase and processing of data tapes for the            mentioned previously, as well as with sites used by
              Pacific coast of the United States could occur as        NOAA (i.e., Coastal Ocean Program-Estuarine
              early as FY92-93, depending on funding. Repeat           Habitat Studies) and other Federal and State pro-
              surveys of the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, or Pacific      grams (e.g., Mendelssohn and McKee 1985, 1987)








                   36     BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   to develop informatiQn on natural versus anthropo-               sensing of estuaries. U.S. Department of
                   genic stress-related alterations in biological pro-              Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
                   ductivity. Such information will be integrated with              Administration, and the U.S. Government Printing
                   this effort in order to develop a more complete                  Office, Washington, D.C.
                   picture of the extent of estuarine habitat degrada-           Costanza, R., E H. Sklar, M. L. White, and J. W Day, Jr.
                   tion, the processes active in bringing about such                1988. A dynamic spatial simulation model of land loss
                                                                                    and marsh succession in coastal Louisiana. Pages
                   changes, and potential areas for subsequent field                99-114 in W J. Mitsch, M. Straskraba, and S. E.
                   investigations.                                                  Jorgensen, eds. Wetland modeling, developments in
                       Task Z In FY91, depending on funding, data                   environmental modeling, 12. Elsevier Science
                   integration and analysis will be initiated to begin              Publishers B.V, Amsterdam.
                   linking demographic patterns and habitat man-                 Cowardin, L. M., V Carter, F C. Golet, and E. T LaRoe.
                   agement practices to wetland stability or loss on                1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater
                                                                                    habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,
                   an area-specific basis. Beyond FY91, studies are                 FWEVOBS-79/31. 103 pp.
                   planned to relate wetland changes and fishery                 Crouse, V 1987. Gauging the health of a salt marsh
                   management practices to the success of estuarine                 through remote sensing. Univ. Del. Sea Grant Rep.
                   and coastal ocean fisheries. Economic assessments                6(l):1-5.
                   of alternative management strategies will be in-              Dobson, J. E. 1987. Geographic analysis for wetlands
                   cluded in these studies.                                         change detection. Pages 157-161 in V Klemas, J. P
                                                                                    Thomas, and J. B. Zaitzeff, eds. Proceedings of a
                       This task will require the cooperative efforts of            workshop on remote sensing of estuaries. U.S.
                   a multidisciplinary team (i.e., demographers, wet-               Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and
                   land ecologists, fishery biologists, and economists)             Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S.
                   within and outside of NOAA, in order to integrate                Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
                   the diverse data generated by this program into a             Dobson, J. E., and E. A. Bright. 1989. Cover photo:
                   comprehensive geographic information system.                     Chesapeake Bay. Photogram. Eng. Remote
                   The output ultimately would be used to develop                F  Sens, 55(6).
                                                                                  erguson, R. L., J. A. Rivera, and L. L. Wood. 1988.
                   models (e.g., Costanza et al. 1988) to assess pres-              Seagrasses in southern Core Sound, North
                   ent status and to predict future trends in coastal               Carolina. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
                   uplands, wetlands, and fisheries resources. Re-                  Administration-Fisheries submerged aquatic
                   gional Fishery Management Councils, land-use                     vegetation study, southern Core Sound, North
                   planners, economists, and environmental manag-                   Carolina. NOAA-Fisheries, Beaufort Laboratory,
                   ers require this information (Haddad and Ekberg                  Beaufort, N.C. 28516.
                   1987; Haddad and McGarry 1989) and will be Ferguson, R. L., J. A. Rivera, and L. L.Wood. 1989.
                   encouraged to help plan for its generation.                      Submerged aquatic vegetation in the Albemarle-
                                                                                    Pamlico estuarine system. Albemarle-Pamlico
                                                                                    Estuarine Study, Project 88-10. North Carolina
                                                                                    Department of Natural Resources and Community
                               Acknowledgments                                      Development, Raleigh, N. C., and the U.S.
                                                                                    Environmental Protection Agency, National Estuary
                       We thank R. Edwards, R. Lippson, and J. Pearce               Program, Washington, D.C. 68 pp.
                   for ideas used in this paper. J. Dobson, K. Haddad,           Ferguson, R. L., and L. L. Wood. 1990. Mapping
                   V. Klemas, P. Lade, R. Orth, and others provided                 submerged aquatic vegetation in North Carolina
                   technical advice. NOAA's habitat mapping working                 with conventional aerial photography. Pages 126-134
                   group, composed of R. Ferguson (NMFS), P. Grose                  in S. J. Kiraly, F A. Cross, and J. D. Buffington, Eds.
                   (NOS), R. Lippson (NMFS), G. Mayer (OAR),                        Federal coastal wetland mapping programs. U.S.
                                                                                    Fish Wildl. Serv., Bio. Rep. 90(18).
                   R. Stumpf (NESDIS), and J. Thomas (NMFS), pro-                Gross, M. E, M. A. Hardisky, V Klemas, and P L. Wolf.
                   vided programmatic guidance.                                     1987. Quantification of biomass of the marsh grass
                                                                                    (Spartina alterniflora Loisel) using Landsat
                                                                                    Thematic Mapper imagery. Photogram. Eng. Remote
                                      References                                    Sens. 53(11):1577-1583.
                                                                                 Haddad, K. D., and D. R. Ekberg. 1987. Potential of
                   Anderson J. R., E. E. Hardy, J. T Roach, and R. E.               Landsat TM imagery for assessing the national
                       Witmer. 1976. A land use and land cover classification       status and trends of coastal wetlands. Pages
                       system for use with remote sensor data. U.S. Geol.           5192-5201 in 0. T. Magoon, H. Converse, D. Miner,
                       Surv. Prof. Pap. 964. 28 pp.                                 L. T. Tobin, D. Clark and G. Dormurat, eds. Coastal
                   Bartlett, D. S. 1987. Remote sensing of tidal wetlands.          Zone '87. Proceedings of the fifth symposium on
                       Pages 145-156 in V Klemas, J. P Thomas, and J. B.            coastal and ocean management. American Society of
                       Zaitzeff, eds. Proceedings of a workshop on remote           Civil Engineers, New York.









                                                                                                        NATioNAL Pw)GRAms          37




               Haddad, K. D., and B. A. HarTis. 1985. Use of remote        Mendelssohn, 1. A., and K. L. McKee. 1985. The effect of
                  sensing to assess estuarine habitats. Pages 662-675         nutrients on adenine nucleotide levels and the
                  in 0. T. Magoon, H. Converse, D. Miner, D. Clark, and       adenylate energy charge ratio in Spartina alterniflora
                  L. T Tobin, eds. Coastal zone'85. Proceedings of the        and S. patens. Plant Cell Environ. 8:213-218.
                  fourth symposium on coastal and ocean management.        Mendelssohn, 1. A., and K. L. McKee. 1987. Effect of
                  American Society of Civil Engineers, New York.              salinity on proline accumulation in three Spartina
               Haddad, K. D., and G. McGarry. 1989. Basin-wide
                  management: a remote sensing/GIS approach. Pages            species. XIV International Botanical Congress,
                  1822-1836 in 0. T. Magoon, H. Converse, D. Miner,           Berlin, Germany, 24 July-1 August.
                  L. T. Tobin and D. Clark, eds. Coastal zone '89.         National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
                  Proceedings of the sixth symposium on coastal and           (NOAA) 1985. National estuarine inventory data atlas.
                  ocean management. American Society of Civil                 Vol. 1. Physical and hydrologic characteristics. U.S.
                  Engineers, New York.                                        Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
               Kean, T H., C. Campbell, B. Gardner, and W K. Reilly.       Orth, Robert J., K. A. Moore, and J. F Nowak. 1990.
                  1988. Protecting America's wetlands: an action              Monitoring seagrass distribution and abundance
                  agenda. The final report of the national wetlands           patterns: a case study from the Chesapeake Bay.
                  policy forum. The Conservation Foundation,                  Pages 111-123 in S. J. Kiraly, F A. Cross, and J. D.
                  Washington, D.C. 69 pp.                                     Buffmgton, eds. Federal coastal wetland mapping
               Klemas, V, and M. A. Hardisky, 1987. Remote sensing            programs. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Biol Rep. 90(18)
                  of estuaries: an overview. Pages 91-120 in V Klemas,
                  J. P Thomas, and J. B. Zaitzeff, eds. Proceedings of a   Patterson, S. G. 1986. Mangrove community boundary
                  workshop on remote sensing of estuaries. U.S.               interpretation and detection of areal changes on
                  Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and            Marco Island, Florida: application of digital image
                  Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S.                    processing and remote sensing techniques. U.S.
                  Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.                Fish Wildl. Serv., Biol. Rep. 86(10). 87 pp.
               Lade, P K., D. Case, J. French, and H. Reed.         1988.  U.S. Congress. 1989. Coastal waters in jeopardy:
                  Delineation and classification of submerged aquatic         reversing the decline and protecting America's
                  vegetation using SPOT satellite multispectral digital
                  data. Final report (14 September) to the Maryland           coastal resources. Oversight Report of the
                  Department of Natural Resources, Tidewater                  Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.
                  Administration, Coastal Resources Division,                 Serial 100-E. U.S. Government Printing Office,
                  Annapolis, Md. 53 pp. + Appendixes.                         Washington, D.C. 47 pp.









                                                                                                            NAnONAL PROGRAMS 39













                   National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National
                                                   Coastal Wetlands Inventory



                                                                            by



                     Don W Field, Anthony J. Reyer, Charles E. Alexander, Beth D. Shearer, and Paul V Genovese

                                               National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                                               National Ocean Service
                                                 Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment
                                                             Ocean Assessments Division
                                                            Strategic Assessment Branch
                                                              6001 Executive Boulevard
                                                             Rockville, Maryland 20852


                               ABSTRACT.-A comprehensive and consistently derived data base describing the areal extent
                               and distribution of coastal wetlands in the conterminous United States does not presently
                               exist. We discuss efforts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to
                               develop such a data base using a systematic grid-sampling procedure on wetland maps
                               produced by the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
                               These maps, developed using areal photography, are generally based on 1:24,000-scale U.S.
                               Geological Survey quadrangles; the maps identify wetland habitats classified using the
                               Cowardin et al. (1979) system. Ile grid-sampling technique offers a reasonable alternative to
                               more expensive and time-consuming techniques for quantifying NWI map information with a
                               reasonable degree of accuracy and detail. Grid-sampled data are entered into the Spatial
                               Analysis System, a microcomputer-based geographic information system published byrydac
                               Technologies Incorporated, for processing and manipulation. Digitized estuary boundaries and
                               other study area boundaries can be intersected with grid-sampled data to produce acreage
                               summaries and color maps for specific units of interest. Grid sampling of all 5,290 NWI maps
                               available in coastal areas was completed in October 1989. The coastal wetlands inventory is
                               one of several habitat elements in NOAKs program to develop a national estuarine assessment
                               capability. These habitat elements will be incorporated into NOANs National Estuarine
                               Inventory Program along with other physical, hydrological, biological, and economic
                               information to provide a more comprehensive understanding of estuarine environments.


                    The coastal wetlands project was initiated by              Ocean Service, and the Beaufort Laboratory of the
                 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-                 Southeast Fisheries Center, National Marine
                 tration (NOAA) in June 1986 and is being con-                 Fisheries Service (NMFS).
                 ducted jointly by the Strategic Assessment Branch                The coastal wetlands project is developing a
                 of the Ocean Assessment Division of the Office of             comprehensive and consistent national coastal
                 Oceanography and Marine Assessment, National                  wetlands data base to increase our knowledge of








                  40    BioLoGicAL REPoirr 90(18)



                  the distribution and areal extent of wetlands and          The data base and assessment capability under
                  to improve our understanding and management of          development for the NEI are part of a dynamic and
                  this vital resource. The data developed from this       evolving process. Other estuaries and subestuar-
                  project eventually will be incorporated into            ies have been added to the NEI from around the
                  NOAA's National Estuarine Inventory (NEI) and           country. Refinements are being made to physical
                  will be used with other information, such as land       and hydrological data estimated in Volume 1. At-
                  use, coastal pollution, distribution of estuarine       tributes such as volume and flushing rates have
                  fishes and invertebrates, and the status of classi-     been added to the data base. Other NOAA projects
                  fied shellfish waters, to develop a national estua-     for which data and information will be included in
                  rine assessment capability.                             the NEI are the distribution of estuarine-depen-
                    The cornerstone of the NEI is the National            dent living marine resources; characterization of
                  Estuarine Inventory Data Atlas. Volume        1, com_   estuarine shoreline modification, navigational
                  pleted in 1985, identifies 92 of the most important     channels, and dredged material disposal areas; the
                                                                          quality of shellfish-growing waters and related
                  estuaries of the conterminous United States, and        projects; the National Coastal Pollutant Discharge
                  presents information through maps and tables on         Inventory; and the Inventory of Outdoor Coastal
                  physical and hydrological characteristics of each.
                                                                          Recreation facilities
                  These estuaries represent about 90% of the estu-
                  arine water surface area and 90% of the freshwa-
                  ter inflow to estuaries of the east coast, west coast,                  Introduction
                  and Gulf of Mexico. Volume 2, Land Use, presents
                  area estimates for 7 categories and 24 subcategor-         The Nation@s coastal wetlands are an important
                  ies of land use, as well as 1970 and 1980 popula-       natural resource. They provide critical habitat for
                  tion estimates. Volume 3, Coastal Wetlands-New          fish, shellfish, and wildlife (Shaw and Fredine
                  England, is the first atlas in the wetlands series.     1956; McHugh 1966; Turner 1977; Flake 1979;
                  This volume presents acreage estimates for 15           Lindal and Thayer 1982; Sather and Smith 1984),
                  habitat types in 16 estuaries and 42 counties from      filter and process agricultural and industrial
                  Maine to Connecticut. Volume 4, Public Recre-           wastes (Kadlec and Kadlec 1979; Tchobanoglous
                  ation Facilities in Coastal Areas, presents data for    and Culp 1980; Benner et al. 1982), and buffer
                  Federal, State, and locally owned recreation facil-     coastal areas against storm and wave damage
                  ities in 327 counties and 25 estuary groups.            (Knutson 1982). They also generate large revenues
                    The goal of the NEI is to build a comprehensive       from recreational activities such as fishing and
                  framework for evaluating the health and status of       hunting (National Marine Fisheries Service 1981;
                  the Nation!s estuaries, and to bring estuaries into     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1982).
                  focus as a national resource base. The principal           Rapid loss of wetlands is occurring in many
                  spatial unit for which all data are organized is the    areas because of urbanization, agriculture, hydro-
                  "estuarine drainage area," which is defined as          carbon exploration, sea level rise, shoreline ero-
                  "that land and water component of an entire wa-         sion, and other factors. More than 11 million acres
                  tershed that most directly affects an estuary" (Na-     of wetlands have been lost over the past 25 years
                  tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration           (Frayer et al. 1983) because of human activity and
                  1985). These data will be used to make comp i           natural processes. Although most of the losses
                                                                     arl- have occurred in inland areas, coastal wetlands
                  sons, rankings, statistical correlations, and other     have also declined at an alarmi        rate over this
                  analyses related to resource use, environmental                                            11,
                                                                          period (about 20,000 acres [31 mi ] per year). Re-
                  quality, and economic values among estuaries. The       cent rates of wetland loss may be even higher in
                  main tool for performing these analyses will be         some States. For example, in coastal Louisiana,
                  NOAA!s GeoCOAST facility. GeoCOAST is a hard-           losses are estimated at 32,000 acres (50 ini    2)  per
                  ware and software information facility developed        year (Day et al. 1981).
                  by NOAA. GeoCOAST software consists of both
                  commercial geographic information systems and
                  NOAA-written packages. GeoCOAST provides the            'Additional information on NOAA!s National Estuarine
                  resources for developing and supporting systems           Inventory is available from the Strategic Assessment Branch,
                                                                            Ocean Assessments Division, National Oceanic and
                  used to store and analyze the spatial and temporal        Atmospheric Administration, 6001 Executive Boulevard,
                  relation of data in coastal areas.                        Rockville, Md. 20852, phone (301) 443-8843.








                                                                                                    NATioNAL PpocRAms 41



                   Despite increased awareness in the public and         tive was to use wetland maps produced by the
                scientific sectors of the importance of coastal wet-     National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) program of
                lands, no data base exists to document the current       the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
                distribution and abundance of coastal wetlands.
                Recognizing this gap in wetlands information, the
                National Marine Fisheries Service and the Stra-                 The National Wetlands
                tegic Assessment Branch undertook a cooperative                    Inventory Program
                effort to compile the first comprehensive and con-
                sistent coastal wetlands data base. We describe            The NWI program was established in 1975 to
                these efforts and summarize the data compiled to         generate scientific information on the characteris-
                date.                                                    tics and extent of the Nation's wetlands, and to
                                                                         provide data for making quick and accurate re-
                                                                         source decisions (Tiner 1984). This information
                                   Methods                               was developed in two stages: (1) the creation of
                                                                         detailed wetland maps, and (2) research on histor-
                         Preliminary Investigations                      ical status and trends. Since 1975, the FWS has
                                                                         produced thousands of detailed wetland maps, cov-
                   As a first step in establishing a coastal wetlands    ering more than 60% of the conterminous United
                data base, NOAA examined and compiled existing           States and over 98% of the coastal zone. The maps
                data on the areal extent and distribution of coastal     are developed from aerial photography and are
                wetlands. Twenty-three sources were consulted in         generally based on 1:24,000-scale U.S. Geological
                order to compile acreage figures for 242 counties        Survey (USGS) maps. They illustrate wetland hab-
                in 22 coastal States (Alexander et al. 1986). These      itats classified using the FWS's wetland classifica-
                data indicated that more than 11 million acres of        tion system (Cowardin et al. 1979).
                wetlands exist along the coastline of the contermi-        The NWI wetland maps represent the most re-
                nous United States. About 5 million acres were           liable source of consistently derived coastal wet-
                identified as swamp, 4.4 million acres as salt           land information available. However, fewer than
                marsh, 1.5 million acres as fresh marsh, and 0.2         2,000 of the more than 5,500 maps required for
                million acres as tidal flats. The Gulf of Mexico had     complete coverage of the Natiori!s estuaries and
                the most wetlands (5.2 million acres), followed by       other coastal areas have been converted to digital
                the Southeast (4.2 million acres), the Northeast         data for computer processing and mapping. There-
                (1.7 million acres), and the west coast (0.2 million     fore, only a fraction of the wetlands data required
                acres). Detailed information on data sources and a       is available. Further, a complete digital data base
                complete table of wetland types and acreages by          of NWI coastal maps is not anticipated by FWS.
                coastal county are presented in two appendixes to        Since the current procedure for digitizing is expen-
                the inventory.                                           sive and time-consuming, FWS presently digitizes
                   While the compilation and evaluation of exist-        maps primarily on a user-pays basis (Dahl 1987).
                ing data were necessary first steps in establishing        NWI maps remained, however, the preferred
                a national coastal wetland data base, much exist-        data source for this project because of their avail-
                ing information is incomplete or outdated. Vari-         ability across broad coastal regions. For example,
                ability in data quality and consistency, and lack        in the Gulf of Mexico region, 1,543 of about 1,850
                of a unifying theme or purpose, also contributed         maps needed for complete coverage of all coastal
                to the difficulty of consolidating data into a single,   counties and 23 different estuarine systems are
                comprehensive data base. Therefore, our next step        currently available from the FWS. Most maps not
                was to evaluate alternative sources of informa-          yet available are from areas not generally consid-
                tion. A key consideration was the ability to de-         ered coastal.
                velop a data base in a timely and cost-effective
                manner.                                                    Evaluating Grid-sampling Techniques
                   Some investigators have successfully used
                multispectral scanner (MS S) and thematic mapper           Preliminary tests that used a grid-sampling
                (TM) Landsat satellite imagery to inventory wet-         technique on NWI maps indicated that this proce-
                land habitats (Haddad and Harris 1985; May               dure could offer a reasonable alternative to more
                1986). However, these techniques are beyond the          expensive and time-consuming techniques for
                resources of the project. A more realistic alterna-      quantifying NWI map information with a reason-








                  42    BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                  able degree of accuracy and detail (Field et al.           and recommendations from the workshop partic-
                  1988). To test this procedure, a simple grid-sam-          ipants on NOAA!s proposed grid-sampling project.
                  pling technique was used to quantify habitat types           In general, workshop participants supported
                  for 16 previously digitized, 1:24,000-scale NWI            NOAA!s proposal to grid-sample NWI maps (Na-
                  maps. For the preliminary tests, the numerous              tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                  habitat types designated on the NWI maps were              1986). Participants suggested, however, that the
                  aggregated into six general habitat categories:            technique should be modified to improve the qual-
                  salt marsh, fresh marsh, tidal flats, swamp, open          ity and usefulness of the data being developed.
                  water, and uplands. After some testing, we deter-          Two key reconimendations were proposed:
                  mined that a 45-acre grid cell size was both effi-             Expand the number of habitat types re-
                  cient and accurate for estimating these six habitat            corded. Participants said they believed that
                  types at this scale. We sampled each map sepa-                 the six habitat types identified in the prelim-
                  rately by mounting a mylar grid sheet over the                 inary tests were inadequate and suggested a
                  map and systematically recording the habitat                   list of 11 habitat categories (Table 2). Since
                  type at each sampling point. The sampling took                 the workshop, 15 habitats have been incorpo-
                  about 1 h. Based on the results (Table 1), it ap-              rated into the project.
                  peared that grid sampling could provide a time-              ID Conduct a more complete statistical evalua-
                  and cost-effective technique for compiling a rea-              tion of the grid-sampling procedure.
                  sonably accurate coastal wetlands data base.
                                                                               These recommendations were examined by
                                                                             NOAA and incorporated into the operational
                     NOANs Coastal Wetlands Workshop                         phase of the project. The current grid-sampling
                                                                             technique is explained in detail in the following
                    Before embarking on a national grid-sampling             section. Grid sampling of available NWI maps
                  effort, the Strategic Assessment Branch and the            began in June 1986.
                  National Marine Fisheries Service organized a
                  workshop for professionals with experience in
                  wetlands mapping and management to discuss                 Table 2. The 15 habitat types identified in the grid-
                  NOAA's proposal to compile a national coastal                              sampling procedure.
                  wetlands data base. Sixteen professionals from
                  six Federal organizations participated: U.S. Envi-         Salt marsh
                  ronmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of              Brackish
                  Engineers, USGS, FWS, National Marine Fisher-                High
                  ies Service, and the National Ocean Service. Spe-            Low
                  cific objectives of the workshop were to review              Unspecified'
                  current information on the distribution and ex-            Fresh marsh
                  tent of coastal wetlands and to solicit comments             Nontidal
                                                                               Tidal
                                                                               Unspecified'
                  Table 1. Grid-sampling results for two test areas in Forested and scrub-shrub
                     coastal Louisiana and Texas (acres x 100.)                Estuarine
                                                                               Nontidal fresh
                                                              Difference       Tidal fresh
                  Habitat             Digital        Grid         %            Unspecified fresh'
                  Salt marsh             976          972         _<1        Tidal flats
                  Fresh marsh            176          179         +2
                  Forested and                                               Nonfresh open water
                    scrub-shrub           12            11        -8         Fresh open water
                  Tidal flats             80            79        -1
                  Open Water           4,349        4,320         -1         Upland
                  Upland               1,092         1,084        -1
                                                                             'The unspecified categories were added to accommodate areas
                  Total                6,685        6,645         -1         for which more specific information on salinity and water
                                                                             regime was not available.









                                                                                                    NATiONAL PRwRAms         43



                        The Grid-sampling Procedure                      and the acreage of wetland types as identified in
                                                                         the grid-sampling process. The SPANS map index-
                   The grid-sampling technique used to quantify          ing module will be a valuable tool in data-base
                coastal wetlands involves the placement of a trans-      management, and for many modeling functions to
                parent grid over an NWI map, and the identifica-         look at the distribution and abundance of coastal
                tion of the wetland type on which each sampling          wetlands on a national scale.
                point falls. The grid cells used in this procedure are
                0.7 inches on a side, corresponding to about 45                       Inte7preting the Data
                acres when used on a 1:24,000-scale map. A small
                dot in the center of each grid cell is used as the          Although the data used to compile this volume
                sampling point. The exact number of sampling             are the most complete and up-to-date available for
                points varies with latitude and may contain be-          the Nation's coastal regions, two major factors
                tween 800 and 1,000 sampling points.                     must be considered when interpreting the data:
                   Before sampling, the map name, State, scale,          (1) the limitations of the sampling technique, and
                date of aerial photography, latitude and longitude       (2) the age of the photography used to produce the
                of the lower right and upper left comers, and the        NWI maps.
                number of columns and rows of grid cells are re-
                corded. For this technique, the numerous wetland         Technique Limitations
                types identified on NWI maps were aggregated                As a result of discussions at NOAXs Coastal
                into 15 habitat types (Table 2). Each cell is re-        Wetlands Workshop, representatives from the
                corded as the habitat type on which its center dot       USGS's National Mapping Division aided NOAA!s
                falls. A quality-control procedure is used to mini-      wetlands team in determining if the 45-acre resolu-
                mize the types of errors inherent in this technique.     tion was adequate for capturing coastal wetlands
                Coastal counties were grid-sampled to the extent         acreage with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Equa-
                of NWI map availability. Noncoastal counties were        tions to determine acceptable sample size were cal-
                grid-sampled to the extent of NWI map availability       culated at several levels of acceptable error and
                for that portion of the county intersecting estua-       degrees of confidence. These calculations indicated
                rine drainage area boundaries as defined in Vol-         that the 45-acre cell size and subsequent 800 plus
                ume 1 of NOAA's National Estuarine Inventory             sampling points per 1:24,000-scale map were ade-
                (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-            quate for the development of wetlands data at the
                tion 1985).                                              national, regional, and estuarine level of analysis.
                                                                            Grid-sampled data, however, are not intended to
                      Geographic Information System                      be sufficiently accurate for making decisions at the
                                    Framework                            site-specific level. In addition, the data are not
                                                                         intended to accurately estimate rare habitat types.
                   Grid-sampled data are entered into the Spatial        But when these data are aggregated across a large
                Analysis System (SPANS), a microcomputer-                geographic area, such as an estuary, they do pro-
                based geographic information system (GIS) pub-           vide an accurate summary of the general distribu-
                lished by Tydac Technologies, Inc. SPANS allows          tion and abundance of major wetland types.
                for easy loading and manipulation of grid-sampled        Age of Photography
                data, and displays and calculates acreage totals for
                the habitats found on each map. Hard copies are             The date of aerial photography for the maps
                produced using a color ink-jet printer or a color wax    used in this study ranged from 1971 to 1985. The
                transfer printer. Wetland acreage and map sum-           photography age also varied between regions. In
                maries can be produced by NWI map, county,               New England, about 60% of the maps were pro-
                State, or estuary.                                       duced from photography taken from 1975 to 1977,
                   The newest and one of the most useful aspects         while about 20% of the maps were produced from
                of the wetlands GIS capability is the SPANS map          1980 and 1981 photography. The mid-Atlantic
                indexing module. The SPANS map indexing mod-             dates were slightly more recent, with 32% of the
                ule is a GIS that has a level of resolution based on     maps produced from photography taken from
                1:24,000-scale maps as identified in the USGS            1975 to 1978, and 43% from photography taken
                topographic series. A multitude of information can       from 1979, to 1985. The photography for the Gulf
                be entered for each map, including location Oati-        of Mexico was generally the most recent, with 28%
                tude and longitude), date of aerial photography,         taken from 1979, and 42% from 1980 to 1984.








                 44    BioLoGicAL RFPoRT 90(18)



                   Analysis of these data is difficult because of the    that Louisiana contains more salt marsh than all
                 photography date range and because of a lack of         States in New England, the n-iid-Atlantic, and the
                 regional data of comprehensive trends. As men-          Gulf of Mexico combined, accounting for 53% of the
                 tioned previously, losses in coastal Louisiana may      salt marsh in these three regions. The Gulf coast of
                 be as high as 32,000 acres (50 mi   2) per year (Day    Florida is also extremely important, especially in
                 et al. 1981). However, in New Jersey, after 1970,       terms of forested wetlands. About 5,032,100 acres
                 about 50 acres of tidal wetlands were lost annu-        of forested wetlands are on Florida's Gulf coast,
                 ally (Tiner 1985a). Likewise, in Delaware, from         accounting for 47% of the forested wetlands and
                 1973 to 1979, about 20 acres of tidal wetlands          28% of the total wetlands in the three regions
                 were lost annually (Tiner 1985b). Because na-           inventoried. Florida's Gulf coast also contains
                 tional trends indicate that the abundance of most       1,405,600 acres of fresh marsh, accounting for 50%
                 wetland types is still declining (F!rayer et al.        of the fresh marsh in the three regions inventoried.
                 1983), the wetlands data presented in this report          Table 4 summarizes data for 47 estuarine drain-
                 may represent more than the current amount of           age areas in New England, the mid-Atlantic, and
                 coastal wetlands.                                       the Gulf of Mexico. As with the State data given
                                                                         previously, it is impossible to have a complete
                                                                         discussion on the distribution of coastal wetlands
                       Results and Discussion                            in estuaries without data from the west coast and
                                                                         the southeastern coast. Once again, however, cer-
                   Grid sampling of all 5,290 NWI maps available         tain estuaries stand out, particularly the Missis-
                 in coastal areas was completed in October 1989.         sippi Delta region and the Ten Thousand Island
                 The figure illustrates the extent ofNWI map ava-        estuary on the southwest coast of Florida, ranked
                 ability for coastal areas in the conterminous           number one and two, respectively, in amount of
                 United States. To date, data have been compiled         total wetlands. With the exception of the Missis-
                 by coastal county and estuarine drainage areas for      sippi Delta region estuary, the Ten Thousand Is-
                 412 maps in New England (Maine to Connecticut),         land estuary contains nearly one million acres
                 735 maps in the mid-Atlantic (New York to Vir-          more of wetlands than any other estuary. This
                 ginia), and 1,543 maps in the Gulf of Mexico (Flor-     estuary is also ranked number one in amount of
                 ida to Texas). Data for the west coast (Washington      forested wetlands and fresh marsh. The Missis-
                 to California) and the southeastern coast (North        sippi Delta region estuary contains over one mil-
                 Carolina to Florida) have been processed and            lion acres of salt marsh, which is three times the
                 should be available by fall 1990.                       amount of the Ten Thousand Island estuary. It is
                   Table 3 summa izes data by State for New              also ranked second in amount of fresh marsh.
                 England, the mid-Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mex-
                 ico. In these regions, 92.2 million acres of land
                 were inventoried using the grid-sampling process.          Comparisons with Fish and Wildlife
                 Of this land, about 19%, or 17.7 million acres, was                        Service Data
                 ,identified as wetlands. Forested wetlands were
                 the dominant wetland type, accounting for 60%              To monitor the effectiveness of the grid-sam-
                 (10.7 million acres) of the total wetlands, followed    pling technique, grid-sampled data are compared
                 by salt marsh (18%, 3.3 million acres), fresh           with NWI digital data whenever these data are
                 marsh (16%,2.8 million acres), and tidal Rats (5%,      available. While there are no complete digital data
                 0.9 million acres).                                     bases available for any Gulf coast state, the NWI
                   A complete discussion on the distribution and         has digitized an area approximately two to three
                 abundance of coastal wetlands on a national scale       maps in from the coast for most of the region.
                 will not be possible until data for the west coast and  Digital data were obtained for five areas and com-
                 the southeastern coast have been processed. How-        pared to grid-sampled data (Table 5). These data
                 ever, simple analysis of data for New England, the      were developed by the FWS by using the Map
                 mid-Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico reveals the        Overlay Statistical System (MOSS).
                 usefulness of these data as an indicator of the            These data indicate that abundant wetland
                 distribution and abundance of coastal wetlands on       types, such as salt marsh in Galveston Bay and
                 a regional scale. For example, the importance of        Laguna Madre, are estimated extremely well,
                 Louisiana@s extensive salt marshes has been recog-      while estimates for rare wetland types, such as
                 nized for a long time. Grid-sampled data indicate       forested wetlands in Galveston Bay, are some-

















































                  Figure. National Wetlands Inventory map availability in coastal areas of the conterminous United States.








                            46       BioLocicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                            times close to digital estimates but are generally                                          to be published in the fall of 1990. A report de-
                            more variable.                                                                              scribing the wetlands in 127 counties and 8 estu-
                                                                                                                        aries in the mid-Atlantic region (New York to
                                                    Product Schedule                                                    Virginia) was distributed in May 1990, and a
                                                                                                                        report on wetlands of the west coast was distrib-
                               An atlas describing the distribution and abun-                                           uted in summer 1990. Data for the Southeast
                            dance of coastal wetlands in 42 counties and 16                                             region (North Carolina to Florida) will be included
                            estuaries of the Northeast region (Maine to Con-                                            in a national summary report (being done in coop-
                            necticut) has been published, and another atlas                                             eration with the FWS's National Wetlands Re-
                            containing data from 157 counties and 23 estuar-                                            search Center and the NWI) scheduled for comple-
                            ies in the Gulf of Mexico (Texas to Florida) is due                                         tion in April 1991.



                            Table 3. Coastal wetlands by state (Acres x 100)

                                                                                 Wetlands                                                                              Non-Wetlands
                                      State
                                                            Soft              Fresh       Forested &                 Tidal             Total                   Open                                          Total
                                                          Marsh               Marsh       Scrub-Shrub                Flats             Wetlands                Water        Upland       Subtotal         Acreage
                            Maine                       215      (3)      251    (3)      6,085    (80)     1,038    (14)              7,589 (15)b             6,246        37,349         43,598            69,103

                            New Hampshire                 56     (7)       53    (6)        694    (81)              57 (6)            860   (10)                258          7.160        7,418             8,278

                            Massachusetts               471   (10)        315    (7)      3,521    (75)       382    (8)               4,689 (12)              2,291        32,394         34.685            39,374

                            Rhode Island                  38     (6)       15    (2)        564    (85)              43 (7)            660    (8)              1,069          6,209        7.278             7,938

                            Connecticut                 126      (8)      106    (7)      1,236    (81)              57 (6)            1,525  (5)              1.196        28,558         29,754            31,279

                            New York                    297   (27)         59    (5)        345    (32)       392    (36)              1,092  (5)              2,280        17,152         19,433            20,525

                            New Jersey               1,936    (24)        325    (4)      5,283    (65)       641    (8)               8,186 (18)              1,755        36.182         37,938            46.123

                            Pennsylvania                  0      (0)       48   (24)        155    (76)              <1 (<1)           204 (2)                   271        10,849         11,120            11.324

                            Delaware                    867   (39)         96    (4)      1.240    (55)              43 (2)            2,245 (17)                636        10,405         11,041            13,286

                            Maryland                 2,042    (38)        158    (3)      2,896    (54)       299    (6)               5,394 (11)              4,074        40,820         44,894            50.288

                            District of Columbia          0      (0)          2 (50)             1 (50)              0(0)                 3  (<I)                   44          470           514               517

                            Virginia                 1,685    (23)        370    (5)      4,243    (58)     1,052    (14)              7,352  (8)              4.954        79.441         84,395            91747

                            Georgia                       0      (0)       23    (6)        334    (94)              0(0)              357   (13)                   50        2,288        2,338             2,695

                            Florida                  2,542       (4)   14,056   (20)     50,321    (73)     1.930    (3)          68,849     (35)              11,638      118.199       129.837           198,686

                            Alabama                     255      (2)      144    (1)     10,276    (96)              41 (1)       10,716     (24)              1.021        32.585         33,606            44,322

                            Mississippi                 588      (8)      105    (1)      6,481    (90)              23 (1)            7.197 (25)                626        20.703         21,329            28.526

                            Louisiana                17,228   (52)      6,770   (20)      9,142    (27)       319    (1)          33.459     (47)              20,171       18,284         38,455            71,914

                            Texas                    4,320    (26)      5,343   (32)      4,211    (25)     2,751    (17)         16.625      (8)              15,638      172,222       187,860          204.485
                            a Values in parentheses represent the percent of total wetlands
                            b Values in parentheses represent the percent of total acreage








                                                                                                                                    NA,nONAL PRoGRAms 47




                       Table 4. Coastal wetlands by estuarine drainage area (Acres x 100)
                                                                             Wetlands                                                          Non-Wetlands
                       Estuary                            Salt         Fresh      Forested &        Tidal             Total            Open                              Total
                                                        Marsh          Marsh     Scrub Shrub        Flats           Wetlands           Water    Upland      Subtotal Acreage
                       Passamaquoddy Bay                10 (1)a        51   (3)   1386(90)          80 (6)          1527(18)   b        968      5,921      6,889        8,416
                       Englishman Bay                   15 (1)         37   (3)     981 (87)     104 (9)            1,137(18)           747      4,436      5,183        6,320
                       Narraguagus Bay                  23 (4)           4  (1)     451 (79)        93(16)            572(20)           453      1,898      2,351        2,923
                       Blue Hill Bay                      2 (<1)       16   (3)     486(84)         73(13)            577(11)          1,073     3,611      4,684        5,261
                       Penobscott Bay                   10 (1)         28   (3)     775(79)      166(17)              979(11)          2,250     5,418      7,669        8,647
                       Muscongus Bay                      2 (2)          1  (2)      58(64)         29(32)              90(16)             68       422        490         580
                       Sheepscot Bay                    50(16)         28   (9)     117(37)      119(38)              314(11)           581      2,003      2,584        2,898
                       Casco Bay                        24    (6)      15   (4)     167(43)      186(47)              393 (8)          1,287     3,211      4,498        4,891
                       Saco Bay                         29    (6)      40   (8)     413(82)         18 (4)            500 (9)           327      4,606      4,934        5,433
                       Great Bay                        27    (5)      19   (4)     396(78)         67(13)            509(13)           168      3,165      3,333        3,842
                       Merrimack River                  23    (4)      48   (8)     535(86)         11 (2)            617 (9)           214      5,809      6,024        6,640
                       Boston Bay                       18    (4)      37   (9)     305(69)         79(18)            439(10)           522      3,547      4,069        4,508
                       Cape Cod Bay                   106(23)          25   (5)      91 (20)     241 (52)             463(19)           832      1,153      1,985        2,448
                       Buzzards Bay                     41    (9)      82(17)       312(64)         48(10)            483(13)          1,468     1,871      3,339        3,822
                       Narrangansett Bay                38    (4)      62   (6)     864(88)         24 (2)            988(11)          1,290     6,424      7,714        8,702
                       Connecticut River                31    (8)      43  (12)     289(79)         4 (1)             367   (5)         236      6,523      6,759        7,126
                       Gardiners Bay                    33(24)           3  (2)      30(21)         74(53)            141   (5)        1,139     1,633      2,771        2,912
                       Long Island Sound              161 (8)        116    (6)   1,586(79)      153 (8)            2,016   (5)        5,793    35,498      41,291       43,307
                       Great South Bay                183(41)            2  (0)      44(10)      219(49)              447   (8)         893      4,021      4,914        5,362
                       Hudson River                   168(10)        147    (8)   1,243 (72)     162 (9)            1,719   (7)        1,791    21,302      23,093       24,812
                       Barnegat Bay                   416(17)          35   (1)   1,710(70)      299(12)            2,460(29)           547      5,524      6,070        8,530
                       Delaware Bay                 1,472(36)        241    (6)   2,202(54)      187 (4)            4,102(14)          3,561    20,920      24,481       28,583
                       Chincoteagae Bay               249(68)            2  (1)      73(20)         44(12)            368(18)           800         901     1,700        2,068
                       Chesapeake Bay               2,779(28)        508    (5)   5,685(57)      990(10)            9,962 (7)         23,116    105,290    128,410     138,368
                       Ten Thousand Islands           548     (2)  8,076(37)      12,616(58)     409 (2)           21,650(76)          1,004     5,644      6,688        28,338
                       Charlotte Harbor                 68    (1)  2,896(46)      2,713(44)      562 (9)            6,240(20)          2,259    22,181      24,440       30,680
                       Tampa Bay                        31    (1)    466(18)      1,647(65)      376(15)            2,520(16)          2,323    10,817      13,140       15,660
                       Suwanee Bay                    209     (9)    176    (8)   1,902(83)         3 (<1)          2,290(20)           455      8,419      8,874        11,164
                       Apalachee Bay                  244     (4)    254    (4)   6,368(92)         88  (1)         6,954(32)          1,300    13,553      14,853       21,807
                       Apalachicola Bay               170     (3)      87   (2)   5,585(94)         75  (1)         5,917(50)          1,581     4,168      5,749        11,666
                       St. Andrew Bay                   85    (3)      28   (1)   2,362(94)         35  (1)         2,511 (33)          679      4,318      4,997        7,508
                       Choctawhatchee Bay               27    (1)      37   (1)   2,679(96)         58 (2)          2,801 (21)          975      9,384      10,359       13,160
                       Pensacola Bay                    67    (3)      61   (2)   2,297(94)         20 (1)          2,445(19)          1,001     9,199      10,200       12,645
                       Perdido Bay                      19    (1)      18   (1)   1,657(97)         7 (<1)          1,702(22)           324      5,671      5,995        7,697
                       Mobile Bay                     170     (3)      72   (1)   6,273(96)         30 (<1)         6,545(23)          2,882    19,122      22,004       28,549
                       Mississippi Sound            1,706(16)        432    (4)   8,477(79)         74 (1)         10,689(22)         11,057    21,112      32,169       42,858
                       Mississippi Delta Region 10,429 (59)        3,325(19)      3,788(21)      151 (1)           17,693(40)         21,256     2,564      23,820       41,513
                       Atchafalaya and              1,265(27)      1,026(22)      2,304(50)         19 (<1)         4,614(30)          4,312     4,037      8,349        12,963
                       Vermillion Bays
                       Calcasieu Lake                 826(68)        329(27)        <1 (<1)         65  (5)         1,220(33)          1,375     1,127      2,502        3,722
                       Sabine Lake                  1,100(28)        852(22)      1,871 (47)     114    (3)         3,937(19)          1,374    15,710      17,084       21,021
                       Galveston Bay                  949(40)        589(25)        744(31)      110    (5)         2,392(11)          4,258    15,495      19,753       22,145
                       Brazos River                       3 (2)        68(34)       126(64)      <1 (<1)              197   (3)         234      5,661      5,895        6,092
                       Matagorda Bay                  435(51)        289(34)         70 (8)         64 (8)            858 (5)          2,181    15,105      17,286       18,144
                       San Antonio Bay                328(49)        283(42)         22 (3)         35 (5)            668(20)          1,484     1,118      2,602        3,270
                       Aransas Bay                    307(32)        420(43)        108(11)      139(14)              974 (6)          1,623    12,992      14,615       15,589
                       Corpus Christi Say             122(41)          73(25)        14 (5)         87(29)            296 (4)          1,533     5,376      6,909        7,205
                       Laguna Madre                   678(15)      1,933(43)        226 (5)     1,668(37)           4,506 (6)          3,776    60,821      64,597       69,103
                     a Values in parentheses represent the percent of total wetlands grid sampled by NOAA
                     b Values in parentheses represent the percent of total estuarine drainage area grid sampled by NOAA that is wetlands








                                    Table 5. NOAA grid sampled data vs U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service digital data for five estuaries in the Gulf of Mexico.                                 P;@.
                                              Aggregates of ten to 15 maps were compared in each estuary.                                                                                    00
                                                                                                                                                                                             W
                                    Region                   Salt Marsh       Fresh Marsh         Forested          Tidal Flats  Total Wetlands         Upland        Open Water             5
                                    Mobile Bay
                                     NOAA                    11,075              1,382            43,244            3,594            59,295            59,655         239,074
                                     Fish & Wildlife         11,047              1,340            44,585            3,211            60,183            60,699         238,786
                                     % Difference                0.3               3.1              -3.0            11.9               -1.5             -1.7               0.1
                                    Tampa Bay
                                     NOAA                       1,839            5,348            14,259            29,445           50,901            65,166         156,208
                                     Fish & Wildlife            1,580            4,577            15,341            28,361           49,859            65,247         157,584
                                     % Difference              16.4                16.8             -7.1            3.8                2.1              -0.1             -0.9
                                    Mississippi Delta
                                     NOAA                    29,512             65,198            5,169             765              100,644          100,734         511,884
                                     Fish & Wildlife         29,930             65,666            5,326             727              101,649          101,870         510,727
                                     % Difference              -1.4                -0.7             -2.9            5.2                -1.0             -1.1              0.2
                                    Galveston Bay
                                     NOAA                    78,557              9,592              315             8,139            96,603            96,783         275,158
                                     Fish & Wildlife         77,644              9,296              488             7,801            95,229            95,402         267,040
                                     % Difference              -1.2                -3.2             35.5            -4.3               1.4              -1.4             -3.0
                                    Laguna Madre
                                     NOAA                    31,762             22,922              193             97,469           152,346          152,751         143,907
                                     Fish & Wildlife         31,204             23,508              229             97,588           152,529          152,756         143,876
                                     % Difference              -1.8                2.5              15.7            0.1                -0.1               0.0             0.0









                                                                                                           NATIONAL Pfior_mms         49



                                  References                                 Lindall, W. N., Jr., and G. W. Thayer. 1982.
                                                                                Quantification of National Marine Fisheries Service
                Alexander, C.E., M. A. Broutman, and D. W Field. 1986.          habitat conservation efforts in the Southeast region
                   An inventory of coastal wetlands of the USA.                 of the United States. Mar. Fish. Rev. 44:18-22.
                   Strategic Assessment Branch, National Oceanic and         May, L. N., Jr. 1986. An evaluation of Landsat MSS
                   Atmospheric Administration, Rockville, Md. 25 pp.            digital data for updating habitat maps of the
                   [unpublished manuscript]                                     Louisiana coastal zone. Photogram. Eng. Remote
                Benner, C. S., R L. Knutson, R. A. Brochu, and A. K.            Sens. (52)8:1147-1159.
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                   obligolialine environment, Currituck Sound, North            Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. 3:133-154. Washington,
                   Carolina. In Third annual meeting of the Society of          D.C.
                   Wetland Scientists, Wrightsville Beach, N.C.              National Marine Fisheries Service. 1981. Fisheries of
                Cowardin, L. M., V Carter, F C. Golet, and E. T La. Roe.        the United States, 1980. Current fishery statistics
                   1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater               8100, U.S. Department of Commerce, National
                   habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,       Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
                   FWS/OBS-79/31.103 pp. Washington, D.C.                       Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office.
                Dahl, T. E. 1987. Wetlands mapping in the coastal               132 pp.
                   zone-progress towards creating a national data            National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
                   base. Pages 465-473 in Proceedings of coastal zone           1985. National estuarine inventory data atlas:
                   '87. Vol. 1. Seattle, Wash.                                  physical and hydrologic characteristics. Office of
                Day, J. W, Jr., and N. J. Craig. 1981. Comparison of            Oceanography and Marine Assessment, Strategic
                   effectiveness of management options for wetlands             Assessment Branch. Rockville, Md. 103 pp.
                   loss in the coastal zone of Louisiana. Pages 232-239      National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
                   in Proceedings, conference on coastal erosion and            1986. Summary of proceedings: NOAA coastal
                   wetland modification in Louisiana: causes,                   wetlands workshop. Office of Oceanography and
                   consequences, and options. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,           Marine Assessment, Strategic Assessment Branch,
                   FWSVOBS-82159.                                               Rockville, Md. 11 pp. [unpublished manuscript]
                Field, D. W, C. E. Alexander, and M. A. Broutman. 1988.      Sather, J. H., and R. D. Smith. 1984. An overview of
                   Towards developing an inventory of coastal wetlands          major wetland values and functions. U.S. Fish Wildl.
                   of the USA. Mar. Fish. Rev. 50(l):40-46.                     Serv., FWSVOBS-84/18.68 pp.
                Flake, L. D. 1979. Wetland diversity and waterfowl.          Shaw, S. P, and C. G. Fredine. 1956. Wetlands of the
                   Pages 312-319 in P E. Greeson, J. R. Clark, and J. E.        United States: their extent and their value to
                   Clark, eds. Wetland functions and values: the state of       waterfowl and other wildlife. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,
                   our understanding. American Water Resources                  Circ. 39.67 pp.
                   Association. Minneapolis, Minn.                           Tchobanoglous, G., and G. L. Culp. 1980. Wetland
                Frayer, W E., T. J. Monahan, D. C. Bowden, and F A.             systems of wastewater treatment: an engineering
                   Graybi,l. 1983. Status and trends of wetlands and            assessment. University of California, Davis.
                   deepwater habitats in the conterminous United             Tiner, R. W , Jr. 1984. Wetlands of the United States:
                   States, 1950's to 1970's. Department of Forest and           current status and recent trends. U.S. Fish and
                   Wood Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort               Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory,
                   Collins. 32 pp.                                              Washington, D.C. 59 pp.
                Haddad, K. D., and B. A. Harris. 1985. Use of remote         Tiner, R. W, Jr. 1985a. Wetlands ofNewJersey. U.S. Fish
                   sensing to assess estuarine habitats. Pages 662-675          and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory,
                   in 0. T Magoon, ed. Coastal zone '85. Proceedings of         Newton Corner, Mass. 117 pp.
                   the fifth symposium on coastal and ocean                  Tiner, R. W, Jr. 1985b. Wetlands of Delaware. U.S. Fish
                   management Vol 1. American Society of Civil                  and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory,
                   Engineers, New York.                                         Newton Corner, Mass., and Delaware Department of
                Kadlec, R. H., and J. A. Kadlec. 1979. Wetlands and             Natural Resources and Environmental Control,
                   water quality. Pages 436-456 in P E. Greeson, J. R.          Wetlands Section, Dover, Del. Coop. Publ. 77 pp.
                   Clark, and J. E. Clark, eds. Wetland functions and        Turner, R. E. 1977. Intertidal vegetation and
                   values: the state of our understanding. American             commercial yield ofpenaeid shrimp. Trans. Am. Fish.
                   Resources Association. Minneapolis, Minn.                    Soc. 106:411-416.
                Knutson, R L., and W N. Selig. 1982. Wave damping in         U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1982. The national
                   Spartina alternaflora marches. In Third annual               survey of fish, hunting, and wildlife-associated
                   meeting of wetlands scientists. Wrightsville                 recreation. U.S. Government Printing Office,
                   Beach, N.C.                                                  Washington, D.C. 132 pp.









                                                                                                               NATiONAL PRwmms 51



                         Overview of the Land-Sea Interface Research Program



                                                                             by




                                         Armond T Joyce, Richard L. Miller, and Ramona E. Pelletier

                                                         Science and Technology Laboratory
                                                                      Building 1100
                                                 National Aeronautic and Space Administration
                                                      Stennis Space Center, Mississippi 39529


                               ABSTRACT.-The general goal of the Earth Sciences Research Program at the NASA/Stennis
                               Space Center Science and Technology Laboratory is to provide a better understanding of the
                               state and dynamics of global biological, chemical, and physical processes under natural and
                               anthropogenic perturbations. Our research is conducted by using remotely sensed data
                               acquired by a variety of sensors operated on a truck boom, aircraft, and spacecraft. Although
                               some studies are site-specific, our overall objective is to gain information and knowledge that
                               would allow modeling from a global perspective. Research is conducted through a team
                               approach with a multidisciplinary staff. We give preference to developing joint research
                               projects with university faculty or other external investigators in order to form an appropriate
                               team for each particular research objective. Collaborative research with external investigators
                               is also aided through the Resident Research Associateship Program administered through the
                               National Research Council, the Summer Faculty Program, and a Summer Visiting
                               Scientist-Lecturer ]Program.
                                The Stennis Space Center Science and Technology Laboratory (SSQ/STL) Research Program
                               has three main focuses: forest ecosystems research, land-sea interface, and soils and geological
                               research. This research takes place in irnany separate projects; however, each of these
                               interrelated projects is a component of a research program aimed at understanding the
                               functioning of the ecosystem being addressed. The Land-Sea Interface Research Program at
                               SSQ/STL views the land-sea interface in an ecosystem context, including both the terrestrial
                               component and the nearshore waters.


                 Wetlands Productive Capacity                                   trolled burning results in a watershed NAPP de-
                                      Modeling                                  crease of 2 to 20% (6% average between 1978 and
                                                                                1985). This work is described in further detail in
                   This project combines remote-sensing analysis,               the proceedings of the 1987 symposium of the
                field studies in the Grand Bayou, Louisiana, wa-                Society of Wetland Scientists (Dow et al. 1989).
                tershed, and mathematical modeling to examine
                the coupling between the production of detritus
                (dead organic matter) in wetlands and the yield of                             Spectral Studies
                coastal fisheries. Thematic Mapper (TAD data                       Our past research efforts characterized the
                have been used successfully to estimate the stand-              spectral curves exhibited by different species of
                ing crop biomass in the marsh through the use of                marsh plants in the field, and measured the spec-
                regression equations. Two types of regression                   bml response of Spartina alterniflora grown in
                equations were employed; those that used raw                    hy droponic culture in the laboratory to salinity and
                digital counts and others that used ratioed data                waterlogging stresses. The field studies of marsh
                from different bands (reflectance ratio and vegeta-             plant spectra measured 6 replicates of live and
                tion index). Our remote-sensing analysis, com-                  dead leaves for 11 different species characteristic
                bined with field studies, suggests that wetland loss            ofthe saline, brackish, intermediate, or freshwater
                results in a watershed net aboveground primary                  marshes at Grand Bayou, Louisiana. Spartina pa-
                production (NAPP) decrease of 4%, whereas con-                  tens was collected from the brackish and interme-








                  52    Biou)GicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                  diate marsh salinity zones, while S. alterniflora            Our results so far indicate that the analysis of
                  was collected from the brackish and saline marsh          TM data provides the most accurate classification
                  zones. The marsh salinity zone does not seem to           of pertinent vegetation types that are correlated
                  change the characteristic spectra of S. alterniflora      with methane emission (Dow et al. 1987). How-
                  or S. patens.                                             ever, the combination of cloudy weather and infre-
                     In the laboratory studies of S. alterniflora grown     quent TM coverage has led to an evaluation of the
                  in hydroponic culture for 6 weeks at 5 salinity lev-      suitability of Advanced Very High Resolution Ra-
                  els (0, 6, 12, 24, and 35 ppt) and 3 different levels     diometer (AVIIM) data to classify vegetation be-
                  of waterlogging (drained, saturated, and sub-             cause of its frequent coverage, despite its coarser
                  merged), the rate of leaf expansion and photosyn-         spatial resolution (1 km). Daytime AVHRR data
                  thetic rate manifested stress responses at salinity       had demonstrated some promise as an indicator of
                  levels above 24 ppt. I. A. Mendelssohn and cowork-        inundation extent (Pelletier and Dow 1989). We
                  ers of the Laboratory for Wetland Soils and Sedi-         are now evaluating both day and night acquisi-
                  ments at Louisiana State University (LSU) made            tions to better understand seasonal inundation
                  the growth measurements and conducted assays              variation, which is directly related to the anaerobic
                  for leaf proline (a general indicator of plant salinity   conditions necessary to methanogenesis and the
                  or water stress). These data are being statistically      production of other "greenhouse" gases.
                  analyzed on an individual replicate basis in com-            This project also addresses the following objec-
                  parison with the moisture stress index (0/6 reflec-       tives: (1) estimating the vertical extent of inunda-
                  tance at 1650 ruilm/o reflectance at 1260 run). The       tion by incorporating detailed topographic data
                  wealth of growth, biochemical assay (proline levels,      and ancillary precipitation and stage data;
                  root alcoholic dehydrogenase levels), and elemental       (2) monitoring dynamics of seasonal variation by
                  concentrations measured for each treatment by             modeling temporal changes in water flow patterns
                  LSU researchers should provide a basis for inter-         during a typical year; and (3) estimating potential
                  preting the spectral response curves.                     minimum and maximum inundation states for
                                                                            selected years exhibiting extreme ranges between
                                                                            wet and dry seasons.
                                                                               In our initial modeling efforts, we developed
                           Biogeochemical Flux                              spatial distributions of five methane flux classes
                                    Estimation                              for a typical wet season period and another for a
                                                                            typical dry season period. TM data were acquired
                     Wetlands are the focus of our research because         from a December overpass and classified into 13
                  of their production of trace gases of carbon, nitro-      distinct vegetation classes. In situ methane flux
                  gen, and sulfur, which may modify the earth's             measurements were collected by using these cate-
                  climate through the "Greenhouse Effect", and be-          gories as a sampling guide. Based on these flux
                  cause of the potential role of some trace gases in        readings, the 13 vegetation classes were recom-
                  controlling the stratospheric ozone layer, which          bined into 5 statistically significant vegeta-
                  protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation. The        tion/flux classes. The inundation status was deter-
                  wetlands biogeochemical flux project is a joint ef-       mined from the vegetation/flux classification to
                  fort being conducted by the Stennis Space Center          represent dry season and wet season periods, and
                  Science and Technology Laboratory, Langley Re-            new methane flux distribution maps were devel-
                  search Center, and the South Florida Research             oped. These results are reported in ajournal article
                  Laboratory at the Everglades National Park.               (Bartlett et al. 1989). While our efforts to date have
                     The objectives of this project are to (1) examine      been focused in the Everglades, we plan to expand
                  the capabilities of current remote-sensing instru-        our research to larger geographic areas.
                  ments to delineate certain wetland vegetation
                  types, and (2) develop and test a geographic infor-
                  mation system (GIS) for estimating trace gas emis-            Airborne Electromagnetic
                  sions from wetland ecosystems. Our past efforts                       Profiles Research
                  focused on methane estimates; however, because
                  the data-base requirements are quite similar for             Many of today's typical airborne or spaceborne
                  other trace gas estimation models, our future ef-         remote-sensing devices are relatively surface-
                  forts will include GIS model development for nitro-       oriented. Because soils have a large component
                  gen and sulfur trace gases as well.                       beneath the surface, many of these surface-









                                                                                                  NATioNAL PRoGRAms        53



               oriented sensors are notably limited in character-      strongly suggested that a much more significant
               izing properties of the whole soil. Surface condi-      driving force in controlling the coastal sediment
               tions can often be determined and some subsur-          budget is the passage of intense cold fronts during
               face conditions inferred, but the subsurface            the winter months. While a hurricane is intense,
               condition inferences are not always reliable.           it is relatively localized, only affecting a length of
               These concerns are exacerbated if the soil or sed-      coast about 100 miles. Furthermore, for any given
               iment material is submerged, as is true in many         piece of shoreline, the mean time between hurri-
               wetland and shallow coastal areas. In these situ-       canes is about 33 years. In comparison, winter
               ations, not only is the subsurface inaccessible to      storms occur 30 to 40 times every year, and sweep
               most remote sensors, but the soil surface is also       over almost the entire coastal area. Also, the pro-
               obscured by a layer of water.                           cesses that occur during the passage of winter
                 In this research, NASA is cooperating with the        storms seem to maximize their effectiveness in
               Naval Oceanographic and Atmospheric Research            moving sediment.
               Laboratory in evaluating the capabilities of the           The purpose of our research is to examine the
               new Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) Profiler.            responses of the sediment, water, and atmosphere
               The AEM Profiler is an active helicopter-borne          at and near the coast to the passage of these cold
               sensor working in the 90-4500 Hz range. The             fronts. In cooperation with members of the Coastal
               system was primarily developed for mapping ba-          Studies Institute, we hope to determine how im-
               thymetry in relatively shallow marine environ-          portant these fronts are as "engines" for sediment
               ments, but it also is useful in assessing a number      transport and deposition (Roberts et al. 1987).
               of physical properties for water and underlying            Geometric registration of remotely sensed data
               sediment. Because the AEM Profiler has multi-           is a major concern, as the features being studied
               frequency capability, these physical properties can     have several spatial scales, change as a function
               be differentially determined at multiple depths         of time, and are not shown on maps. This concern
               within the soil or sediment profile. Water proper-      has led to the development of a fundamentally
               ties, such as salinity and temperature, and soil        new georeferencing software system inside the
               information, such as bulk density, porosity, or-        Earth Resources Laboratory Applications (ELAS)
               ganic matter content, and generalized mineralogy,       software package. The design and the results of
               can be determined.                                      testing this software are presented in Rickman
                 Submerged sediment data can be valuable for           et al. (1988).
               both commerical (e.g., monitoring sediment dy-
               namics in shipping channels) and scientific appli-
               cations (e.g., soil and sediment mapping, monitor-         Wetlands Change Detection
               ing coastal geomorphology, and modeling marsh
               processes dependent on soil conditions and water           Many of Louisiana@s wetlands are rapidly de-
               depth). This research program is trying to merge        grading. Multitemporal remotely sensed data can
               AEM Profiler data with more traditional surface-        be quite useful in identifying the location, amount,
               oriented sensor data. This will give three-             and type of change taking place. The pattern of
               dimensional depictions of shallow, submerged            change that often occurs in wetland environments,
               coastal areas. We have acquired and are analyzing       such as those in Louisiana, consists of small scat-
               data from a barrier island environment at Cape          tered spots that gradually grow in size, unlike the
               Lookout, North Carolina. Preliminary analysis           concentric or corridor growth patterns generally
               from that data set is reported by Pelletier and Wu      associated with urban change. Many traditional
               (1989). Additional AEM Profiler missions are            means of detecting change in digital data have
               planned for the Louisiana coast, and an inland          required that the data sets be geographically rec-
               wetland area in northeastern Canada.                    tified to a high degree of accuracy. In wetland
                                                                       environments undergoing significant change,
                                                                       high-confidence control points for adequate
                     Coastal Geomorphology                             georegistration precision may be quite limited.
                                                                          The Science and Technology Laboratory has
                 Previous work by the Coastal Studies Institute        developed a change detection technique that does
               at LSU has raised questions about the relative          not require the data sets to exhibit a strict degree
               significance of hurricanes in controlling the           of geographic coregistration. Instead, our tech-
               coastal sediment budget. The institute's work has       nique uses a gridding approach to partition the








                   54    BioLoricAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   data into segments; these segments are classified        rate of rise in eustatic sea level, the model predicts
                   by land cover and then compared with geographi-          that marshes previously considered "stable" are in
                   cally similar segments in the second data set.           danger of significant submergence during the next
                   Although slight misalignment might cause signif-         50 to 100 years, even if the present rate of sea level
                   icant overestimation of change when compared on          rise is only doubled. If sea level rise quadruples
                   a pixel by pixel basis, when grouped into grids or       from the present rate (well within the range sug-
                   multiple pixels the error is averaged out so that a      gested by Hansen et al. 1985), sedimentation-
                   more accurate estimate of real change can be cal-        dominated aggrading marshes would be in danger
                   culated.                                                 of submergence. We need more fieldwork and mod-
                      The test data chosen for a preliminary evalua-        eling activities to better understand the coping
                   tion of this gridding technique were two Landsat         mechanisms marshes have to counteract sea level
                   Multispectral Scanner (MSS) data sets (1972 and          fluctuations.
                   1981) for the Cameron-Creole watershed in Loui-             Our research continues to improve the model
                   siana. Test grid sizes ranged from 1 x 1 pixels to       and to provide for a three-dimensional perspective
                   50 x 50 pixels. Grids from 5 x 5 pixels up to perhaps    of multiple data transects in the model. We are
                   10 x 10 pixels provided calculated change esti-          modifying the model to accept data from AEM
                   mates from slightly to moderately misregistered          Profiler studies as one source of input data. Ulti-
                   data sets that were comparable in accuracy with          mately, this model will be incorporated into geo-
                   pixel by pixel calculations from almost perfectly        graphical information systems of coastal regions,
                   registered data sets. Grid sizes larger than             along with remotely sensed and ancillary data
                   10 x 10 pixels tended to begin canceling out the         sources for many biological and physical land-sea
                   influence of relatively small spots of change. De-       interface models.
                   tails from this initial study are reported by Pellet-
                   ier and Dow (1987).
                                                                                      Land-Sea Interface

                    Wetlands Landscape Modeling                                In 1986, Stennis Space Center Science and
                                                                            Technology Laboratory and the University of
                      The Louisiana coast has many marsh condi-             Puerto Rico (UPR) began a multiyear cooperative
                   tions, including rapidly subsiding, aggrading, and       research project to improve the understanding of
                   those that seem to be in relative equilibrium. Be-       exchange processes between terrestrial and ma-
                   cause of Louisiana's variety of marsh conditions,        rine ecosystems. Participating investigators are
                   its coast has been an excellent location for model-      faculty and graduate students from the Depart-
                   ing the impact of changing sea level on a variety of     ments of Marine Science and Engineering at the
                   marsh conditions. We take theoretical and actual         UPR Mayaguez Campus, and the staff of the Divi-
                   cross sections of marsh landscapes from different        sions of Terrestrial and Marine Ecology of the
                   marsh types and modeled them for sea level effect        Center for Energy and Environment Research.
                   over various time intervals and rates of sea level          During fiscal year (FY) 1988, much of our work
                   rise. The key variables being monitored are hori-        was devoted to enhancing the project's ability to
                   zontal and vertical marsh topographic conditions,        process and analyze ocean color imagery derived
                   sedimentation rate, organic accretion rate, subsi-       from the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), the
                   dence rate, toxic sulfide species concentrations,        Airborne Ocean Color Imager (AOCI), and the
                   and above- and belowground plant biomass. A              Calibrated Airborne Multispectral Scanner
                   spatial perspective for three-dimensional analyses       (CAMS). A series of software modules was devel-
                   of landscape change is permitted by extrapolating        oped to process these data within the ELAS oper-
                   between a series of marsh topographic transects.         ating environment. In particular, an integrated set
                      Results from the models provide an innovative         of interactive modules was developed to compute
                   means for visualizing how streamside segments            near-surface chlorophyll concentrations with
                   are capable of persisting for many years because         CZCS data; these modules apply the clear water
                   of higher sediment load and lower accumulation of        radiance method for atmospheric correction, cor-
                   toxic sulfide species when compared with the more        rections for orbital and radiometric decay, and
                   rapidly degrading back-marsh segments (Pelletier         bio-optical algorithms. Atmospheric correction al-
                   1987). While subsidence-dominated marshes are            gorithms and optical algorithms to compute chlo-
                   in immediate danger of degrading at the present          rophyll and suspended sediment concentrations









                                                                                                    NATioNAL Pw)GRAms        55




                for AOCI and CAMS data are now being developed.          investigators designed a program of measure-
                In addition, all ocean color software models are         ments leading to the development of material bal-
                being transported to operate in the personal com-        ances for water, salt, carbon, nitrogen, and phos-
                puter environment.                                       phorous. All processes that contribute or remove
                   Our FY88 activities focused on the large              these materials will be evaluated. Automated tidal
                Guanajibo watershed (which discharges into wa-           and steam gauging is being conducted in a joint
                ters along the west coast of Puerto Rico) and an         project with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
                intensive study site encompassing the Joyuda La-         Groundwater flows from drilled wells are being
                goon within the Guanajibo watershed. We used             assessed, and automated meteorological observa-
                                                                  if*          are
                Landsat TM data to generate a-land cover class i-        tiOns     being made. Investigators@ took water
                cation for the entire Guanaj ibo watershed, and use      samples to measure water mass chlorophyll con-
                CAMS data acquired during 1987 to generate a             tent while acquiring data with the CAMS in March
                more detailed land cover classification of the           1987. Spectral data for mangrove leaves have been
                Joyuda Lagoon watershed. Soils maps and contour          acquired with a ground-operated imaging spec-
                lines on topographic maps were digitized, and the        trometr. This instrument measures reflectance
                resulting data were assembled, together with the         from 0.38 to 2.5 microns in very narrow
                land cover data, in a geographically referenced          bandwidths. The investigators made measure-
                data base.                                               ments for mangrove leaves across salinity gradi-
                   We used the soils, land cover, and topographic        ents and at a site in the lagoon that has high
                data to develop a method for implementing the            concentrations of nickel. The preliminary results
                Universal Soil Loss Equation (LJSLE) on a regional       of these analyses were reported at the American
                scale for the Guanajibo area of western Puerto           Institute of Biological Sciences Symposium in
                Rico. This task not only evaluated erosion condi-        Davis, California (Lawrence 1988).
                tions of the land itself, but it also developed a
                baseline for assessing sediment effects on the
                coastal environment. Soil erosion from the moun-              Phytoplankton Modeling
                tainous and agricultural regions within the                This project integrated remotely sensed digital
                Guanajibo has contributed greatly to the sediment        .
                influx in adjacent coastal regions. These soils are      imagery of S O'uth San Francisco Bay (SSFB), Cal-
                inherently highly erodible, and the area's high          ifornia, into a numerical model of seasonal and
                rainfall and increased agricultural pressure on the      spatial phytoplankton dynamics. The model was
                land magnifies the erosion problem. Although the         initially developed during a joint project with the
                resulting sediments delivered to the coastal waters      USGS Water Resources Division in Menlo Park,
                bring some nutrients, they also tend to screen           California. The specific objectives of this project
                much of the life-giving light from the area's phyto-     are to (1) modify and refine model coefficients of
                plankton and coral. A good understanding                 transport and phytoplankton production in SSFB
                                                                Of Po-   by using both historical shipboard data and re-
                tential sediment load due to erosion from the ter-       motely sensed ocean color data; (2) validate model
                restrial environment would be helpful to models of       output with digital maps of near-surface chloro-
                coastal marine ecology.                                  phyll concentrations derived from remotely sensed
                   In order to address future land-sea interface         data; and (3) develop ELAS modules to process and
                issues, we will continue to transform soil erosion       analyze remotely sensed ocean color imagery.
                values from models such as the USLE into more              The numerical model of SSFI3 follows the finite-
                likely values of actual sediment influx to the marine    difference box model approach described by Officer
                environment on a variety of temporal scales.             (1980) and Officer and Nichols (1980). The SSFB
                   Another aspect of this coastal ecosystem study        box model is a three-dimensional model containing
                focused on the amount and movement of organic            both two-layer and lateral flow; the geometry of the
                carbon from terrestrial sources through estuaries        boxes represents the average bathymetry at mean
                and lagoons. The principal study site for this proj-     lower low water. Simulation parameters were cal-
                ect is the Joyuda Lagoon, a mangrove-fringed la-         ibrated using shipboard data acquired by the
                goon on the west coast of Puerto Rico; the lagoon        USGS during 1980 (Cloern 1984; Alpine and
                that is fed by a small watershed and exchanges           Cloern 1988). During 1988 the SSFB box model
                with the sea through a narrow canal. The UPR and         was transported to the IBM PC environment and
                Center for Energy and Environmental Research             enhanced to provide an efficient user-interface








                 56    Biow=AL RF.Poirr 90(18)



                 base on a windowing environment, fast execution,          An October 1989 overflig  lit of CAMS over the
                 rapid modification of simiilation parameters, effi-    Mississippi River Delta, Terrebonne Bay, and the
                 cient storage and analysis of model output, and        Atchafalaya Bay in Louisiana, provided the initial
                 incorporation of different aquatic systems as sim-     data set in which to meet the project objectives. A
                 ulation environments. These improvements have          coordinated field-sampling program consisted of
                 established this model for the Science and Tech-       ship surveys at all three sites. Continuous surface
                 nology Laboratory as a generic modeling tool that      profiles of in vivo fluorescence, suspended sedi-
                 can be applied to various aquatic systems.             ments ' temperature, and salinity were obtained
                    Nine AOCI, six CZCS, and six TM Simulator           using a flow-through system aboard the IW
                 digital images of South San Francisco Bay have         Pelican. In addition to all flow-through instru-
                 been acquired. All images have been reformatted        ments, other instruments interfaced to a micro-
                 for processing within ELAS. Because the spectral       computer collected continuous samples of ship
                 and spatial characteristics of the AOCI were de-       position and solar irradiance for continuous data
                 signed specifically for ocean color analysis, our      collection and archiving. The digital imagery has
                 major effort has been to process and analyze the       been georeferenced and coregistered to produced
                 AOCI imagery. To date, each scene has been cali-       large-scale mosaics of the study area. Data anal-
                 brated and georeferenced for co-location with field    ysis of both field and remotely sensed data is
                 samples. We are still developing algorithms for        underway.
                 atmospheric correction. In large part, these algo-
                 rithn-is are based on the clear water concept used
                 for affecting atmospheric correction of CZCS data.        Mississippi River Plume and
                 Our analysis of remotely sensed data has provided           Oceanographic Processes
                 estimates of horizontal transport (vector displace-
                 ment) and has indicated potential areas for the           The primary objectives of this research are to
                 initiation and development of phytoplankton            (1) evaluate the information content of ocean color
                 blooms.                                                imagery acquired from CAMS and assess its po-
                    The synoptic data of the CZCS and the AOCI          tential for estimating surface chlorophyll concen-
                 suggest that the blooms originate over the south-      trations, suspended sediment concentrations, and
                 eastern shoals and migrate northward along the         elements of water quality (and develop atmo-
                 eastern shoals. We are developing programs to          spheric correction and bio-optical algorithms);
                 estimate horizontal transport through visible and      (2) investigate on a large spatial scale the biolog-
                 thermal AOCI data. Model coefficients are being        ical responses to riverine inputs of organic mate-
                 modified based on these results.                       rials, dissolved nutrients, sediments, and fresh
                                                                        water associated with the Mississippi River
                                                                        plume during both high and low river discharge;
                  Sediment Transport and Land                           (3) investigate on small spatial scales, both hori-
                               Loss Processes                           zontally and vertically, in a cross-plume direction,
                                                                        the roles of oceanographic fronts, discontinuities,
                    This project began in January 1989 and is a         and boundaries; and 4) examine the biological
                 cooperative effort between the Stennis Space Cen-      responses to the passages of meteorological fronts.
                 ter Space and Technology Laboratory, the               This research will provide remotely sensed ocean
                 Louisiana Geological Survey, and the Coastal           color imagery to complement the Louisiana Stim-
                 Studies Institute of Louisiana State University.       ulus for Excellence in Research Project (LaSER).
                 The project is designed to develop strategies and         On 9 September 1989, the LaSER project flew a
                 procedures for monitoring processes and responses      successful CAMS mission. Five flightlines pro-
                 associated with coastal zone land loss. Specific       vided complete coverage of the Mississippi plume.
                 objectives are to (1) provide a synoptic monitoring    This imagery offers large gradients of chlorophyll
                 capability; (2) develop a data base with remotely      pigments, suspended sediments, and dissolved or-
                 sensed data, together with analyses procedures         ganic and inorganic constituents for developing
                 suitable for long-range planning in the coastal        comprehensive algorithms. During the overflight,
                 zone; and (3) develop an understanding of the links    the P./V Pelican collected continuous surface pro-
                 between process and response, particularly with        files of in vivo fluorescence, nephelometry, temper-
                 regard to hydrology/sediment transport, so that a      ature, salinity, solar irradiance, and plant nutri-
                 set of predictive models can be generated.             ents with a near-surface flow-through system








                                                                                                       NATioNAL PROmAw           57



                interfaced to an on-board computer. Numerous               western United States (EEZ-SCAN 84). Four
                discrete samples were collected for sensor calibra-        sonographs acquired during the EEZ-SCAN 84
                tion. These data are being processed and analyzed          survey off central California were used to develop
                for incorporation into algorithm development of            a series of computer program modules to process
                the CAMS digital imagery. Several programs were            GLORIA II data within NASA!s ELAS image pro-
                developed for NASA!s ELAS image processing en-             cessing environment. These modules provide
                vironment to calibrate and georeference CAMS               multibyte preprocessing techniques to reformat
                data. The georeference software is of special note         GLORIA images and to correct for geometric and
                in that it provides for efficient and accurate             radiometric distortions, including water column
                georeferencing of aircraft data without the need for       offset, slant range geometry, cross-track power
                numerous control or "tie" points. The CAMS data            drop off, multiple returns, speckle noise, striping,
                collected have been reformatted for processing             and anamorphic ratio. In addition to these mod-
                within ELAS, calibrated to yield spectral radiance,        ules, which are specific to GLORIA II data, ELAS
                and georeferenced to latitude and longitude earth          contains a comprehensive set of general image
                coordinates. The data are currently being pro-             processing procedures to provide an investigator
                cessed to yield spatial maps of near-surface chlo-         with a consistent and powerful environment in
                rophyll pigments and suspended sediments.                  which to fully process and analyze GLORIA 11
                                                                           data.
                              Side-scan Sonar                                         Acknowledgments
                   Geologists have greatly benefited from the par-
                allel development of earth-viewing remote-sens-               The research discussed in this paper was made
                ing instruments and comprehensive image pro-               possible through funds provided by the Earth Sci-
                cessing techniques. Airborne platforms or                  ence and Applications Division and the Life
                satellite platforms routinely provide data to inves-       Sciences Division of the NASA Office of Space
                tigators to formulate complex spectral analyses            Sciences and Applications, the NASA Office of
                over large spatial scales. Until recently, this tech-      Equal Opportunity Programs, and the NASA-S SC
                nology was unavailable to marine geoscientists.            Director's Discretionary Program.
                The Geological Long-Range Inclined ASDIC
                (GLORIA) II side-scan sonar system is an acoustic
                imaging system capable of mapping the sea floor                              References
                and providing data for geophysical, geological,
                and oceanographic investigations. However, as a            Bartlett, D. S., K. B. Bartlett, J. M. Hartman, R C.
                prerequisite to extracting information from an                Harriss, D. I. Sebacher, R. R Travis, D. D. Dow, and
                image for data analysis, various geometric and                D. P Brannon. 1989. Methane emissions from the
                                                                              Florida Everglades: patterns of variability in a
                radiometric distortions must be corrected. A col-             regional wetland ecosystem. Global Biochem. Cycles
                laborative effort exists between NASA/Science                 3(4);363-374.
                Technology Laboratory and the Geodynamics Re-              Cloern, J. E. 1984. Temporal dynamics and ecological
                search Institute at Texas A&M University to de-               significance of salinity stratification in an estuary
                velop image processing software for processing                (South San Francisco Bay, USA). Oceanol. Acta,
                                                                              Vol. 7, pp. 137-141.
                and analyzing digital images acquired with long-           Dow, D. D., J. A. Browder, and A. L. Prick. 1989.
                range side-scan sonars. This project will focus               Modeling the effects of coastal wetland change on
                primarily on data obtained from TAMU2, a state-               marine resources. Pages 221-227 in K. Mutz, ed.
                of-the-art multifrequency side-scan sonar system              Proceedings of the eighth annual Society of Wetland
                under development at the Geodynamics Research                 Scientists meeting, 26-29 May 1989, Seattle, Wash.
                Institute. Presently, software is being developed          Dow, D., R. Pelletier, C. Clark, D. Brannon, and
                                                                              L. Gunderson. 1987. Remote sensing of the Florida
                to preprocess and analyze data acquired from the              Everglades conducted in support of the methane flux
                GLORIA II and SeaMARC II systems.                             study. Pages 326-M in Proceedings of the space life
                   In 1983, the United States declared sovereign              sciences symposium on three decades of life science
                rights over 200 nautical miles seaward from its               research in space, 21-26 June 1987, Universities
                shore. In 1984, the Institute of Oceanographic S i            Space Research Association, Washington, D.C.
                                                                      cl-  Hansen, J., G. Russell, A. Laces, 1. Fung, and D. Rind.
                ences and the USGS conducted surveys of the                   1985. Climate response times: dependence on climate
                so-called Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the               sensitivity and ocean mixing. Science 229:857-859.








                   58     BiowrmcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   Lawrence, W T 1988. Spectral characteristics of the             American Society of Programmatic Remote Sensing,
                      foliage of tropical vegetation. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Am.         2-7 April 1989, Baltimore, Md.
                      69(2):204.                                                Pelletier, R. E., and S. T Wu. 1989. A preliminary
                   Officer, C. B. 1980. Box models revisited. Pages 65-113         evaluation of the Airborne Electromagnetic
                      in P Hamilton, ed. Wetlands and estuarine processes          Bathymetr7 System for characterization of coastal
                      and water quality modeling. Plenum Publishing                sediments and marsh soils. Pages 366-375 in
                      Corporation, New York.                                       Proceedings of the technical papers of the American
                   Officer, C. B., and M. M. Nichols. 1980. Pages 329-340          Society of Programmatic Remote Sensing, 2-7 April
                      in Box model application to a study of suspended             1989, Baltimore, Md.
                      sediment distributions and fluxes in partially mixed      Rickman, D. L., M. C. Ochoa, and K. W Holladay. 1988.
                      estuaries. Estuarine Perspectives.                           Multitemporal CAMS over coastal Louisiana: a
                   Pelletier, R. E. 1987. A predictive model to monitor            problem in automated georeferencing. Pages
                      temporal and spatial changes in marsh landscape              258-267 in Proceedings of the second Forest Service
                      features in the Barataria Basin. Proceedings of the          remote sensing conference, American Society of
                      ninth biennial International Estuarine Research              Photogrammatic Remote Sensing, 11-15 April
                      Federation conference, 25-29 October 1987, New               1988, Stennis Space Center, Miss.
                      Orleans, La. [abstract]                                   Roberts, H. H., 0. K. Huh, S. A. Husu, L. J. Rouse, and
                   Pelletier, R. E., and D. D. Dow. 1987. A gridding approach      D. L. Rickman. 1987. Impact of cold-front passages
                      to detect patterns of change in coastal wetlands from        on geomorphic evolution and sediment dynamics of
                      digital data. Pages 119-128 in Proceedings of the            the complex Louisiana coast. Coastal sediments'87,
                      technical papers of the American Society of                  WW Division of the American Society of Civil
                      Programmatic Remote Sensing, 4-9 October 1987,               Engineers, New Orleans, La. 12-14. May 1987,
                      Reno, Nev.                                                   Tech. Rep. 463.
                   Pelletier, R. E., and D. D. Dow. 1989. Monitoring the        Walters, R. A., R. T Cheng, and T J. Conomos. 1985.
                      inundation of the Florida Everglades with AVHRR              Time scales of circulation and mixing processes
                      data in a geographic information system. Pages               of San Francisco Bay waters. Hydrobiolo-
                      266-275 in Proceedings of the technical papers of the        gia 129:13-36.









                                                                                                                 WETLANDs MAPPiNG FRoGRAms                  59



                           Enhanced-Environmental Sensitivity Index Mapping Using
                                 Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System
                                                                              Technology



                                                                                        by




                                                                                Bruce A. Davis


                                                                  Science and Technology Laboratory
                                                          National Aeronautic and Space Administration
                                                               Stennis Space Center, Mississippi 39529


                                                              John R. Jensen and Elijah W. Ramsey, III

                                                                         Department of Geography
                                                                       University of South Carolina
                                                                    Columbia, South Carolina 29208


                                                                                        and



                                                                              Jacqueline Michel

                                                                           RPI International, Inc.
                                                                               1200 Park Street
                                                                    Columbia, South Carolina 29201


                                      ABSTRACT.-Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are used to support oil spill
                                      response teams by providing information about the biological diversity of shorelines. In the
                                      event of an oil spill, these maps are taken into the field and used to determine where limited
                                      resources will be deployed to mitigate the effects of such a spill. RPI International, Inc. has
                                      been producing ESI maps for various geographic areas since 1979, and the company has
                                      produced more than 40 atlases. ESI maps are based on information gathered from several
                                      large oil spills throughout the world, including the Amoco Cadiz, Burnish Agate, Urquiola,
                                      and Metula. As a response tool, ESI maps must contain current information and convey that
                                      information in a meaningfid manner to the response team.
                                         Four types of information are associated with each ESI map sheet: planimetric base map, shoreline
                                      sensitivity index, oil-sensitive wildlife, and access and protection features. Base map construction for
                                      ESI maps typically relies on the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) 7.5- or 15-min topographic
                                      quadrangle map series. Biological data and shoreline type are manually drawn on mylar overlays, and
                                      the product is photographically reproduced. Shoreline sensitivity index data describe environment
                                      types that have varying degrees of sensitivity to oil or other pollutants. Oil-sensitive wildlife data are
                                      indicated by a symbol representing the species and a line transecting the extent of the species habitat.
                                      These symbols carry a wealth of wildlife information, including seasonal patterns, special status
                                      (endangered or threatened), and species name. Access and protection features are noted through the
                                      use of icons that identify existing marinas, boat ramM booms, oil skimmers, and so forth, used during
                                      and after an oil spill.
                                         Through the Earth Observation and Cornmercial Application Program, the Science and Technology
                                      Laboratory at the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's (NASA) Stennis Space Center and








                     60     BiowmcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                                     the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina are investigating the development
                                     of ESI maps through the use of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies.
                                     The incorporation of these technologies will enhance ESI through the solution of three major problems.
                                        First, adequate base map information is not always available for coastal areas covered by mangroves
                                     and other vegetation. When maps do exist they generally are not current and may not be at the desired
                                     scale. Remote sensing offers the advantage of routine data acquisition on a temporal basis adequate
                                     for most mapping needs in dynamic environments.
                                        Second, land cover analysis in tropical areas carried out by boat or plane can lead to inaccurate
                                     results. Remote sensing can provide detailed information of land cover through the use of digital image
                                     processing and manual image analysis of satellite acquired imagery.
                                        Third, portrayal of oil-sensitive wildlife information is difficult in ESI map development. This
                                     information can be understood more easily if presented as a single layer in a multivariate data base
                                     within a GIS. This would allow spill response managers to query complex data and derive clear and
                                     concise information in map form.
                                        The focus to date in this project has been to replicate the proven ESI map product using remotely
                                     sensed data. SPOT Image Corporation panchromatic data have been used to develop a current base
                                     map. Geometric rectification of these data resulted in a base map product that has a t5 m root mean
                                     square error. This meets most national mapping accuracies for mapping at the 1:24,000 scale. The
                                     updated base map adds substantially to the value of the ESI map because of the improvement in the
                                     description of the transportation network
                                        Classification of land cover using remotely sensed data meets or exceeds ESI requirements. Red,
                                     black, and mixed mangrove classes were mapped in a region surrounding Marco Island, Florida, with
                                     both SPOT panchromatic and multispectral data in a merged format (10 x 10 spatial resolution).
                                     Furthermore, tidal flats, sand, water, and urban areas were classified to a Level I description with SPOT
                                     data. Classification accuracies for all land cover classes exceeded 85% with the satellite digital data.
                                     For areas in which confusion of multispectral data resulted in poor classification, the image analyst
                                     used interactive on-screen digitizing to classify the imagery. This was incorporated into the overall
                                     classification for use in the shoreline sensitivity rating.
                                        From the classified satellite digital data it was possible to develop a shoreline sensitivity index by
                                     using a spatial search technique to construct a two-pixels-wide ribbon around each land use category.
                                     The results of the spatial search were then overlaid on the digital panchromatic base map. This process
                                     resulted in a color-coded symbol that was placed adjacent to the shoreline feature shown on the base
                                     map. The final product closely resembles the ESI map developed with conventional methods. However,
                                     the information in the digital product is current, and the ability to update to meet changing conditions
                                     in a timely and cost-effective manner is built into the map.
                                        Future work in this project will concentrate on developing the data base aspect of the ESI map. The
                                     use of icons and "hot keys" to query the data base will improve the usability of ESI maps. These icons
                                     link to a data base containing important information, such as the number of skimmers or type of launch
                                     ramps at a marina.
                                        Much more work is required before the ESI map is fully automated. However, current results show
                                     that incorporation of remote sensing and GIS technologies can produce accurate and current ESI maps
                                     showing shoreline sensitivity.









                                                                                                                  NATioNAL PRwRAms 61



                           Wetland Mapping Supported by the U.S. Environmental
                                                               Protection Agency



                                                                                by



                                                                       John R. Maxtedi

                                                                Office of Wetlancls Protection
                                                          U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                                                                             A-104F
                                                                      401 M Street, S.W.
                                                                   Washington, D.C. 20460


                                 ABSTRACT.-Wetland mapping is supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                                 (EPA) through the Section 404 and Superfurid programs. There are two basic types ofwetlands
                                 mapping activities under these programs; comprehensive planning activities under the 404
                                 program referred to as "advance identification" (ADID) and specific studies of 404 enforcement
                                 and Superfund sites. ADID projects assess the locations, finictions and values, and potential
                                 threats to wetlands within a prescribed area. ADID projects are generally conducted at the
                                 1:24,000 scale or smaller (up to 1:250,000), over areas generally greater than 1,000 acres (and
                                 up to millions of acres), and use information sources ranging from high-resolution aerial
                                 photography to satellite imagery. Section 404 enforcement and Superfund mapping activities
                                 of specific sites are also supported by EPA. This mapping is conducted generally at scales of
                                 1:24,000 or larger (down to 1:3,000), over areas generally less than 1,000 acres, and uses aerial
                                 photography as the information source. Technical capability for EPA wetland mapping is
                                 available primarily through the Office of Research and Development; limited capability is
                                 available through EPA:s regional offices. EPA wetlands mapping activities rely, to a large
                                 extent, on the mapping conventions developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National
                                 Wetlands Inventory (NWI) program, and in most cases directly use NWI maps and NWI
                                 mapping capabilities.


                      Our understanding of the importance of wet-                  tion has been given to the need to protect the
                   lands and the effects of both natural and anthro-               remaining wetland resources in the United States
                   pogenic influences on the Nation@s wetlands re-                 through the completion of the final report of the
                   sources has increased tremendously over just the                National Wetlands Policy Forum (The Conserva-
                   last 30 years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service               tion Foundation and the National Wetlands Policy
                   (FWS) has played a leadership role in the classifi-             Forum 1988) and the adoption of the Forum's
                   cation of wetlands (Cowardin et al. 1979), the as-              recommendation ofno net loss ofwetlands by Pres-
                   sessment of fLmctions and values (Sather 1984)                  ident Bush. The U.S. Environmental Protection
                   and the assessment of the causes and rate of wet'               Agency's (EPA) role in wetlands mapping within
                   land losses Mner 1984). In just the last 5 years,               the Section 404 and Superfund programs has in-
                                                                                   creased over the last several years as our scientific
                   EPA has developed a fully operational wetlands                  understanding of wetlands and public support for
                   research program to complement research pro-                    wetlands protection have increased.
                   grams within the FWS and the U.S. Army Corps
                   of Engineers (COE). Most recently, added atten-                                       Section 4 04
                    Present address: State of Delaware, Department of Natural          Since its introduction in the Federal Water Pol-
                    Resources and Environinental Control, Division of Water        lution Control Act of 1972 (Clean Water Act), Sec-
                    Resources, Watershed Assessment Branch, 89 Kings               tion 404 has grown to be a major program within
                    Highway, P 0. Box 1401, Dover, Del. 19903.                     EPA; the program presently includes about 120








                62    BioLorxcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                full-time employees in the regions and headquar-         based on the evaluation of 291 NPL sites, 62.5% are
                ters. EPA!s primary role under Section 404 is to         within 2 miles of wetlands, and 32.6% are in wet-
                review permits issued by COE for the discharge of        lands themselves. The EPA Office of Emergency
                dredge and fill material into waters of the United       and Remedial Response is responsible for adminis-
                States. The scope of the program has evolved from        tering the SuperfLmd program and has also devel-
                one that covered only navigable waters in 1972 to        oped similar information documenting the proxim-
                the current program that applies to all waters of        ity of NPL sites to wetlands. This information
                the United States. The current Federal definition        supports the continued development of wetlands
                of "waters of the United States" is contained in         mapping capability by EPA!s Superfund program.
                several Federal regulations, including those devel-
                oped for the National Pollution Discharge Elimi-
                nation System (40 CFR, Part 122.2) and the Sec-                           Objectives
                tion 404 program (33 CFR, Part 328; 40 CFR, Parts
                230.3 and 232.2). These regulations also include           I describe two types of wetland mapping sup-
                specific definitions ofwetlands. Wetlands mapping        ported by EPA: mapping to support the compre-
                supported by EPA has grown as the scope Of the           hensive planning of wetland resources, referred to
                Section 404 program has grown.                           as "advance identification" (ADID); and mapping
                   The 1987 Amendments to the Clean Water Act            of specific Section 404 enforcement and Super-
                give EPA and COE joint authority to enforce the          fund sites.
                requirements of Section 404. Section 309 provides
                a variety of enforcement mechanisms, including
                the authority to require violators to stop discharge            Advance Identification
                activities and to seek civil and monetary penalties                        Mapping
                and prison sentences for violators. This enforce-
                ment authority requires EPA to generate evidence
                of violations to be presented in court. Violations         Section 230.80 of the Section 404(b)(1) guide-
                often are detected from aerial photographs.              lines (45 Federal Register 85336, 24 December
                Therefore, as EPA's authority to enforce the pro-        1980) provides for EPA and COE to jointly evalu-
                visions of Section 404 has increased, so too has         ate potential disposal sites within a prescribed
                EPA's capability to map wetlands subject to illegal      area, a process referred to as ADID. EPA has
                fill activities. EPA recently developed a general        prepared draft guidance on the methods of con-
                overview document that describes the enforce-            ducting ADID projects (EPA 1989b); the draft in-
                ment and other elements of the -Section 404 pro-         cludes a list and description of all ADID projects
                gram (EPA 1989a).                                        completed or proposed to date. ADID identifies, in
                                                                         advance of activities (i.e., development), wetlands
                                                                         suitable for fill and wetlands unsuitable for fill.
                                    Superfund                            This planning approach is designed to direct devel-
                   The Comprehensive Environmental Response,             opment away from the most valuable wetlands,
                Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980          thereby reducing conflicts between affected par-
                and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthoriza-            ties. The following lists the basic characteristics of
                tion Act of 1986 give EPA the responsibility for         ADID's:
                managing the cleanup of hazardous waste sites in           0 Jointly administered by EPA and COE. The
                the United States. Mapping of a site, including the          project must have the involvement and
                delineation of wetlands, is often used in remedia-           endorsement of both organizations to be
                tion to document the extent of contamination and             called ADID.
                the parties responsible for the cleanup. If a respon-      0 Provides regulatory predictability to a broad
                sible party cannot be identified, wetlands mapping           range of interests-government, develop-
                may be completed to define cleanup goals. Such               ment, environment, and the general public.
                delineations are done by using present and histor-         * ADID provides information and advice.
                ical aerial photography.                                     ADID results are not regulatory; that is,
                   Currently, 1,165 sites are on EPA!s national              wetlands suitable for fill will not necessarily
                priority list (NPL). This list is used to rank the           receive a Section 404 permit and wetlands
                expenditure of Federal fimds appropriated under              unsuitable for fill will not necessarily be
                CERCLA. Magistro et al. (1989) reported that,                denied a Section 404 permit.








                                                                                                  NATioNAL PRoGRAms 63



                   ADID's are used to support many regulatory          vide the basis for the mapping conducted under
                   activities under the Section 404 program            ADID. Most ADID projects use the mapping con-
                   (e.g., permits, enforcement, and mitigation.)       ventions developed for the NWI program. In many
                  Many other benefits can result from completed        instances, ADID funding is used directly to gener-
               ADID's. For example, ADID's provide a basis for         ate new NWI maps or to update existing maps.
               the development of wetlands protection programs         Consequently, map scales are generally 1:24,000,
               at the Federal, State, or local levels of government,   and wetland types are classified according to the
               the acquisition of priority wetlands by government      Cowardin et al. (1979) system used in the NWI
               and private organizations, and the development of       program.
               public education programs.                                 The map products developed in ADID projects
                  There are several steps in the ADID process;         consist of two basic types: NWI maps and aerial
                                                                       photographs. In both instances, the wetland types
               these steps are described in detail in the EPA          developed with NWI mapping conventions are
               guidance draft mentioned previously. The first          used to designate wetland areas either suitable or
               step is the selection of the site to be evaluated.      unsuitable for fill. In some instances, the final map
               Ecological, threat potential, and political factors     product omits the detailed wetland classification
               are used to select the size and specific boundaries     information and only includes the designations of
               of the ADID project. Next, the goals of the ADID        wetlands suitable or unsuitable for fill.
               are selected. The goal may be to support regulatory
               activities (i.e., Section 404 permitting), State and
               local program development, or public outreach and           Summary of Projects: EPA Region 4
               education. In most cases, ADID projects include a                            (Atlanta)
               regulatory-based goal. Interagency coordination            Detailed information on all of the ongoing or
               and public participation are the next steps in the      planned ADID projects could not be collected in
               process. In this step, EPA and COE issue a public       time for presentation at the NOAA workgroup
               notice before beginning the ADID. (Government           symposium. The following summary of ADID pro-
               agencies and the public are also informed of in-        jects in Region 4 is presented to illustrate the
               terim and final results.) Finally, the wetlands         variety ofIwetland mapping activities supported by
               within the site are mapped, their functions and         the ADID process. Appendix A is a map of the nine
               values defined, and suitable or unsuitable deter-       ADID projects currently underway or proposed
               minations completed.                                    in EPA Region 4 (southeastern United States).
                  No hard and fast criteria exist for determining      Appendix B provides a breakdown of information
               whether a particular wetland is suitable or unsuit-     on each project with regard to funding, the group
               able for fill. General criteria are included in the     responsible for the mapping, the status of NWI
               EPA guidance draft, and include those criteria
               contained in the Section 404 program guidelines         mapping, and the type of photography used.
               (45 Federal Register 85336, 24 December 1980).             As shown in Appendix B, most projects use NWI
               The delineation of wetland areas and the assess-        maps as the baseline map product, with the excep-
               ment of their functions and values provide the          tion of the Carolina Bays project, which will use
                                                                       wetland maps produced by the State. In some cases,
               technical basis for this determination.                 existing NWI maps are used directly, whereas at
                  As of March 1989, there were 58 ADID projects        other times, new or updated NWI maps are gener-
               either completed, underway, or proposed for start-      ated. Two basic mechanisms exist for producing
               up. Table 1 provides a breakdown of these projects         w or updated maps: (1) the use of interagency
               by EPA regional office. A size distribution for         ne
               36 ADID projects summarized in Appendix C of            agreements or grants to other agencies, including
               the ADID guidance draft is listed in Table 2.           the FWS, State agency, and one local government;
                                                                       and (2) the use of in-house technical staff within
                                                                       EPA. Two of the largest ADID's, Pocosins in North
                                    Mapping                            Carolina and Carolina Bays in South Carolina, will
                                                                       use existing wetland maps. Most new mapping
                  The mapping of wetlands       for ADID projects      activities will use National Iiigh Altitude Photog-
               provides the basis for assessing wetland functions      raphy as the base photos. Two projects include the
               and values and the determination of areas suitable      digitization of the wetland mapping information.
               or unsuitable for fill. National Wetlands Inventory     The Mobile Bay Area ADID is unique in that the
               (NWI) maps from the FWS, where available, pro-          study includes the comparison between NWI maps








                         64        BioLoGicAL RF.PoRT 90(18)



                         Table 1. Number and status of advance identifications completed, currently under way, or proposed as
                                                             of March 1989. Map shows geographic area of each eegion.




                                      REGION                      COMPLETED                           CURRENT                       PROPOSED                          TOTAL


                                                                                                              2                             0                              3
                                         11                               0                                   1                             1                              2
                                         111                              5                                   4                             0                              9
                                         IV                               0                                   3                             6                              9
                                         V                                5                                   6                             1                            12
                                         VI                               1                                   3                             2                              6
                                         VII                              0                                   2                             1                              3
                                         VIII                             0                                   2                             2                              4
                                         Ix                               0                                   0                             1                              1
                                         x                                2                                   7                             0                              9


                                         TOTALS                         14                                  30                             14                             58





                                         EPA REGIONAL OFFICES




                                                                                                                                                2.
                                                                                                            .0..             ct-.                   1. 1.  N1-

                                                                                  01.                                .11
                                                    San F-@,.                        0
                                                                                     .en,e,
                                                                                                        K amas C, ty            K@

                                                                                                  0.1.
                                                                                            TEX

                                                                                                                      .Iss -A       0



                                                                                                  6
                                                  10



                                                                                                                              1-co









                                                                                                       NATioNAL PB)wRAms         65



                Table 2. Size distribution for 36 advance identifi-        required. If a smaller scale is necessary, the trans-
                              cation (ADID) projects.                      lation of the NWI information to the smaller scale
                                                                           is not labor- or time-intensive when compared
                Number                                                     with the generation of maps using other sources
                  of ADID                                                  of information.
                  Projects    Percent             Size
                      4         11        More than 1 million acres
                                           (largest 3.5 million)                            Site-specific
                     10         28        100,WO to 1 million acres                Mapping-Section 404
                     13         36        10,000 to 100,000 acres             Enforcement and Superfund
                      7         20        1,000 to 10,000 acres
                      2           5       Fewer than 1,000 acres              EPA supports the mapping of wetlands on spe-
                                           (smallest 50 acres)             cific project sites identified as part of the Section
                                                                           404 enforcement and Superfund program activi-
                                                                           ties. Stokely (1987) summarized EPA remote-
                                                                           sensingsupport for Section 404 enforcement activ-
                and computer-generated maps based on aerial pho-           ities, and Norton and Prince (1985) summarized
                tography and ERDAS software.                               the use of remote sensing for wetlands assessment
                  EPA funding supporting ADID projects in fiscal           at Superfund sites. I do not discuss these two
                year 1990 is about $250,000. It is not possible to         programs in detail. The reader is encouraged to
                estimate the proportion of this funding that specif-       review these documents and to contact the EPA
                ically supports wetland mapping.                           program offices responsible for these two pro-
                                                                           grams. The following is a general description of the
                       Perspectives for the Workgroup                      procedures for conducting site-specific wetlands
                                                                           mapping under these two programs.
                  The level of activity involving wetland mapping             The deternAnation of wetland boundary changes
                under ADID has increased over the last few years           over time is the most important characteristic that
                and is expected to increase in the future. Before          distinguishes wetland mapping activities under
                1987, five ADID projects covered hundreds to thou-         these two programs from mapping conducted under
                sands of acres. Between 1988 and 1989,58 projects          ADID. In Section 404 enforcement, it is not as
                covered tens of thousands to millions of acres. This       important to understand the functions and values
                growth is due to additional EPA funding for ADID           of the wetlands as it is to precisely define the extent
                activities from EPA's Section 404 program.                 (acreage) of wetland loss, and wetland condition
                  ADID relies on NWI maps for documentation,               before an illegal activity occurred. This historical
                and in some instances directly supports the devel-         baseline condition is used in criminal prosecution
                opment of new or updated NWI maps. NWI maps                and provides the goal for restoration of the site back
                and the wetland classification system used in              to its original condition. Restoration often involves
                NWI provide a consistent basis for evaluations.            removal of the fill and some replanting of native
                Because the detailed classification is often not           wetland plants. In Superfund, historical informa-
                necessary in the final determination of wetlands           tion also is important to define the extent of impact,
                suitable and unsuitable for fill, the final product        support the identification of parties responsible for
                often does not include such detail. This experience        the cleanup, and to define cleanup goals. The delin-
                illustrates the utility of a standardized mapping          eation of wetland boundaries and how these bound-
                protocol and map products developed by the Fed-            aries have changed over time because of human
                eral government. This is particularly important            activity is the primary objective for wetland map-
                for assessing large areas that may cross State             ping conducted under both programs.
                boundaries, where different protocols would cre-              The present and historical data collected in-
                ate compatibility problems.                                clude wetland boundary delineation, vegetation
                  Mapping that is more detailed than NWI is                cover type, and physical parameters. This infor-
                usually not required. The 1:24,000 scale of NWI            mation is often easily detected from aerial photo-
                maps is an appropriate scale for most ADID's. For          graphs. Because aerial photographs are often
                large areas covering parts of entire States, map-          available as far back as the 1930's, they provide
                ping at smaller scales (e.g., 1:100,000) is usually        the necessary historical baseline information.








                   66    BioLk)GicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   Consequently, aerial photography has been a grams relies heavily on the standardized mapping
                   powerful tool for both the Section 404 enforcement provided by the Federal NWI program.
                   and Superfund programs.


                                       Mapping                                 Support Services from the
                     Generally, the sites evaluated under these two               Office of Research and
                   programs are have fewer than 1,000 acres, and                          Development
                   most often fewer than 100 acres. Because the area
                   is relatively small, and the need for both accurate       EPA's primary source of original wetlands
                   and precise information is great because of legal      mapping services is located within the Office of
                   actions and liability determinations, mapping done     Research and Development. The Environmental
                   under these programs is often at larger scales than    Photographic Interpretation Center (EPIC) of the
                   the 1:24,000 scale used by the NWI. In instances       Environmental Monitoring Systems Lab-Las
                   where up-to-date NWI mapping is available, the         Vegas (a branch of the Advanced Monitoring Sys-
                   NWI maps are often used directly, although even        tems Division), supports many of EPXs regional
                   then new photography is often taken on lower-alti-     wetlands mapping needs. For example, EPIC pro-
                   tude flights to more precisely define wetland          vided the wetlands mapping for EPA's pilot ADID
                   boundaries.                                            for Chincoteague, Virginia, by using large-scale
                     The mapping conducted under these programs           aerial photography (Norton 1986). EPIC supports
                   relies on the mapping conventions developed by         Section 404 wetlands enforcement with special
                   NWI. Legal actions and liability determination re-     overflights, before and after documentation of il-
                   lated to these programs benefit from the widely        legal actions, chronological change analysis,
                   accepted system of delineation and classification      courtroom displays, and expert testimony. For
                   provided by NWI. The map products developed for        several years, EPIC has also produced chronolog-
                   court cases under both the Section 404 enforcement     ical assessment map series of the wetlands
                   and Superfund programs are generally aerial pho-       around selected Superfurid sites.
                   tographs with overlays. Photos provide an element
                   of reality that is needed in the courtroom proceed-
                   ings, and the small site area often lends itself to
                   presentation on an aerial photograph. Map or photo                      Conclusions
                   scales are often in the range of 1:3,000 to 1:24,000.
                   The classification of wetlands is based on Cowardin
                   et al. (1979) or a more simplified scheme derived         EPA provides limited support for wetlands map-
                   from Cowardin et al.                                   ping under the Section 404 and Superfund pro-
                     No detailed estimate has been developed of EPA       gram . Most of these activities rely on the map
                   funding for wetland mapping under Section 404          conventions developed by FWS for the NWI pro-
                   enforcement and Superfund; a rough estimate for        gram. The activities range from comprehensive
                   the Section 404 program is under $100,000 per          planning covering thousands to millions of acres to
                   year.                                                  site-specific assessments of areas less than 1,000
                                                                          acres where mapping is needed to support legal
                                                                          actions. Consequently, abroad range of map scales
                         Perspectives for the Workgroup                   is used. Wherever possible, the information avail-
                                                                          able on the NWI 1:24,000-scale maps is directly
                     The level of enforcement and Superfund activity      used in EPA-supported wetland mapping. In many
                   related to wetland mapping will increase as these      instances, particularly under the comprehensive
                   two program continue to develop.                       planning program known as advance identifica-
                     Map scales are often larger than NWI scales,         tion, EPA funding directly supports the develop-
                   and NWI provides a consistent protocol for devel-      ment of NWI maps. EPA is one of many users of the
                   oping these more detailed wetland maps. However,       FWS classification system, the NWI mapping pro-
                   because these assessments cover relatively small       tocol, and NWI maps. The close association in these
                   areas, these maps are often not used to directly       activities between FWS and EPA illustrates the
                   support the development of NWI maps. Similar to        value of a coordinated Federal approach toward
                   ADID, the mapping done under these two pro-            wetland mapping in the United States.









                                                                                                          NATioNAL PRoGRAms 67



                           Acknowledgments                                     symposium on remote sensing of the environment.
                                                                               Vol. Il. 11 pp.
                                                                            Sather, J. H. 1984. An overview of major wetland
                  I thank D. Norton of EPIC, and G. Vanderhoogt                functions and values. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,
               of EPA Region 4 for their assistance and guidance               FWS/OBS-84/18. 68 pp.
               in preparing this paper.                                     Stokely, P M. 1987. The Environmental Protection
                                                                               Agency's remote sensing support of the Clean Water
                                                                               Act's Section 404 enforcement activity. 8 pp.
                                                                            The Conservation Foundation and the National
                                 References                                    Wetlands Pblicy Forum. 1988. Protecting America's
                                                                               wetlands: an action agenda. 69 pp.
               Cowardin, L. M., V Carter, R C. Golet, and E. T. LaRoe.      Tiner, R. W, Jr. 1984. Wetlands of the United States:
                  1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater               current status and recent trends. U.S. Fish and
                  habitats of the United States. U. S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,      Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory,
                  FWS/OBS-79/31. 103 pp.                                       Washington, D.C. 59 pp.
               Magistro, John L., L. C. Lee, and W Ives. 1989. The          U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1989a.
                  relationship of Superfund sites to wetlands. 40 pp.          Highlights of Section 404. U.S. Environmental
                  [unpublished report]                                         Protection Agency,           Office    of Wetlands
               Norton, D. J. 1986. Suitability of Chincoteague wetlands        Protection. 12 pp.
                  for Section 404 activities. U.S. Environmental            U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1989b.
                  Protection Agency, Rep. TS-TIC-85037. Warrenton,             Advance identification-guidance to EPA regional
                  Va. 19 pp.                                                   offices on the use of advance identification
               Norton, D. J., and J. Prince. 1985. Use of remote               authorities under Section 404 of the Clean Water
                  sensing for wetland assessment in hazardous waste            Act. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office
                  sites. Proceedings of the nineteenth international           of Wetlands Protection. 60 pp. [draft report]








                   68    Biour_icAL REPogr W18)



                             Appendix A. Advanced Identification (ADID) Studies
                                                               in Region IV







                      WEST KENTUCKY
                      COAL FIELD WETLANDS                                                                  POCOSINS A140 ASSOCIAIEL) WEII@NNI)S
                                                                                                           N.C. COASTAL PLAIN (PROIP06ED
                 WOLF RIVER WETLANDS
                 MEMPHIS AREA





                                                                                                 CAEOLINA DAY WETLANDS
                                                                                                 S.C., COASTAL PLAIN



                                                                                    f

                                                                                      SWAMP OF TOA
                                                                                      &BANY AREA @PROPO.50)
                 [!EARL RIVER FLOODPLAIN
                 JACKSON AREA                MOBIL!!AY A EA



                                                                WEST BROWARD COUNTY

                                                                   N,E. SHARK RIVER SLO GH-      -5011THWEST BISCAYNE BAY
         ADVANCED IDENTIFICATION                                   DADE COUNTY                    GOAStAL AREA i,@_)
                                                                                             -FLORIDA KEYS
         STUDIES IN REGION IV


               pIELD wCk)K uM1)pkWA\j
                OR COMPLE-rED
                                      OF zt4pi,F_tiWTA-r10N
                               "ODPLAIN             @A@YRF A







                       fieldwork under way or completed).









                                                                                                      NATioNAL Ppo(,,R"s       69



                     Appendix B. Costs Associated with Wetlands Mapping in
                                    Advanced Identification (ADID) Studies



              Costs Associated with Wetlands Mapping in ADTDqtudjeq:

                ADIDs using 1AGs or Grants to other Agencies to perform mapping:
                          Pearl River/Jackson, MS:
                          (No NWI maps for this study area)
                          1AG w/FWS = $37,000; Assume 2/3 for mapping                                          $24,666
                          NHAP photography                                                                         845
                    Digitization of maps                                                                       25,000
                          Total to map & digitize                                                              50,511

                    Mobile Bay Area:
                          (Existing NWI maps out-of-date.)
                          IAG w/FWS to create new NWI maps for 24 quads         $36,235/EPA
                                & $15,000/State                                                                51,235
                          Digitization                                                                         20,000
                          Aerial Photos for ERDAS mapping                                                        7,500
                          EPA personnel time to process in ERDAS                                                 6,000

                    Kentucky Coalfield:
                          (Using NWI maps as basis for mapping; NWI maps are based on most recent
                                NHAPs)
                          Grant to State = $35,000; V2 for field verification/updating of NWI                  17,500
                          USGS Topo maps                                                                           450

                    Southwest Biscayne Bay:
                          Grant to Local Agency = 20,000; mapping                                              13,333
                          NHAP                                                                                   2,000
                          (NWI maps out-of-date)

                ADIDs using in-house technical staff for mapping:

                    Northeast Shark River Slough:
                          NHAP                                                                                   1,100
                          staff time-4 weeks/GS 11                                                               2,441
                          travel to study area                                                                   1,500
                          (NW1 maps out-of-date)

                    West Broward County:
                          NHAP                                                                                   1,100
                          staff time-6 week4/GS 11                                                               3,362
                          travel to study area                                                                   2,400
                          (NW1 maps out-of-date)

                    Swamp of Tow
                          NHAP                                                                                   1,215
                          staff tim" week4/GS 11                                                                 4,882
                          travel to study area                                                                   2,000
                          (NWI maps out-of-date)

                ADIDs using existing wetlands maps (no new mapping):

                    Pocosine/N.C.-using existing NWI maps
                    Carolina Bays of S.C.-using existing maps produced by the state








                                                                                                              NATIONAL PwGi?Ams          71



                         U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental
                       Monitoring and Assessment Program, an Ecological Status
                                                           and Trends Program


                                                                             by



                                                                       John F. Paul

                                                        U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                                                         Environmental Research Laboratory
                                                                    27 Tarzwell Drive
                                                          Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882


                                                                       A. F Holland


                                                                        Versar, Inc.
                                                                   9200 Rumsey Road
                                                              Columbia, Maryland 20145


                                                                   Steven C. Schimmel

                                                        U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                                                         Environmental Research Laboratory
                                                                    27TarzwellDrive
                                                          Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882


                                                                   J. Kevin Summers

                                                        U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                                                                       Sabine Island
                                                               GulfBreeze, Florida 32561


                                                                             and



                                                                       K. John Scott

                                                   Science Application International Corporation
                                                                    27 Tarzwell Drive
                                                          Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882


                                ABSTRACT.-The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is initiating an
                                Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) to monitor the status and trends
                                of the Nation's near-coastal waters, forests, freshwater wetlands, surface waters,
                                agroecosystems, deserts, and rangelands. This program is also intended to evaluate the
                                effectiveness of EPA policies in protecting the ecological resources of these systems. The
                                monitoring data collected for all ecosystems will be integrated for national status and trends
                                assessments. The near-coastal component of EMAP consists of four ecosystem categories:
                                estuaries, wetlands, coastal waters, and the Great Lakes. The near-coastal ecosystems have








                   72     BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



                                 been regionalized and classified, an integrated sampling strategy has been designed, and
                                 quality-control procedures and data-base management designs will be implemented. A
                                 demonstration project will be conducted in the Virginian biogeographic province in 1990,
                                 followed by a full-scale national implementation. EMAP will characterize national ecological
                                 resources to establish a baseline for monitoring and assessment. The characterization strategy
                                 involves the application of remote-sensing technology to obtain high-resolution data on
                                 selected sample sites and lower resolution data over broad geographic areas.



                      The cost of environmental regulatory programs               developing EMAP to determine the current status
                   has been estimated at more than $70 billion annu-              extent, changes, and trends in the condition of the
                   ally, yet the means to assess the long-range effects           Nation's ecological resources. When fully imple-
                   of these programs on the environment do not exist.             mented, EMAP will be able to respond to the
                   While regulatory programs are based on our best                following questions:
                   understanding of the environment at the time Of                *  What proportion of the Nation's ecological
                   program development, it is critical to use long-term              resources are degrading or improving, and
                   monitoring to confirm the effectiveness of these                  where and at what rate?
                   programs in achieving environmental goals, and to              9  What are the likely causes of the observed
                   corroborate the science on which they are based.                  degraded conditions?
                      The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency                    *  What is the current status, extent, and
                   (EPA), the U.S. Congress, and private environ-                    geographic distribution of our ecological
                   mental organizations have long recognized the                     resources?
                   need to improve our ability to document the condi-             0  Are control and mitigation programs effective in
                   tion of the environment. Congressional hearings in                maintaining or improving the quality of the
                   1984 on the Monitoring Improvement Act con-                       resources?
                   cluded that despite considerable expenditures on
                   monitoring, Federal agencies could assess neither
                   the status of ecological resources nor the overall                           0 Jectives of the
                   progress toward legally mandated goals of mitigat-                 Environmental Monitoring
                   ing or preventing adverse ecological effects. In the
                   last decade, articles and editorials in professional                 and Assessment Program
                   journals of the environmental sciences have re-                   To provide the information necessary to address
                   peatedly called for the collection of more relevant            the previous questions and the goal ofthe program,
                   and comparable ecological data and easy access            to   EMAP has the following objectives:
                   those data for the research community. The most
                   commonly suggested tools for accomplishing these                  1. Estimate the current status, extent, changes,
                   goals include a national ecological survey and a               and trends in indicators of the Nation's ecological
                   bureau of environmental statistics.                            resources on a regional and national basis, with
                      In 1988 the EPA Science Advisory Board, af-                 known confidence limits.
                   firming the existence of a major gap in environ-                  2. Monitor indicators of pollutant exposure and
                   mental data and recognizing the broad base of                  habitat condition, and seek correlative relations
                   support for better environmental monitoring, rec-              between anthropogenic stresses and ecological
                   ommended that EPA start a program that would                   conditions that identify possible causes of adverse
                   monitor ecological status and trends and develop               effects.
                   innovative methods for anticipating emerging                      3. Provide periodic statistical summaries and
                   problems before they reach crisis proportions. EPA             interpretive reports on ecological status and
                   was encouraged to become more active in ecologi-               trends to the EPA administrator and the public.
                   cal monitoring because its regulatory responsibil-
                   ities require quantitative, scientific assessments of                        ENUP Approach
                   the complex effects of anthropogenic activities on
                   ecosystems. The Environmental Monitoring and                      Assessing whether the condition of the nation's
                   Assessment Program (ENLAP) is EPA's response to                ecological resources is improving or degrading re-
                   these recommendations.                                         quires ecological data on large geographic scales
                      EPA's Office of Research and Development, in                and over a long time. EMAP represents a different
                   concert with several other Federal agencies, is                approach to monitoring than has been used by








                                                                                                      NA"ONAL PRWRAW 73



               EPA in the past. Specifically, the program is dif-          design the monitoring program for the near-
               ferent in five aspects:                                     coastal component:
                  1. EMAP proposes to use a top-down ecosystem             * Review and evaluate existing data on
               approach in determining appropriate parameters                near-coastal ecosystems with respect to EMAPs
               in the environment. The program proposes to mon-              objectives. It is not EPA's intention to develop a
               itor those things that relate most directly with              new program that disregards historical and
               ecosystem-level responses.                                    ongoing monitoring activities. EMAP will use
                  2. An integrated approach is used in the sense             the wealth of information that has already been
               of being able to look across ecosystem types. For             obtained on near-coastal ecosystems.
               example, researchers not only want to determine             9 Determine the pollution endpoints of concern
               the condition of estuaries, but also would like to            that the program is to address, and then
               determine the possible causes of adverse condi-               develop, evaluate, and standardize measures
               tions that are observed. Scientists recognize that a          and indicators of conditions that relate to these
               lot of problems in estuaries are not due to activities        endpoints. Some of these indicators can be
               that occur directly in the estuaries, but are due to          implemented directly into the program,
               anthropogenic activities in the terrestrial systems           whereas others will require further research
               of our country. Estuaries are the downstream re-              and evaluation before they can be implemented.
               pository for the products of human activities,                Regionalize and classify near-coastal
               whether these products get there by aquatic routes            ecosystems as an objective way of grouping
               or through the atmosphere.                                    systems with similar attributes. Useful
                  3. A number of indicators will be used to deter-           groupings are those that provide within-group
               mine ecological condition. A lot more information             variations that are less than those among
               about the systems can be obtained by monitoring               groups. Because all ecosystems cannot be
               a group of parameters than by measuring a single              sampled, classification should aid extrapolation
               parameter.                                                    among systems within a class.
                  4. EMAP is envisioned as a long-term program             0 Design a statistically unbiased, flexible,
               within EPA. The concept of long-term within some              integrated sampling strategy for all near-
               parts of the agency is 3-6 months. Typical research           coastal ecosystems that will be compatible with
               programs in EPA generally last 3 years. In EMAP,              the EMAP inland ecosystem strategy
               however, long-term means decades. For example,                (U.S.Environmental Protection Agency 1989).
               to study the responses of ecological systems to               For the program to provide diagnostic
               regional-scale pollution control strategies (which            capabilities (e.g., relate pollution problems with
               in themselves take years to implement over an                 potential causes), the overall sampling strategy
               entire region) would take as much as a decade.                must be integrated with a compatible statistical
                  5. EPA is proposing to implement EMAP as a                 design.
               multiagency endeavor. For example, researchers              0 Implement logistics, quality assurance and
               in the near-coastal component of the program are              quality control, and data-base operations. These
               working with NOAA's National Status and Trends                elements are the core of the program, and are
               Program to merge the two programs into a single               necessary to meet EMAPs objectives.
               Federal marine monitoring program. Also, EMAP               0 Conduct a demonstration project for estuaries
               is closely coordinating its wetlands activities with          in the Virginian biogeographic province (Cape
               the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Na-                Hatteras to Cape Cod) in 1990. This demon-
               tional Wetlands Inventory to ensure compatibility             stration project will be used to design the
               and to use the extensive expertise that already               full-scale national implementation portion of
               exists.                                                       the program.
                                                                           0 Implement the full-scale national program.
               ENUP Near-coastal Component
                  While the EPA's goal is to establish EMAP in                 Near-coastal Endpoints of
               all ecosystem types, its initial emphasis is on                                 Concern
               testing and implementing the program in the
               near-coastal estuarine and wetlands systems. The              EPA clearly does not have resources to monitor
               following approach is being used to develop and all attributes of all near-coastal resources, or to








                  74    BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                  conduct research on all specific pollution problems       These endpoints of ecological values may be
                  that are likely to be identified as being of concern.  affected by any number of anthropogenic or natu-
                  Therefore, EMAP activities must focus on ecosys-       ral forces. For example, wetland loss and the
                  tem attributes that are of utmost concern to soci-     subsequent declines of fishery nursery areas may
                  ety. These attributes are termed endpoints of con-     be affected more severely by hurricanes and sea
                  cern, and each endpoint selected for monitoring        level rise than by shoreline development. EMAP
                  should have a direct and easily recognized value       researchers find it challenging to discriminate
                  to society. It may not always be possible to take a    this type of effect. To do this, we selected indica-
                  direct measurement of each of the selected end-        tors of endpoint condition that, when used in
                  points. In some cases, it is necessary to measure      concert, would broadly identify the environmental
                  variables, here termed indicators, that have char-     impact. The major environmental problems ad-
                  acteristics reflective of the endpoints, but for       dressed are:
                  which field data are more easily collected and         *  eutrophication, to include both primary and
                  interpreted. Measurements of indicators will be           secondary productivity imbalances in the water
                  used as estimates of endpoints only if they are           column and benthos;
                  directly comparable to endpoint responses and are      0  toxic and pathogenic contamination ofbiological
                  also typical of systemwide responses.                     tissue, water column, and sediments;
                    The endpoints of ecological status are clearly       0  habitat modification, primarily oriented at
                  related to the public's use of the near-coastal eco-      wetlands and submerged aquatic vegetation;
                  systems for commercial, recreational, and aes-         0  cumulative impacts resulting from the
                  thetic purposes. A primary endpoint is the health         integrated effects of various categories of
                  of fish and shellfish populations. In other words,        environmental stress; and
                  are fish and shellfish populations present in den-     0  emerging environmental problems, such as
                  sities sufficient to make commercial and recrea-          global climate change, unknown contaminants,
                  tional harvesting feasible? Also, if the populations      overharvesting, and declining biodiversity.
                  are abundant, are they free of disease and other
                  manifestations of stress, and are they safe to eat?
                  In short, a major endpoint of concern is the ability     Indicators Selected for ENLAP
                  of the near-coastal water to support harvestable
                  and contaminant-free fishery populations. While              Near-coastal Component
                  this endpoint refers to species of commercial or          The core indicators for the near-coastal compo-
                  recreational importance, it is directly related to     nent of EMAP are:
                  regulatory mandates to maintain naturally repro-          Dissolved oxygen. Hypoxic or anoxic conditions
                  ducing populations and communities of resource         are aftmetional response of the system to primary
                  value or otherwise (Federal Water Pollution Con-       production imbalances, which can result from nu-
                  trol Act of 1972 and subsequent amendments, and        trient and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
                  Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act        loadings. Associated indicators are nutrient dis-
                  of 1972).                                              charge and loadings data.
                    The second major endpoint of concern is the             Water clarity. Algal blooms and high suspended
                  maintenance ofnear-coastal habitat structure. An       loads can have significant effects on other system
                  example is the public concern for wetland loss and     components. Transmissometry and fluorometry
                  its subsequent effects on species and the func-        measurements will be made at least two times
                  tional value of wetlands as physical and chemical      during the index period at each station. These
                  buffers between terrestrial and aquatic systems.       measurements will be used in conjunction with the
                  Changes in the distribution and abundance Of           dissolved oxygen (DO) indicator.
                  submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) also have              Benthic abundance, biomass, and species com-
                  dramatic effects on the public's perception of en-     position. This indicator reflects the ability of the
                  vironmental health. Any modification in habitat        benthos to support bottom fish populations and the
                  structure, whether it be the filling of a wetland,     ability of the benthos to maintain the natural
                  diversion of freshwater inflow, or the presence of     sediment processing features important to nutri-
                  noxious algal blooms, is correctly perceived as an     ent and contaminant flux. The condition of the
                  environmental health problem.                          benthic community is also an integrator of the








                                                                                                    NATjoNAL PRwRAms         75



                overall condition of the water body, and may re-           Shellfish contaminants. These contaminant
                spond to contaminants or to eutrophic conditions.        measures are the same as for sediments and will
                   Sediment toxicity. The sediment toxicity indica-      serve as a direct measure of contaminant expo-
                tor that uses amphipods is also an integrated mea-       sure. They will, however, only be used to explain
                sure that, in this case, is specific to contaminant      changes in growth and survival.
                exposure and effects.                                      Sediment mixing depth. This measurement is
                   Sediment contaminants. The selected suite of          proposed because it is an indication of the func-
                contaminants is a direct measure of exposure to          tional activity of the benthos as related to sedi-
                this form of input, and will be related to responses     ment processing. The implication is that shallowly
                of thebenthic community and sediment toxicity.           mixed sediments have less potential for contami-
                   The number and abundance offish species. This         nant flux than deeply mixed sediments.
                indicator is a cumulative effect response indicator,       Biomarker responses. Several biomarkers are
                which will respond to a host of anthropogenic and        proposed for testing, including DNA unwinding,
                natural factors.                                         phagocytic killing ability, micronucleus forma-
                   Fish gross pathology. This indicator is a re-         tion, and stress protein concentration.
                sponse to contaminant exposure, and reflects on            In addition to the indicators just described, there
                the marketability of the subject fish populations,       are a number of stressor indicators used to enhance
                                                                         the interpretation of the indicator responses pre-
                   The core indicators just listed form the basic        viously mentioned and to help describe possible
                measurements we have proposed for the near-              causes of adverse conditions. These variables will
                coastal component. All of these indicators will be       be provided by other EMAP groups and Federal,
                evaluated during a 2-month, late summer index            regional, and State agencies. The stressor indica-
                period, when biological responses to environmen-         tors include nutrient and contaminant loadings,
                tal perturbations are expected to be enhanced.           land use patterns, incidence of fish kills and beach
                   We propose to test a number of additional indi-       closures, loadings via atmospheric deposition, inci-
                cators during the 1990 demonstration project,            dence and extent of fishery closures, census data,
                These indicators are allocated to the research           and commercial fishery landings.
                category.
                   Wetlands and SAV acreage. These indicators
                provide a direct measure of habitat modification                  Regionalization and
                and loss, and include wetland fLmctional measures                       Classification
                such as shape and boundary variables. The current
                measurement methods to describe these indicators           The near-coastal waters of the United States
                have not yet demonstrated their utility. We also         contain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of estuarine,
                propose to test the feasibility of using wetlands data   tidal wetland, and coastal water ecosystems. It
                collected from satellite imagery.                        would be impractical for ENIAP to measure the
                   Remotely sensed chlorophyll and suspended             ecological conditions of all of these ecosystems.
                solids. Responses in the dissolved oxygen would          EPA!s available resources allow only a subset of
                indicate the need to identify prior imbalances in        these ecosystems to be sampled. Extrapolation of
                primary productivity. A posteriori examination of        monitoring results to unsampled systems will be
                satellite images for selected systems would be           difficult because the characteristics, functions, pol-
                assessed for sensitivity in selected low and high        lution exposure, and human uses of near-coastal
                susceptibility classes.                                  environments vary among and within regions. Re-
                   Water column toxicity. The proposed chronic           gionalization and classification paradigms provide
                toxicity tests are integrated measures of water          an objective method for grouping ecosystems into
                column exposure to contaminants. The tests will          categories based on sets of similar attributes
                                                                         (e.g., climate, geology, hydrology, currents, and
                be related to shellfish growth and survival. These       biota). The regionalization scheme used in EMAP
                are our only indicators of water column contami-         for near-coastal ecosystems is based on the primary
                nant exposure.                                           climate provinces and major offshore ocean cur-
                   Shellfish growth and survival. The shellfish          rents. We are using the 12 biogeographic provinces
                indicator represents a nonspecific response indi-        shown in the Figure, which are consistent with
                cator that integrates the ability of the water body      those published by NOAA (1990) and used by FWS
                to support shellfish growth.                             (Cowardin et al. 1979).
















                                                                                             GREAT LAKES


                                                                                         A!,
                COLUMBIAN                                                                                                   ACAD


                                                                                                                         VIRGINI


              CALIFORNIAN


                                                                                                                     CAROLINIA

                          ARCTIC







                               MASKA
              BERING                                                                   LOUISIANIAN                 WEST INDIA
                      C21

                                                                  EMAP NEAR COASTAL REGIONS
                                     COLUMBIAN ca

                    ALEUTIAN

             Figure. Biogeographical province used for near-coastal regionalization scheme in the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Pro









                                                                                                   NATioNAL PRorRAms       77




                   EMAP's basic classification system will group           The proposed schedule for implementation of the
                estuaries into three categories: large estuaries        demonstration projects was 1990 for the Virginian
                large tidal rivers, and small estuaries. A 280-lan      province, 1991 for the Louisianian province, 1993
                grid network is located over the region, by using a     for the Carolinian province, 1995 for the Califor-
                random start point to provide a systematic grid for     nian and Columbian provinces, and 1994 for the
                selection of sampling locations in the large estuar-    Acadian and West Indian provinces.
                ies. The large tidal rivers are sampled by a linear        Implementing the EMAP Near-coastal Project
                analog of the design for the large estuaries. A         into Alaska, coastal waters, and the Great Lakes
                systematic grid (or more appropriately, a line) is      could proceed on a similar parallel track as re-
                used to characterize the spine of these tidal rivers.   sources become available.
                A list frame of all of the remaining estuarine sys-
                tems is created and used to select systems for
                sampling.                                                          EMAP Landscape
                                                                                    Characterization
                   Near-coastal Demonstration                              National assessments of status and trends of the
                                    Pro'ec                              condition of ecosystems require knowing not only
                                                                        what percentage of a particular resource is in de-
                   An EMAP Near-coastal Demonstration Project           sirable or acceptable condition, but also how much
                was conducted in the Virginian biogeographic            of that resource exists. Some types of wetlands are
                province during summer 1990. The project is de-         being lost at an alarming rate; conversion and loss
                signed to serve as a model for the implementation       of other types of ecosystems are also occurring.
                of EMAP in other ecosystems. The project has            Such changes may be of particular concern if caus-
                these major goals:                                      ally correlated with pollutant exposure or other
                ï¿½  Test and validate the utility of the EMAP            anthropogenic stresses. For most ecosystems, few
                   Near-coastal Project indicators for making           national data bases can currently be used to derive
                   regional assessments.                                quantitative estimates of ecosystem extent with
                ï¿½  Assess the effectiveness of the sampling design      known confidence.
                   for making regional estimates of ecological             Landscape characterization within EMAP is a
                   conditions.                                          description of landscape features (e.g., wetlands,
                ï¿½  Identify and resolve logistical issues associated    forests, soils, land use, and urban areas) in areas
                   with implementing a national-scale monitoring        associated with EMAP sampling sites. The charac-
                   program.                                             terization provides some of the stressor indicator
                ï¿½  Provide regional-scale information to refine the     information for the ENLkP Near-coastal Project.
                   sampling design for full-scale implementation.       Characterization uses remote-sensing technology
                ï¿½  Select indicators for use in full-scale imple-       (satellite imagery and aerial photography) and
                   mentation.                                           other techniques (e.g., cartographic analysis and
                   A report on the results of the demonstration         analysis of census data) to quantify the extent and
                project should be available in September 1991.          distribution of ecosystems. Over time, periodic ae-
                                                                        rial and satellite imagery will permit quantitative
                                                                        estimates of changes in landscape features that
                     Proposed Implementation                            mightberelated to anthropogenic activities and
                                   Schedule                             pollutants.
                                                                           The characterization strategy involves the appli-
                   The proposed full-scale implementation of the        cation of remote-sensing technology to obtain high-
                EMAP Near-coastal Project will be a phased ap-          resolution data on selected sample sites and lower-
                proach into all of the regions of the conterminous      resolution data over broad geographic areas. Other
                United States. The year prior to monitoring activi-     data sources will be used to supplement remotely
                ties in any province will be used to plan and design    sensed data.
                the specifics for implementation. The first year of        EMAP will assemble, manage, and update these
                monitoring will be treated as a regional demonstra-     data in geographic information system format. A
                tion project to test and validate the indicators and    standardized characterization approach and a
                design. The operational monitoring would start in       landscape information network common to all eco-
                the second year.                                        systems will be used to optimize cost and data








                 78    BloLcGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                 sharing, and to ensure common format and consis-           views of the agency; no official endorsement
                 tency. Through close work with other agencies,             should be inferred.
                 EMAP will establish design requirements for the
                 integrated characterization, including acceptance
                 criteria for baseline data, consistent classification                        References
                 detail and accuracy, and suitable spatial and tem-         Cowardin, L. M., V Carter, F C. Golet, and E. T. LaRoe.
                 poral resolution to detect landscape features of              1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater
                 particular interest.                                          habitats ofthe United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,
                    The design of the characterization plan and the            FWS/OBS-79/31. 103 pp.
                 evaluation of potential characterization techniques        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
                 are in progress. A prototype methodology for high-            1990. Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations,
                 resolution characterization has been developed                Chapter IX, Part 921-National Estuarine
                 (Norton et al. 1989). EMAP characterization began             Sanctuary Program regulations.
                 in 1990 at about 100 sites.                                Norton, D. J., D. M. Muchoney, E. T. Slonecker, and
                                                                               J. H. Montanari, 1989. Landscape characterization
                                                                               for ecological monitoring. Rep. TS-PIC-89301.
                                                                               Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory,
                             Acknowledgments                                   U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas,
                                                                               Nev. 42 pp.
                                                                            U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1989. Design
                    Although the work described in this article was            report for the Environmental Monitoring and
                 supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection                Assessment Program. U.S. Environmental
                 Agency, it has not been subjected to agency review            Protection Agency, Environmental Research
                 and therefore does not necessarily reflect the                Laboratory, Corvallis, Oreg. 125 pp. [Draft report]









                                                                                                                NATioNAL PRwRAms             79




                   Importance of Hydrologic Data for Interpreting Wetland Maps
                                      and Assessing Wetland Loss and Mitigation



                                                                              by



                                                                      Virginia Carter

                                                                  U.S. Geological Survey
                                                                   430 National Center
                                                                  Reston, Virginia 22092


                                ABSTRACT.-The U.S. Geological Survey collects and disseminates, in written and digital
                                formats, groundwater and surface-water information related to the tidal and nontidal
                                wetlands of the United States. This information includes quantity, quality, and availability of
                                groundwater and surface water; groundwater and surface-water interactions
                                (recharge-discharge); groundwater flow; and the basic surface-water characteristics of
                                streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Water resources information in digital format can be used
                                in geographic information systems (GIS's) for many purposes related to wetlands. U.S.
                                Geological Survey wetland-related activities include collection of information important for
                                assessing and mitigating coastal wetland loss and modification, hydrologic data collection and
                                interpretation, GIS activities, identification of national trends in water quality and quantity,
                                and process-oriented wetland research.


                    Wetlands are dynamic ecosystems whose exis-                  tion systems (GIS's) for many purposes related to
                 tence, persistence, and function are controlled by              wetlands.
                 hydrology. Hydrologic data are important for wet-                  Wetland studies are an integral part of the
                 land map interpretation, trend -assessment, im.                 USGS's hydrologic activities, and USGS wetland
                 pact prediction, site selection for mitigation and              projects have been conducted in a wide range of
                 wetland research, and data-collection network de@               hydrogeologic settings throughout the United
                 sign for both small- and large-scale studies. Wet,              States. These projects include problem-oriented
                 land maps provide two-dimensional information                   field investigations, data collection activities, and
                 on the location and classification of wetlands; this            process-oriented research. The broad research and
                 information needs to be supplemented with geo-                  data collection capabilities of the USGS have re-
                 logic and hydrologic information to provide the                 sulted in significant contributions to the under-
                 third dimension needed for wetland assessment.                  standing of the role of hydrology in wetland func-
                     As part of its mission, the U.S. Geological Sur-            tions and processes. The USGS Federal-State
                 vey (USGS) collects and disseminates, in reports                cooperative programs with Federal, State, and local
                 and digital formats, groundwater and surface-                   agencies in all 50 States aid in maximum use of
                 water information related to the tidal and nontidal             research results. In the following sections, I de-
                 wetlands of the United States. This information                 scribe some of the wetland-related activities of the
                                                                                 USGS.
                 includes quantity, quality, and availability of
                 groundwater and surface water; groundwater and
                 surface-water interactions (recharg"ischarge);
                 groundwater flow; and the basic surface-water                           Coastal Wetland Loss or
                 characteristics of streams, rivers, lakes, and wet-                                Modification
                 lands (e.g., sediment load, transport, and flood-
                 plain geomorphology). Hydrologic information in                     Louisiana has experienced significant recession
                 digital format can be used in geographic informa- of its shorelines accompanied by losses in coastal








                 80    BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



                 wetlands in the Mississippi Delta during the last       of the entire annual U.S. atrazine production, is
                 few decades. Under natural conditions and in the        estimated to be carried by the Mississippi River
                 historic past, water overflowing from the Missis-       to the Gulf of Mexico (Periera et al. 1989).
                 sippi River at times of high river stage replenished       Coastal wetlands throughout the United States
                 the sediment on the wetland surface, resulting in       are threatened by rising sea levels. In particular,
                 a balance between accretion and subsidence. Re-         fresh and brackish tidal wetlands may be affected
                 cently constructed dikes along the lower Missis-        by intrusion of salt water. In addition to rising sea
                 sippi River now prevent the natural overflow of         level, other factors that cause such intrusions may
                 sediment-laden water onto coastal wetlands and          include storm surges; diversions of freshwater for
                 thus contribute to the current wetland loss. An-        industrial, agricultural, and municipal use; and
                 other strong contributory factor in the rapid reces-    extensive pumping of groundwater in the coastal
                 sion of shorelines in the Mississippi Delta is the      plain. In the case of Hurricane Hugo, which struck
                 decrease in the supply of river sediment. Histori-      the South Carolina coast on 21-22 September 1989,
                 cally, the Missouri River basin has been the great-     the USGS, in cooperation with the Federal Emer-
                 est supplier of sediment to the lower Mississippi       gency Management Agency and the U.S. Army
                 River. Following the completion of five major dams      Corps of Engineers, is mapping the height and
                 for irrigation and hydroelectric power on the Mis-      extent of the storm surge in South Carolina.
                 souri River from 1953 to 1963, the flow of sediment     Within 2 days after the storm hit, USGS staff were
                 from the Missouri River basin virtually stopped         in the field locating and surveying the high-water
                 (Meade and Parker 1985), decreasing the sediment        marks. Maps showing the altitude of high water
                 load of the lower Mississippi River.                    caused by the storm surge are being drawn and
                                                                         will be published early in 1990. A similar effort is
                    One of the suggested solutions for stopping, or
                 at least slowing, the loss of coastal wetlands in       occurring in Puerto Rico. Through the use of satel-
                 Louisiana is the rediversion of water from the          lite telemetry, the USGS also monitors the extent
                 lower Mississippi River. However, the diminished        of saltwater intrusion in South Carolina estuaries
                 sediment load of the Mississippi River, as well as      (Carswell et al. 1988), and even followed the intru-
                 the river's burden of pollutants, must be consid-       sion resulting from Hurricane Hugo as it occurred.
                 ered in any program designed to divert water for        Information of this kind can be used to identify
                 stabilization of remaining wetlands in Louisiana.       wetlands threatened by rising sea level or saltwa-
                                                                         ter intrusion in order to assist agencies responsible
                 The USGS has an ongoing study on the Missis-            for wetland protection and mitigation of storm- or
                 sippi River (Meade 1989) to determine sediment          salinity-related damage.
                 loads and to characterize dissolved and sediment-
                 transported contaminants. The portion of the
                 river being studied begins near St Louis, Mis-             Hydrologic Data Collection
                 souri, near the confluence of the Mississippi, the
                 Missouri, and the Illinois rivers. The sampling                   and Interpretation
                 plan is designed to represent variable levels of          The USGS summarizes water-resource infor-
                 river stage and discharge. Fortuitously, the sam-       mation on many topics in a series of reports known
                 pling period has included the drought years of          as the National Water Summary (NWS). Present
                 1987-88. Depth-integrated samples from 10 to 40         plans are for the 1992-93 NWS to be devoted to
                 verticals in each cross section are composited and      wetlands. This NWS will be the first to draw ex-
                 subjected to detailed analysis for metals and se-       tensively on information from ongoing programs in
                 lected organic compounds. Preliminary results           other agencies doing major work in wetlands, in-
                 show the presence of a variety of trace metals at       cludingthe U.S. Fish andWildlife Service, the U.S.
                 nominal concentrations, and computations Of             Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army
                 loadings show that most metals are conservative         Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and At-
                 throughout the system (Taylor et al. 1989). These       mospheric Administration, and the U.S. Soil Con-
                 findings are consistent with other studies on the       servation Service. 'Me NWS will also report on
                 lower Mississippi River. Although some organic          USGS national and State activities in wetlands.
                 pollutants are found only in certain tributaries,       Although the report is still in its early planning
                 atrazine and other herbicides are ubiquitous            stages, the 1992-93 NWS will contain maps show-
                 throughout the entire Mississippi River system.         ing the distribution of wetlands on a State-by-
                 Currently, 100 tons of atrazine per year, or 0.3%       State basis. The USGS also plans to work closely









                                                                                                 NAMNAL PRWRAW 81



               with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in produc-      ity or quantity changes in wetlands or loss of
               ing and digitizing a national base map and wetland      wetlands on water quality and flood-flow charac-
               maps for each State and for Puerto Rico and the         teristics; and to make management and siting de-
               Trust Territories. A variety of wetland-related hy-     cisions. The USGS has installed GIS's at more
               drologic data and the locations of data-location        than 50 sites, including 3 USGS regional GIS lab-
               sites will be overlaid on the State and national base   oratories, so that nearly every hydrologist has
               maps for the report.                                    access to a GIS.
                 The USGS is one of the many Federal, State,
               and local agencies cooperating with the Chesa-
               peake Bay Program. The USGS is providing data                                 Toxics
               on quantity and quality of water entering the
               Chesapeake Bay, and data on submersed                     The USGS is studying the distribution of toxic
               macrophyte distribution and abundance in the            materials and pollutants in groundwater and sur-
               tidal Potomac River and its estuary. These data         face water in many parts of the United States; GIS
               will be incorporated into the Chesapeake Bay GIS        technology has many potential uses in the study of
               and into models being developed for the bay and         such contamination in wetlands. One recent study
               its tributaries. One of the major concerns of the       involving wetlands is determining the effects of
               Chesapeake Bay Program is the baywide decline           contaminants (specifically selenium) in irrigation
               in aquatic plant beds (wetlands containing sub-         drainage on wetland areas of the middle Green
               mersed aquatic vegetation [SAV]) in recent years.       River basin in Utah (Stephens and Waddell 1989).
               Data on distribution and abundance of SAV in the        Elevated concentrations of selenium in biological
               Potomac River are being supplied to the Virginia        tissue are known to be harmful to wildlife; irnpair-
               Institute of Marine Science, which is presently         ment of reproduction in waterfowl can occur at
               conducting the baywide SAV monitoring and map-          selenium concentrations as low as 1 to 5 pglg (wet
               ping program. These data are particularly impor-        weight) in bird eggs. Elevated concentrations of
               tant in light of the recent recovery of SAV in the      selenium have been found in Utah's water in the
               freshwater tidal reach of the Potomac River. Since      Stewart Lake Waterfowl Management Area, in
               1983, the USGS has also supplied maps showing           Ashley Creek, and in Ouray National Wildlife Ref-
               the general distribution of SAV, as well as the         uge. The USGS study showed that the sources of
               location and amount of the exotic submersed             selenium at the Stewart Lake Waterfowl Manage-
               macrophyte Hydrilla verticillata, to the Metropol-      ment Area are runoff from irrigated land and the
               itan Washington Council of Governments to assist        discharge of shallow groundwater from sedimen-
               in its management program (Carter et al. 1985;          tary deposits of marine and norimarine origin.
               Rybicki et al. 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988).                 Concentrations of selenium in irrigation drainage
                                                                       entering Stewart Lake ranged from 14 to 140 pg/L.
                                                                       Tissues of American coot (17ulica americana) and
                     Geographic Information                            carp from the lake contained concentrations as
                           System Activities                           high as 26 pglg (dry weight). Contamination of
                                                                       Ashley Creek is from springs, seeps, and subsur-
                 A GIS combines two computer software technol-         face drains that discharge water containing as
               ogies: data-base management and digital mapping         much as 16,000 pg/L of selenium. Selenium con-
               (Lanfear 1989). Data-base management is a sys-          centrations in a pond in Ouray National Wildlife
               tematic way of organizing and accessing tabular         Refuge, which also receives irrigation runoff and
               data and interfacing the data with maps. The key        shallow groundwater, were as high as 93 pg/L; the
               feature of a GIS is that the digital map elements       principal source of contamination is shallow
               are linked with the tabular information in such a       groundwater containing as much as 9,300 pg/L of
               way that when the map or the tabular data are           selenium. Concentrations of selenium in coot em-
               manipulated, both sets of data are updated and          bryos and eggs from the refuge ranged from 6.5 to
               adjusted to maintain the relation between them.         15 peg (wet weight).
               GIS technology is a promising tool for combining          GIS technology has been used to support the
               wetland maps, such as those produced by the U.S.        Utah study. The ARC/INFO system produced
               Fish and Wildlife Service, with hydrologic and          maps showing the distribution of seleniferous for-
               geochemical information to detect and analyze           mations, waterfowl (wetland) areas, and associ-
               stresses; to analyze potential effects of water qual-   ated concentrations of selenium in source waters.









                  82    BioLomcAL RFPoirr 90(18)



                  Currently being developed are large-scale maps          Program. The goals of this program (Hirsh et al.)
                  showing the distribution of waterfowl nests in          are to (1) provide a nationally consistent descrip-
                  contaminated areas, as well as small-scale maps         tion of current water-quality conditions for a large
                  showing the numbers and types of banded and             part of the Nation!s water resources, (2) define
                  captured waterfowl within selenium-contami-             long-term trends (or lack of trends) in water qual-
                  nated areas of Utah. A time-series of maps such         ity, and (3) identify, describe, and explain the
                  as these could be used to show trends in the            major factors that affect observed water-quality
                  concentrations of selenium over time.                   conditions and trends.
                                                                            The USGS is conducting seven NAWQA pilot
                          Spatial Analysis of Statewide                   projects of surface water and groundwater sys-
                                    Water Quality                         tems. One study is of groundwater on the
                                                                          Delmarva Peninsula (Maryland, Delaware, and
                     Federal law requires State governments to as-        Virginia). In the initial phase of this project, all
                  sess water quality to aid in the design and assess      historic data on groundwater quality through 1987
                  the effectiveness of pollution-control programs         were collected and analyzed (Hamilton et al.
                  dealing with both point and nonpoint sources of         1989). The peninsula was divided into six subre-
                  pollution. In New Jersey, the USGS is using re-         gions, each having a distinctive combination of
                  gression techniques to correlate a variety Of           hydrogeologic and landscape features, such as sur-
                  water-quality characteristics with spatially de-        ficial geology, geomorphology, soils, and land use
                  tailed information on land use and pollution            patterns. Each of the regions (referred to as
                  sources. Ambient water-quality data and pollu-          hydrogeomorphic regions) represents a landscape
                  tant-loading rates for individual municipal and         with differing hydrologic characteristics, which
                  industrial point sources are provided by the New        presumably reflect differing water-quality pat-
                  Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.          terns. One ofthese regions is a central upland that
                  Information for estimating nonpoint-source con-         accounts for more than 25% of the study area. This
                  taminant loads is being derived from spatially          region has hummocky topography, is poorly
                  detailed population data and digital land use and       drained, and contains hundreds of seasonally
                  land cover data. Land use and land cover classifi-      ponded wetlands. 'Me study team is observing
                  cation is based on existing 1973 Geographic Infor-      local water-quality patterns around a few of the
                  mation Retrieval and Analysis System (GIRAS)            wetlands, but it is also investigating the effects of
                  coverage, updated to 1985 conditions through the        wetlands on water-quality patterns throughout
                  use of Landsat Thematic Mapper data. Overland           the region, thus underscoring the importance of
                  flow paths and channel networks are identified          recognizing and mapping wetlands terrains as
                  through the use of digital elevation data. Once         well as individual wetlands. Inclusion of water-
                  constructed, the regression model is applied to a       quality and landscape-feature data in GIS data
                  large and representative sample of stream               bases will permit the USGS to determine water-
                  reaches to obtain unbiased estimates of water-          quality patterns influenced by wetlands at local
                  quality conditions. Potential uses for the method-      and regional scales.
                  ology developed in the project include comparison         Historical data are important for predicting na-
                  of water quality in basins that have numerous
                  wetlands with basins without wetlands, and iden-        tional water-quality trends; these data make it
                  tification of wetlands that might be threatened or      possible to compare water quality in basins as a
                  affected by contaminants (e.g., bioaccumulation         function of numbers and types of numerous wet-
                  of toxicants in plant and animal tissue). The qual-     lands, as well as to examine the effect of changes
                  ity of water discharging from wetlands could also       in wetland type or acreage on basin water quality.
                  be included in the assessment of water quality          The National Stream Quality Accounting Network
                  statewide.                                              (NASQAN) provides a continuous record of water
                                                                          quality at 441 active stations throughout the coun-
                                                                          try for use in assessing water-quality trends
                       Identification of National                         (Briggs 1978). Of these, 150 stations are in coastal
                                      Trends                              areas (USGS accounting units) and provide long-
                                                                          term (> than 10 years) data for trend analysis.
                     The USGS is testing and refining concepts for a      Coastal accounting units, including those along
                  National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA)               the Great Lakes, usually contain numerous small









                                                                                                NATioNAL PRoGRAms        83



              streams with roughly parallel drainage's flowing                Water Resources Information
              into the oceans or Great Lakes. Streams in each of
              the coastal units reflect similar geographic, geo-         The Office of Water Data Coordination is the
              logic, and hydrologic conditions, although cultural      focal point for interagency coordination of ongoing
              features may differ.                                     and planned water data-acquisition activities of all
                 Water-quality constituents currently are mea-         Federal agencies and many nonFederal organiza-
              sured at NASQAN stations bimonthly or quar-              tions. The National Handbook of Recommended
                                                                       Methods for Water-data Acquisition and other pub-
              terly. Determinations resulting from each site visit     lications are available from this office.1
              include field measurements of temperature, pH,             The National Water 12ata &change (NAWDEX)
              specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and bacte-       maintains a computerized data system that iden-
              ria; common constituents; major nutrients; and           tifies sources of water data and indexes informa-
              suspended sediment. Quarterly samples are used           tion on the water data available from the sources.
              to determine concentration of trace elements in          The NAWDEX Program Office and Local Assis-
              addition to the constituents previously mentioned.       tance Centers assist data users in locating sources
              Data collected from NASQAN are available from            of water data, identifying sites at which data have
              the USGS WATSTORE (Water Storage and IL---               been collected, and obtaining specific data.2
              trieval) computer storage and retrieval system.            Questions about water resources in general, and
              Data also are published in the series Water Re-          about the water resources of specific areas of the
              source Data for (State), Water Year (date). These        United States can be directed to the USGS Hydro-
              data are being used for trend analysis (Smith et al.     logic Information Unit. This office also will answer
              1987) and load estimates for nutrients and com-          inquiries about the availability of reports of water-
              mon constituents. Load and trend estimates can be        resource investigations.3
              related to basin characteristics, including the
              number and types of basin wetlands.
                                                                                        Summary
                 U.S. Geological Survey Data                             The USGS collects, interprets, and supplies hy-
                                  Sources                              drologic data to supplement and enhance the use of
                                                                       wetland maps. Wetland maps supply the user with
                 The USGS provides many types       of information     essential spatial information about wetland loca-
              for wetland managers and data users. Earth Sci-          tion, size, and relation to other basin and landscape
              ence Information Centers (ESIC) offer nationwide         features. Hydrologic data are needed to increase
              information and sales service for USGS map prod-         the usefulness of these maps for planning, manag-
              ucts and earth science publications. This network        ing, evaluating, and mitigating loss or degradation
              of ESIC's provides information about geologic, hy-       of wetlands. Long-term information about trends in
              drologic, topographic, and land use maps, books,         water quality and quantity can assist the manager
              and reports; aerial, satellite, and radar images and     in detecting or predicting the effects of various
                                                                       management practices on wetlands or the effects of
              related products; earth science and map data in          wetlands on local or regional water quality. The
              digital format, anarelatecl applications software;       inclusion of hydrologic information in a GIS that
              and geodetic data. For further information, contact      uses wetland maps as a significant layer of infor-
              any of the ESIC's listed in the Appendix.                mation can greatly expand the analysis capabilities
                 ESIC offices assist users in securing publica-        of the GIS for wetland planners and managers.
              tions and associated products in the earth science         Federal agencies are responding to the increas-
              disciplines and use many computerized informa-           ing national emphasis on slowing the rate of wet-
              tion systems to research inquiries. These systems        land loss and improving wetland evaluation and
              include the Geographic Information and Retrieval
              System for land use and land cover maps and
              associated overlays (e.g., political and demo-           1 Office of Water Data Coordination, U.S. Geological Survey,
              graphic), and the Earth Science Data Directory for       2 417 National Center, Reston, Va. 22092.
              information about earth science and natural re-            National Water Data Exchange, U.S. Geological Survey, 421
                                                                         National Center, Reston, Va. 22092.
              source data bases maintained by government               ' Hydrologic Information Unit, U.S. Geological Survey, 420
              agencies and other sources.                                National Center, Reston, Va. 22092.








                   84     Biou)GicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   mitigation. The USGS will be reassessing the                   Virginia-analysis of available water-quality data
                   ability of traditional data-collection and dissemi-            through 1987. U.S. Geol. Surv. Open-File Rep.
                   nation programs to provide information needed by               89-34. 72 pp.
                   wetland managers. The Federal-State Coopera-                Hirsh, R. M., W M. Alley, and W G. Wilber. 1988.
                                                                                  Concepts for a national water-quality assessment
                   tive Program is refocusing its activities as a result          program. U.S. Geol. Surv. Circ. 1021. 42 pp.
                   of changing demands for basic hydrology informa-            Lanfear, K. J. 1989. Geographic information systems
                   tion for wetlands. The USGS has already proposed               and water resources applications. Water Resour. Bull.
                   a process-oriented interdisciplinary research pro-             25:v-vi.
                   gram focusing on the hydrologic, geologic, and              Meade, R. H., and R. S. Parker. 1985. Sediment in rivers
                                                                                  of the United States. U.S. Geol. Surv. Water-Supply
                   geochemical processes in wetlands. The objectives              Pap. 2275:49-61.
                   of this research are to improve understanding of            Meade, R. H. 1989. Sediment-transported pollutants in
                   the integrated hydrologic, geologic, and geochem-              the Mississippi River. U.S. Geol. Surv. Yearb. Fiscal
                   ical:ftmctions of wetlands, and to develop predic-             Year 1988:20-23.
                   tive capabilities for the evaluation of stresses on         Pbriera, W E., C. E. Rostad, and T J. Leiker. 1989.
                                                                                  Preliminary assessment of the fate and transport of
                   wetland environments. This will be accomplished                synthetic organic agrochemicals in the lower
                   through research on (1) the current hydrologic                 Mississippi River and its tributaries. Pages 453-464
                   and geologic processes that create and maintain                in U.S. Geol. Surv. Water-Resour. Invest. Rep.
                   wetlands and lakes, including the movement of                  88-4220.
                   atmospheric, surface water, and groundwater,                Rybicki, N., R. T Anderson, and V Carter. 1988. Data on
                                                                                  the distribution and abundance of submersed aquatic
                   and the associated transport of sediment and                   vegetation n the tidal Potomac River and transition
                   chemicals; and (2) the geomorphic and hydrologic               zone of the Potomac estuary, Maryland, Virginia and
                   processes that control the evolution of wetlands.              the District of Columbia, 1987. U.S. Geol. Surv.
                   A major component of the research would be sup-                Open-File Rep. 88-307. 31 pp.
                   port of long-term studies at several selected wet-          Rybicki, N., R. T Anderson, J. M. Shapiro, C. L. Jones,
                                                                                  and V Carter. 1986. Data on the distribution and
                   land systems that represent a variety of regional              abundance of submersed aquatic vegetation in the
                   hydrologic, geologic, and climatic environments in             tidal Potomac River, Maryland, Virginia and the
                   the United States.                                             District of Columbia, 1985. U.S. Geol. Surv. Open-File
                                                                                  Rep. 86-126.49 pp.
                                                                               Rybicki, N. B., R. T Anderson, J. M. Shapiro, K. L.
                                     References                                   Johnson, and C. L. Schulman. 1987. Data on the
                                                                                  distribution and abundance of submersed aquatic
                   Briggs, J. C. 1978. Nationwide surface water quality           vegetation in the tidal Pbtomac River and estuary,
                      monitoring networks of the U.S. Geological Survey-          Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia,
                      Pages 49-57 in Establishment of water quality               1986. U.S. Geol. Surv. Open-File Rep. 87-575.82 pp.
                      monitoring programs. Proceeding of the American          Rybicki, N. B., V Carter, R. T Anderson, and T J.
                      Water Resources Association. 12-14 June 1978.               Trombley, 1985. Hydrilla verticillata in the tidal
                   Carswell, W J., Jr., C. L. Sanders, Jr., and D. M.             Pbtomac River, Maryland, Virginia and the District
                      Johnson. 1988. Freshwater supply potential of the           of Columbia, 1983 and 1984. U.S. Geol. Surv.
                                                                                  Open-File Rep. 85-77. 26 pp.
                      Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near Myrtle Beach,        Smith, R. A., R. B. Alexander, and M. G. Wolman. 1987.
                      South Carolina. U.S. Geol. Surv. Water-Resour.              Water-quality trends in the Nation's rivers. Science
                      Invest. Rep. 88-4066.45 pp.                                 235:1607-1615.
                   Carter, V, N. B. Rybicki, R. T Anderson T J. Trombley,      Stephens, D. W, and B. Waddell. 1989. Selenium
                      and G. L. Zynjuk. 1985. Data on the istribution and         contamination from irrigation drainage in the
                      abundance of submersed aquatic vegetation in the            western United States with emphasis on Utah.
                      tidal Potomac River and transition zone of the              Geology and hydrology of hazardous waste, mining
                      Pbtomac estuary, Maryland, Virginia and the District        waste, waste water, and repository sites in Utah.
                      of Columbia, 1983 and 1984. U.S. Geol. Surv.                Utah Geol. Assoc. Publ. 17:165-181.
                      Open-File Rep. 85-82.61 pp.                              Taylor, H. E., J. R. Garborino, and T I. Brenton. 1989.
                   Hamilton, P A., R. J. Shedlock, and P J. Phillips.             The occurrence and distribution oftrace metals in the
                      1989. Groundwater- quality assessment of the                Mississippi River and its tributaries. Sci. Total
                      Delmarva Peninsula, Delaware, Maryland, and                 Environ. In press.








                                                                                         NATIONAL PRoGRAms    85



                     Appendix. Earth Science Information Centers (ESIC's)


                    Anchorage-ESIC                                     Rolla-ESIC
                    4230 University Drive, Room 101                    1400 Independence Road, MS 231
                    Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4664                       Rolla, Missouri 65401
                    (907)561-5555                                      (314)341-0851

                    Anchorage-ESIC                                     Salt Lake City-ESIC
                    U.S. Courthouse, Room 113                          8105 Federal Building
                    222 W. 7th Avenue, #53                             125 South State Street
                    Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7546                       Salt Lake City, Utah 84138
                                                                       (801)524-5652
                    Denver-ESIC                                        San Francisco-ESIC
                    169 Federal Building                               504 Custom House
                    1961 Stout Street                                  555 Battery Street
                    Denver, Colorado 80294                             San Francisco, California 94111
                    (303)844-4169
                    Lakewood-ESIC                                      Spokane-ESIC
                    Box 25046, Federal Center, MS 504                  678 U.S. Courthouse
                    Denver, Colorado 80225-0046                        W. 920 Riverside Avenue
                    (303)236-5829                                      Spokane, Washington 99201
                                                                       (509)353-2524
                    Los Angeles-ESIC                                   Stennis Space Center-ESIC
                    Federal Building, Room 7638                        Building 3101
                    300 N. Los Angeles Street                          Stennis Space Center, Mississippi 39529
                    Los Angeles, California 90012                      (601)688-3544
                    (213)894-2850
                                                                       Washington, D.C.-ESIC
                    Menlo Park-ESIC                                    Department of Interior Building
                    Building 3, Room 122, Mail Stop 33                 18th and C Streets, N.W., Room 2650
                    345 Middlefield Road                               Washington, D.C. 20240
                    Menlo Park, California 94025                       (202)343-8073
                    (415)329-4309


                    Reston-ESIC
                    507 National Center
                    12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
                    Reston, Virginia 22092
                    (703)860-6045









                                                                                                               NATIONAL PROGRAMS           87









                                  The U.S. Geological Survey's National Mapping
                                  Division Programs, Products, and Services that
                                                 can Support Wetlands Mapping



                                                                              by





                                                                    F'ranklin S. Baxter


                                                                  U.S. Geological Survey
                                                               National Mapping Division
                                                                National Center, MS-590
                                                                 Reston, Virginia 22092


                                ABSTRACT.-The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) programs can play an important role in
                                support of President Bush's policy of no net loss of wetlands. A principal goal of USGS is to
                                provide cartographic information that contributes to the wise management of the Nation's
                                natural resources. This information consists of maps, cartographic data bases (graphic and
                                digital), remotely sensed imagery, and information services. These products are used by
                                Federal, State, and local governments, the private sector, and individual citizens in making
                                decisions on the existence and use of land and water resources. The identification and
                                classification of wetlands and the activities that affect the quantity, fate, and character of
                                wetlands are described, analyzed, and monitored through the use of cartographic data. There
                                are several specific areas where USGS's National Mapping Division can support the study of
                                wetlands. These include supplying a cartographer to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's St.
                                Petersburg facility to review National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) program procedures and to
                                identify cost- and time-efficient methods for accelerating the inventory; assisting the NWI in
                                using National Aerial Photography Program products for interpretation of wetlands; assisting
                                in research to standardize scanning procedures, to train NWI personnel, and to incorporate
                                data into the National Digital Spatial Data Base System; and integrating data from the NWI
                                program with the National Mapping Division's land use and land cover data and topographic
                                map data. I discuss the programs, products, and information services of the National Mapping
                                Division, the tools available to determine where wetlands exist, and the capability of periodic
                                measurement of wetlands to help in assessing compliance with the concept of no net loss of
                                wetlands.


                     President Bush's policy of no net loss of wet-                    Programs, Products, and
                  lands is resulting in a refocus of priorities for the                  Services of the National
                  collection, processing, and publishing of carto-
                  graphic data. The National Mapping Division of                              Mapping Division
                  the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has
                  been collecting wetlands information as part of                   The National Mapping Division provides a di-
                  its National Mapping Program for a number of                   versity of cartographic, geographic, and remotely
                  years. The refocusing of priorities will ensure                sensed data, products, and services in support of
                  that data collection will directly support the                 Federal, State, and public interests through the
                  president's initiative.                                        National Mapping Program. These products and







                 88     BiowwcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                 services include cartographic and geographic in-             The use of graphic maps is being supplanted
                 formation about the earth's natural and cultural          rapidly by the use of base digital cartographic data
                 features, basic and special maps in several scales,       because such data are more useful and are cost-ef-
                 digital cartographic data, and remotely sensed            ficient to maintain and apply. The National Map-
                 data. The division prepares standard topographic          ping Division is collecting digital cartographic data
                 maps at specified scales and revises existing maps        to meet the needs of a wide variety of users, and is
                 to provide current and accurate cartographic data.        producing data in both digital line graph and dig-
                    The cartographic data needs of Federal and             ital elevation model formats. Digital data revision
                 State programs are identified and ranked by pri-          methods aid in the recording of changes to the
                 ority under the Office of Management and                  natural and cultural environment. Also, digital
                 Budget's Circular A-16 process. Circular A-16, re-        cartographic data are essential in analyzing the
                 vised in 1967, names the Department of the Inte-          impact of environmental problems in a geographic
                 rior (delegated to the U.S. Geological Survey) as         information system (GIS) context. The National
                 "responsible for the National Topographic Map-            Mapping Division has devoted considerable effort
                 ping Series of the United States of America and           to developing and promoting the standards and
                 outlying areas of sovereignty and jurisdiction' and       specifications necessary to ensure accessibility
                 for exercising "governmentwide leadership in as-          and usability of base cartographic data throughout
                 suring coordinated planning and execution" of car-        the Federal government. Working through the
                 tographic activities that are funded in whole or in       Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on
                 part with Federal funds. This directive was ex-           Digital Cartography and the Interior Digital Car-
                 panded to include digital cartography in 1983.            tography Coordinating Committee, other Federal
                    The primary map series provides the largest-           agencies have been encouraged to develop their
                 scale information available on a nationwide basis         own digital capabilities and have supported the
                 This series includes the 7.5-min topographic quad*        development of a National Wetlands Data Base
                 rangle maps of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the con-          and a National Soils Data Base.
                 terminous United States. In Alaska, the series               Other map products that have been useful in
                 provides 15-min topographic quadrangle map cov-           Federal and State programs are the intermediate-
                 erage. Many Federal and State programs rely on            scale maps at 1:50,000 scale and 1: 100 000 scale in
                 this map series as a base for site-specific environ-      quadrangle and county formats. TL National
                 mental studies or as the primary series for record-       Mapping Division plans to complete the 1: 100,000-
                 ing information relative to their program needs. A        scale topographic map series in FY 95. In 1989,
                 major goal of the National Mapping Divisi      .on is to  there were about 650 maps available as planimet-
                 achieve initial once-over national coverage in this       ric editions, about 950 available as Bureau of Land
                 map series by the end of fiscal year (FY) 1990.           Management editions (surface and subsurface
                 Maps covering about 95% of the United States              mineral overlays), and another 25 available as
                 have been published, and advance manuscript cop-          advance manuscript copies. The 1:50,000-scale
                                                                           quadrangle maps are produced to meet a Defense
                 ies are available for an additional 2%. Ortho-            Mapping Agency requirement but are made avail-
                 photoquads at 1:24,000 scale also are available for       able to the general public. The county-formatted
                 about two-thirds of the United States.                    maps are produced as needed on a cooperative
                    The currentness, accuracy, and usefulness of the       basis with individual States.
                 primary map series will be maintained through an             The intermediate-scale maps also are being
                 expanded map revision program. The National               digitized to support the planning needs of Federal
                 Mapping Division has begun a comprehensive Plan           and State agencies. Currently, all hydrographic
                 for the identification and scheduling of map revi-        and transportation data at the 1: 100,000 scale are
                 sions that would be most beneficial to Federal and        available. Other categories of data, such as hyp-
                 State agencies and the general public. The most           sography (contours), public land information,
                 efficient methods for revising the primary scale          boundaries, and digital elevation models, are pro-
                 maps are being tested, and procedures for incorpo-        duced in response to Federal and State agency
                 rating user requirements identified through the           requirements.
                 Circular A-16 process are being devised. Projects            Many Federal and State agencies use a combi-
                 that reflect the most urgent needs of the user are        nation of intermediate-scale products and data for
                 being designed for short-term production..                planning purposes and larger-scale data for more









                                                                                                 NATioNAL PRocRAms        89




              detailed analyses, whereas some agencies are sat-       Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the
              isfied with the level of information at an interme-     U.S. Department of Agriculture's Aerial Photogra-
              diate scale for land management and environmen-         phy Field Office in Salt Lake City, Utah.
              tal studies. For example, time and cost benefits can       Image maps, primarily orthophotoquads, are
              be realized by locating study areas from a regional     prepared in response to specific requirements of
              perspective and obtaining source material (photo-       Federal and State agencies. Orthophotoquads are
              graphic coverage, base maps, or appropriate digital     scale-rectified image bases that meet national map
              data) for only those areas where more detailed          accuracy standards, are produced from NAPP pho-
              analyses are needed.                                    tographs, and are prepared at 1:24,000, 1:63,360,
                 The National Mapping Division is conducting          or 1:12,000 scales. These image bases can be pro-
              pilot projects to investigate the benefits of produc-   duced in about one-third the time required for
              ing a large-scale orthophotoiniage product and of       topographic maps; however, they contain no con-
              revising the land use and land cover map series at      tours and only a limited number of feature names.
              a larger scale. In both instances, the division is      During FY 89, the National Mapping Division pre-
              responding to specific requirements expressed by        pared 1,178 orthophotoquads at 1:24,000 scale, 140
              Federal and State agencies through the Circular         at 1:12,000 scale, and, in Alaska, 175 at 1:63,360
              A-16 process.                                           scale. Presently, about 40,000 orthophotoquads are
                 The National Mapping Division is assessing the       available, covering more than two-thirds of the
              value of land use and land cover map revisions at       conterminous United States, all of Hawaii, and a
              the 1:100,000 scale. Now that completion of the         portion of Alaska. Much of the work is produced
              topographic editions at this scale is within sight,     directly from requests from the Bureau of Land
              the use of these maps as a base for land use and        Management and the Soil Conservation Service.
              land cover mapping based on an enhanced classi-            The cornerstone of the National Mapping
              fication system seems quite promising. Many Fed-        Division's information delivery network is the Of-
              eral and State agencies have expressed interest in      fice of Information and Data Services. This office
              designing the classification system for use in a GIS    manages the Earth Science Information Center
              environment. Currently, the land use and land           (ESIC) network composed of 13 ESIC offices, and
              cover mapping program results in maps and asso-         1 Federal and 61 State ESIC affiliates. Developed
              ciated information (political boundaries, hydro-        through the merging of National Cartographic In-
              logic units, and census county subdivisions) at the     formation Centers and the Public Inquiries Of-
              1:250,000 scale. The lower 49 States are covered at     fices, ESIC's responded to about 567,000 inquiries
              this scale; about 85% of these maps have been           I ot yeox, E0IC offices maintain data records in
              digitized using the Geographic Information Ra-           a  h publications as the Cartographic Catalog, the
              trieval and Analysis System. The maps and data          suc
              are becoming out-of-date, and use of the Geo-           Map and Chart Information System, and the Ae-
              graphic Information Retrieval and Analysis Sys-         rial Photography Summary Record System.
              tem is not widespread. In addition to the benefits         The EROS Data Center produces high-quality
              to State users, a larger-scale mapping and digital      map products from satellite data for a variety of
              data program will benefit wetland analyses and          Federal and international organizations. The
              other studies, such as global change research.          EROS Data Center archives more than 800,000
                 The National Aerial Photography Program              Landsat scenes and, in 1990, will have more than
              (NAPP) provides standardized and uniform quality        150,000 Thematic Mapper scenes and Advanced
              photographic coverage of the 48 conterminous            Very High Resolution Radiometer data for the
              States on a planned 5-year acquisition cycle. Color-    entire country. The EROS Data Center has estab-
              infrared photographs, at a scale of 1:40,000, are       lished agreements with the commercial compa-
              centered on quarter sections of each standard           nies EOSAT and SPOT Image Corporation to
              7.5-min USGS quadrangle. NAPP contracts                 serve as a single point of contact to purchase
              awarded in 1989 cover all or part of Arkansas,          Landsat and SPOT data for Federal agencies. In
              southern California, Louisiana, South Carolina,         the mid-1990's, the EROS Data Center will pro-
              Texas, eastern Virginia, and Wyoming. Those Fed-        cess, archive, and distribute remotely sensed land
              eral agencies or States that participate in the NAPP    data acquired by selected sensors flown by the
              program receive a discount on all NAPP products.        National Aeronautic and Space Administration's
              NAPP products are available from USGS's EROS            Earth Observing System.







                   90   Biou)GicAL RFPoRT W18)



                       Applications to Wetlands                                             Digital Data
                                      Studies                                (Digital line graphs and digital elevation models
                    The following are several examples of National at several scales)
                   Mapping Division products and how these prod-
                   ucts are used by other Federal agencies in wet-           U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                   lands studies.                                            Coastal areas of the southern and eastern
                                                                             United States-to be used as ancillary data
                               Primary Map Series                            bases for wetlands habitat data.
                    (1:24,000-scale maps in the conterminous                 Lake Okeechobee-to support wetlands studies
                   United States and Hawaii, and 1:63,360-scale              being conducted by FWS's Region 8 Florida
                   maps in Alaska)                                           Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
                   ï¿½U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service                           National Park Service
                    Conterminous United States-to serve as abase             Cape Cod National Seashore-to support use of
                    map of the National Wetlands Inventory                   a GIS in the monitoring of land use changes,
                    conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.         including wetlands.
                    Coastal Louisiana-to revise maps to better
                    reflect the loss of coastal wetlands to support          Cumberland Island National Seashore-to
                    studies on the effects of habitat loss.                  study, with several other agencies, a variety of
                                                                             activities along the coast, including emergency
                   ï¿½National Park Service                                    preparedness and habitat studies.
                    Cape Cod National Seashore-to update and                 Other areas where digital data are to be used to
                    correct topographic maps to better portray               support wetlands studies:
                    coastal wetland areas.
                    Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Pre-                  Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge,
                    serve-to update maps to portray the current                      Georgia-Florida
                    topographic situation, including development of            The Everglades, Florida
                    wetlands because of rapid glacial retreat.                 Galveston Bay, Texas
                   ï¿½Environmental Protection Agency                            San Joaquin Valley, California
                                                                               Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon
                    Horry County, South Carolina-to revise maps                Charles M. Russell National Wildlife
                    to assist in the study of the creation,                          Refuge, Montana
                    maintenance, and impact of environmental                   Hawaiian Islands
                    problems on Carolina Bays.                                 Mobile Bay, Alabama
                            Intermediate-scale Maps                          Environmental Protection Agency
                    (1:50,000-scale and 1:100,000-scale maps in              Areas where hydrographic data are needed to
                   quadrangle and county formats, and 1:250,000-             support related habitat and wetlands studies:
                   scale quadrangle maps)                                      Albemarle/Pamlico Environmental Study,
                   ï¿½U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service                                   North Carolina
                    Coastal areas of the southern United States-to             Merrimack River, Massachusetts-New
                    update maps to reflect the rapid loss of coastal                 Hampshire
                    wetlands in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi,               Massachusetts Bays, Massachusetts
                    and Texas.                                                 Slidell, Louisiana
                                                                               Edisto River arid Horry County, South
                   ï¿½ National Park Service                                           Carolina
                    Kenai Fjords National Park-to update maps                  Chesapeake Bay Study, Virginia,
                    for recording the creation of wetlands and other                 Maryland, Pennsylvania
                    conditions due to glacial recession.                       Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island









                                                                                                     NATIONAL PROGRAMS         91



                        Land Use and Land Cover                                 Coordination Efforts in
                  (The National Mapping Division is considering                 Wetlands Research and
                the creation of a new series of land use and land                 Technical Assistance
                cover maps at the 1:100,000 scale. The wetlands
                classifications would be developed in coordination          Several research studies, program initiatives,
                with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)                 and coordination ventures that relate to wetlands
                                                                          are being pursued in cooperation with Federal and
                  Areas where land use and land cover data are            State agencies. Examples of these include pro-
                  needed include:                                         grams in Mystic, Connecticut; Elizabeth River,
                  National Park Service                                   Virginia; James River, Virginia; and the Prairie
                                                                          Pothole region in the Midwest.
                     Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas                   As the use and acceptance of GIS technologies
                     Saratoga National Historic Park, New York            become more widespread at all levels of govern-
                  Environmental Protection Agency                         ment, the reliance on computer-based environ-
                                                                          mental studies in the USGS will increase accord-
                     Chesapeake Bay Study, Virginia,                      ingly. Several studies are being conducted by the
                           Maryland, Pennsylvania                         National Mapping, Water Resources, and Geologic
                     Albemarle/Pamlico Study Area, North                  divisions that investigate the quality of water in a
                           Carolina                                       wetlands environment, the creation and mainte-
                     Pearl River Basin, Louisiana                         nance of wetlands, and the effect of human activi-
                     Savannah River Basin, Georgia                        ties on wetlands. GIS projects that are underway
                     Georgetown and Beaufort, South Carolina              include management of hazardous waste sites,
                     Delaware Bay, Delaware, New Jersey                   some of which have direct effects on nearby wet-
                                                                          lands; the movement of toxins through groundwa-
                                   Image Maps                             ter and surface water; and continuing research on
                                                                          the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay
                  The National Mapping Division is investigating          drainage area. The wetlands ecosystem provides
                the usefulness of new maps that could enhance the         investigators with a natural laboratory in which
                study of wetlands. This includes the development          complex environmental processes can be investi-
                of anew series of image-based maps at the 1: 12,000       gated. GIS modeling allows scientists to further
                scale, called quarter-quad orthophotos. The use of        expand the horizon of scientific inquiry by permit-
                these maps could result in the more precise record-       ting effective visualization and the interaction of
                ing of the existence and extent of wetlands. Be-          the many complex data sets involved, while simul-
                cause the orthophotoquad production process is            taneously providing the capability for the quanti-
                much shorter than the production of standard to-          fied investigation of spatial and temporal patterns
                pographic map revisions and the positional accu-          in the data.
                racy is comparable with the revised map, the or-            The National Mapping Division and the Na-
                thophotoquad could become an essential tool in the        tional Wetlands Inventory staffs are pursuing the
                study of wetlands.                                        development of formal agreements to conduct
                  The Soil Conservation Service, Department of              apping activities that will result in mutually
                Agriculture, has been working with the National           in
                Mapping Division on designing an image base map           beneficial data production and use. The three prin-
                at the 1: 12,000 scale in support of the national soils   cipal objectives of these cooperative ventures are
                inventory. These image maps are used by Soil              sharing of personnel, technology, and data.
                Conservation Service field personnel; they are pro-         With regard to personnel, the National Mapping
                duced under a joint funding arrangement and use           Division proposes to make a cartographer avail-
                NAPP photographs as source materials. As the use          able to NWI for a maximum of 2 years to review
                of 1:12,000-scale orthophotoquads increases, the          the production processes for the generation of na-
                division will assess its position on standardizing        tional wetlands maps. A remote-sensing specialist
                the compilation and final design to reflect the most      also will be available on an as-needed basis to
                advantageous use of this product. At present we           identify the most effective use of NAPP photo-
                believe that the 1: 12,000-scale orthophotoquad can       graphs, the procedures for handling large amounts
                be an integral part of wetlands research.                 of new source materials, and the conventions re-








                 92    BimiowcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                 quired to classify wetlands from NAPP source ma-      graphic and digital form. For project planning, the
                 terials.                                              intermediate-scale maps and data provide a re-
                    With regard to technology, the National Map-       gional perspective. Some Federal agencies are now
                 ping Division proposes to identify state-of-the-art   increasing their support of even larger-scale maps
                 software and hardware systems to assist in stan-      and data, primarily in an image format. The Na-
                 dardizing scanning procedures, to assist NWI per-     tional Mapping Division is investigating the use-
                 sonnel in developing techniques to convert NWI        fulness of quarter-quad orthophotographic prod-
                 graphic products to digital products, and to assist   ucts to respond to this growing need. Data
                 in quality-assurance procedures so that wetlands      dissemination networks are in place and accessible
                 data can be incorporated into the National Digital    to Federal and State agencies nationwide.
                 Spatial Data Base System. This technical assis-          Currently, the National Mapping Division is
                 tance will reduce duplicative efforts ensure data     providing support to the National Park Service,
                 collection meets national standar&, maximize          the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Envi-
                 program efficiencies, and encourage technology        ronmental Protection Agency, the Soil Conserva-
                 transfer.                                             tion Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
                    With regard to data, a cooperative effort is nec-  the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
                 essary for transfer of wetlands data from the NWI
                 directly to the National Digital Spatial Data Base    tration, and the U.S. Forest Service in a number of
                 System. These data will be important for the effi-    studies related to wetlands research. One of the
                 cient conduct of the National Map Revision Pro-       most effective research tools in the study,of wet-
                 gram and the land use and land cover mapping          lands is GIS, a technology in which the National
                 effort. Procedures could be developed to assist in    Mapping Division has valuable expertise. The use
                 the revision and updating of wetlands data cur-       of division maps and data in GIS's is increasing
                 rently recorded on the 1:24,000-scale topographic     and is expected to continue. One of the major
                 map series and to update the land use and land        initiatives of the National Mapping Division is to
                 cover maps that require current wetlands classifi-    provide technical assistance to any Federal or
                 cation and mapping. This effort also will ensure      State agency that seeks cooperative development
                 that the most current wetlands data are available     of wetland research projects.
                 to the general public through the National Digital       The need for a coordinated approach to support
                 Spatial Data Base System.                             the president's Wetland Initiative is being ad-
                                                                       dressed by the National Mapping Division and the
                                   Summary                             National Wetlands Inventory through the estab-
                                                                       lishment of formal cooperative agreements. These
                    The National Mapping Division produces and         agreements will involve the sharing of expertise,
                 disseminates a variety of cartographic, image, and    the development of a wetlands component in the
                 digital maps and data that are useful to Federal      National Digital Spatial Data Base System, and
                 and State agencies involved in wetlands research.     the exchange of wetland thematic and base carto-
                 The primary map series is most often used, in both    graphic data between the agencies.









                                                                                                             NATioNAL PwGRAms 93





                                  Soil Conservation Service's Wetland Inventory



                                                                            by




                                                                     Billy M. Teels

                                                              Soil Conservation Service
                                                           U.S. Department of Agrriculture
                                                      South Agriculture Building Room 6144
                                                                     P.O. Box 2890
                                                               Washington, D.C. 20013


                               ABSTRACT@The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) conducts its wetland inventory under the
                               auspices of the Food Security Act (FSA) of 1985. Through the wetland conservation
                               (Swampbuster) provision of FSA, agricultural producers are denied United States Department
                               of Agriculture (USDA) program benefits for converting wetlands for agricultural production.
                               The SCS has the technical responsibility for identifying: FSA wetlands and converted wetlands.
                               The USDA program agencies (Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Farmers
                               Home Administration, and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation) determine producer
                               eligibility for their respective programs once wetlands and converted wetlands have been
                               identified. Critical to the effective implementation of Swampbuster is the accurate and timely
                               identification of wetlands for affected persons and agencies.The SCS Wetland Inventory
                               focuses on inland h7eshwater wetlands that have a high potential for agricultural conversion.
                               The conversion of wetlands to agricultural land has accounted for more than 80% of the
                               Nation's wetland loss. The SCS has set a goal of 31. December 1991 to complete wetland
                               determinations for all USDA program participant croplands and other lands identified as
                               having a high potential for conversion.


                    The Soil Conservation Service's (SCS) Wetland              to occur without detection by the self-certification
                 Inventory began in the Red River Valley of the                process. Also, producers with lands in different
                 north, in North Dakota and Minnesota, January                 States or counties would get different answers on
                 1988. Initially, SCS had not planned to conduct a             what constituted a wetland, depending on where
                 wetland inventory for the Food Security Act (FSA).            their land was located. It soon became evident that
                 Swampbuster (the wetland conservation provision               an inventory was necessary to avoid confusion on
                 of the FSA) was to have worked based solely on                the location of wetlands and to clarify the extent to
                 producer certification, a process whereby the U.S.            which maintenance could be performed. This con-
                 Department of Agriculture (USDA) program par-                 ditiOn was particularly true in the Red River Val-
                 ticipants would certify annually on form AD-1026              ley ofthe north, where most producers annually
                 as to their intent to modify wetlands. However,               perform some maintenance of their drainage sys-
                 that process proved inadequate because producers              tems. If producers were going to comply with
                 did not know what was considered a wetland under              Swampbuster, wetlands had to be identified.
                 FSA, nor did they know to what extent Swampbus-                  The inventory was a success in the Red River
                 ter would allow for maintenance of existing drain-            Valley. For the most part, producers agreed with
                 age systems that involved wetlands. Therefore, on             the wetlands identified by the inventory, and con-
                 nearly all self-certification forms, producers had            servation agencies and environmental groups were
                 checked "no" in the blocks that asked if modifica-            pleased with the results. Because of the variety of
                 tions were to be made in wetlands. Nevertheless,              the information from which wetland interpreta-
                 documented modifications in wetlands continued                tions were made and the large scale of the mapping








                  94    BiowGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                  tools employed, the inventory identified more wet-             Scope of the Project and
                  lands than had been identified in previous invento-                    Project Period
                  ries. Even though more wetlands were identified, it
                  was clear that the vast majority of delineations met       As previously discussed, the scope of the inven-
                  the wetland definition under FSA, and that the           tory includes all lands that have a high potential
                  inventory did not include land that was outside that     for agricultural conversion. The 31 December 1991
                  definition. Producers in the Red River Valley       aP-  date sets an ambitious goal for completed determi-
                  preciated that wetland determinations were made          nations, a goal difficult to achieve without the aid
                  promptly and that they were made before the 1988         of an inventory. Inventory funds have been made
                  growing season when decisions had to be made on          available in fiscal years arY) 1989, 1990, and 1991
                  drainage maintenance and planting. The inventory         to SCS State offices with an interest in conducting
                  ended the confusion, speculation, and conjecture         an inventory.
                  that was plaguing Swampbuster at the time. Based
                  on the success in the Red River Valley, SCS decided
                  to expand the inventory elsewhere.                         Description of Map Products

                                                                             Wetlands and converted wetlands are identi-
                     Inventory Coverage to Date                            fied on a variety of map products. There is no
                                                                           standard scale or map on which the inventory is
                    Because the potential for agricultural conver-         produced. However, wetland determinations are
                  sion is low in much of the Nation's wetlands, SCS        usually made on photocopies of black and white
                  does not intend to conduct an inventory that covers      aerial photographs provided by the Agricultural
                  the entire Nation. Only those regions considered         Stabilization and Conversion Service (ASCS).
                  to have high potential for conversion of wetlands        There is a difference between wetlands identified
                  to annual crops have been identified, and funds          for the inventory and wetlands identified during
                  have been made available to States within those          the determination process. The wetland inventory
                  regions for inventory purposes (Fig. 1). The inven-      identifies more or less all the wetlands in a county
                  tory is about 25% complete to date, with the great-      or major land resource area, and is used as a tool
                  est progress-occurring in the Midwest (Fig. 2). FSA      from which wetland determinations are made.
                  wetland determinations, for which the inventory          Wetland determinations are made on form CPA-
                  was developed, are complete for about 25% of the         026 by SCS. The producer and the program agency
                  USDA program participants.                               are provided a photocopy of an aerial photograph



                                         VVA

                                                                                       @g`
                                                                                                                          ME

                                                                                                                    VT
                        AK               OR.
                                                              WY
                                                                        ............

                                      .............
                                                                                                            P
                                                                                          IL
                                                                                                N
                                       .........                                                                   NJ
                                                         T
                                                                                                       W
                                           ..........


                                                                              k'
                                                                NM


                                                                         V
                                                                                                  5W"            $1-99,000
                               CH-1 k

                                                                                                                          -199,000
                                                                                                                 100,DOO

                                                                                                                 200,000 - 299,000

                                                                                                                 300,000 - and up
                  Fig., 1L. 1989 allocations for wetland inventories.

































                                                                                                   Ulm



                                                                                                   I r




















                                                                                                                                                                                 ow




                3OURM
                DM PPIVAM rr 9M nELD PVt5ONNIEL
                kVP CO&PLO U" AM06"TO                                                                                                 1?0    2?0     300    400    sw w
                WAP COMMUCTON VAM TW FVC4S
                EQU@%10ff. O"MOD"t CARfDGPAPW
                cewro row WORTK VIAS I*".

                Pig. 2. Completed wetland inventories (September 1989) of the Soil Conservation Service.








                   96     BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



                   of the producer's property delineating the wet-            tory is an office process that shortcuts the need to
                   lands and converted wetlands. The scale of the             make on-site wetland investigations and without a
                   photography on which determinations are made               significant loss in accuracy.
                   varies; however, 8 inches per mile or 1:660 is the            Mapping conventions have been developed as a
                   most common. Because this scale is used for most           guide to interpret office information and provide
                   determinations, the inventory commonlyuses this            consistency to the inventory. Conventions are gen-
                   scale as its base. In most instances, SCS will order       erally developed for each SCS field office and are
                   the latest black and white aerial photography              tailored to the information that is available locally.
                   (prints) at the same scale that ASCS uses for its          The SCS State offices have developed broad con-
                   program on which to produce the inventory. In-             ventions for -major land resource areas" that serve
                   ventory delineations are made directly on the              as a framework through which field office mapping
                   black and white prints with the appropriate FSA            conventions are developed. Likewise, regional map-
                   designations. Photocopies can then be conve-
                   niently made of the prints and provided to the             ping conventions have been developed by SCS's
                                                                              National Technical Centers to serve as a guide for
                   program agency and program participants as part            the development of State conventions. The appen-
                   of the determination process. Some inventories             dix provides an example of a regionally developed
                   use soil survey maps as a base; these vary in scale        mapping convention for the Prairie Pothole region.
                   (1:10,000-1:12,000 for detailed surveys or                 The mapping conventions are, in effect, the control
                   1:24,000-1:64,000 for extensive surveys). Other            over the inventory, and are usually codeveloped
                   inventories have used satellite data to interpret          with the FWS. The SCS's National Technical Cen-
                   wetlands and produce delineations on mylar over-           ters must concur with State mapping conventions
                   lays at a scale of 1:24,000.                               before they can be used in the inventory.
                      Although there is no standard map product at               Mapping is performed by teams of SCS techni-
                   this time, we anticipate that SCS wetland deter-           cians, SCS district conservationists, or by teams
                   minations eventually will be incorporated into a
                                                                              working with technical consultants. In much of the
                   standardized county map system and a digital               Midwest, SCS technicians are assigned to field
                   county data base that will be adopted by all USDA          offices to conduct the inventory. Once all the office
                   agencies.                                                  information and collateral data (e.g., weather re-
                                                                              cords, river gauge data) have been assembled, a
                              Inventory Methods                               three- or four-person team interprets the informa-
                                                                              tion based on the local mapping conventions, and
                      The FSA!s definition of wetland is as follows:          makes the delineations on the base maps. The team
                   Lands that have a predominance of hydric soils that        can conduct the inventory for the field office area
                   are inundated or saturated at a frequency and              (usually a county) within about 2 weeks. Then the
                   duration sufficient to support, and under normal           team moves on to the next field office and repeats
                   circumstances do support, a prevalence of hydro-           the process. Before the team begins mapping, team
                   phytic vegetation typically adapted to life in satu-       members spend time at the field office familiarizing
                   rated soil conditions. This definition contains the        themselves with available mapping tools and con-
                   three wetland parameters that have been used to            ventions and becoming acquainted with the
                   identify wetlands under Section 404 of the Clean           county's landscape and ecology. The local district
                   Water Act, and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-          conservationist contributes information based on
                                                                              his or her experience in the county. To ensure
                   vice (FVS) in the National Wetlands Inventory.                   acy, the team members and the district con-
                   Those same parameters are now recognized by the            accur
                   new Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineat-           servationist make periodic field checks of the delin-
                   ing Jurisdictional Wetlands (Federal Interagency           eated wetlands during the mapping process.
                   Committee for Wetland Delineation 1989). The                  The SCS area office staff annually reviews all of
                   SCS's Wetland Inventory uses office information,           the field offices involved in the inventory, providing
                   such as ASCS compliance slides, other aerial pho-          first-line quality control for the inventory. The SCS
                   tography, FWS National Wetlands Inventory                  State offices annually spot-check a minimum of
                   maps, SCS soil surveys, -local weather records,            109/6 of the field offices involved in the inventory and
                   stream gauge data, and other locally available data,       all of the area offices performing quality control.
                   as the basis for determining if wetland soils, hydrol-     The SCS National Technical Centers annually re-
                   ogy, and vegetation are present. Thus, the inven-          view the performance of all State offices involved in









                                                                                                      NATioNAL PRoc.RAms 97



               the inventory. Reviews focus on whether the teams          requires to qualify as a farmed wetland. The team
               are making accurate determinations as compared             and representatives from the Stennis Space Center
               with determinations that would be made on site,            corTelated river gauge data from the Mississippi
               and whether the teams are accurately applying the          and Yazoo rivers with available satellite imagery
               mapping conventions to the inventory tools.                showing flooding or ponding that equaled or ex-
                 The SCS State offices must approve each field            ceeded 15 days. FSA wetland and converted wet-
               office inventory before it becomes final and is re-        lands were then color-coded on mylar overlays at a
               leased to the public. The inventory is made avail-         scale of 1:24,000.
               able to land users, first on an informal basis, either
               though direct mailing or by conducting public
               meetings to review the inventory. The land users                Cartographic Procedures
               are asked if they agree with the delineations. If             Wetland delineations are hand-drawn on exist-
               they do, the SCS makes final determinations from           ing maps or photographs. Interpretations are made
               the inventory and transmits them to the producer           according to the mapping conventions to determine
               and the program agency through form SCS CPA-                  an area is a wetland, and then the technician
               026. The form includes a represeantation of the            F
               producer's farm with wetlands and converted wet-           interprets the extent of the wetland boundary
               lands delineated, including information on the re-         based on the signatures produced from the various
               strictions associated with the delineations. If the        imagery or lines drawn on other wetland maps (e.g.,
               land users object to the determination, they can           National Wetland Inventory maps). Lines are nor-
                                                                          mally drawn without the aid of transfer scopes and
               meet with the district conservationist to reconsider       without rules to ensure consistency of the delinea-
               the determination. Many times the differences are          tions. However, land users seldom appeal the
               resolved as a result of the meeting. At other times,       boundary lines that SCS produces.
               the district conservationist may have to make an
               on-site determination, which then becomes the
               final determination. The FSA determination pro-               Availability of Map Products
               cess thus provides a means for determinations to
               be made either from the office or on site, based on           The SCS's primary responsibility under FSA is
               complexity of the determination and agreement of           to make wetland and converted wetland determi-
               the land users. Where inventories have been com-           nations for USDA program participants and USDA
               pleted, most final determinations have been made           program agencies. Because of an intense focus on
               from the inventory with the land users' concur-            providing wetland information to primary users in
               rence. However, if land users disagree with final          a short period, there has been no concentrated
               wetland determinations, they can appeal the de-            effort to make the SCS Wetland Inventory available
               terminations through a formal appeals process.             to the general public. However, interested persons
                  In other instances (e.g., where the workload is         can request photocopies of specific wetlands from
               relatively low or where the cost of establishing           SCS State conservationists. In addition to the in-
               teams is prohibitive), the district conservationist        ventory, other information is available from the
               conducts the inventor                                      SCS to aid others in making wetland determina-
                                        ,y with the same mapping          tions (e.g., county lists of hydric soils, soil surveys,
               conventions and subject to the same quality control        and aerial photography). That information can also
               as a team. However, consistency usually suffers            be obtained from SCS State conservationists.
               when the inventory is performed in this manner.
                  In the lower Mississippi Valley, satellite imagery
               has been used to conduct an inventory. In Missis-                     Estimated Funding
               sippi, a State wetland inventory team has worked
               with the Stennis Space Center Institute for Tech-             The SCS spent $6,143,000 on the wetland inven-
               nology Development to produce inventory maps for           tory in FY 89, and $8,175,000 in FY 90. Inventory
               the Mississippi Delta with Landstat Thematic               funds were allocated to SCS State offices based on
               Mapper and Landstat Multispectral Scanner data             the amount of wetlands identified as having a high
               from 1984 to 1989. The major reason for relying on         potential for conversion and the State's expressed
               satellite imagery in the Mississippi Delta is to           interest in conducting an inventory (Fig. 1). Some
               verify seasonal flooding (inundation for 15 consec-        States supplemented the inventory funds provided
               utive days during the growing season), which FSA           nationally with general funding from FSA.








                     98    BIOLoGicAL RF.PoRT W18)



                       Anticipated Future Act* ffies                               tifying only those areas that have high potential for
                                                                  IVIL
                                                                                   conversion to annual crops.
                       The SCS plans to continue the inventory for
                     FY 91 but not beyond unless it becomes necessary
                     to identify additional wetlands. For example, the                          User Perspective
                     next farm bill may call for the conversion of wet-               As previously discussed, the primary users of
                     lands as the trigger for Swampbuster penalty,                 the SCS Wetland Inventory are USDA program
                     rather than planting a crop on converted wetland.             participants and USDA program agencies. The
                     Such a clause would require a more complete inven-            inventory is produced with the various
                     tory because conversions for other purposes may               Swampbuster designations marked within each
                     include citrus, pasture, hayland, or other agricul-           delineation to signify the restriction that is placed
                     tural resources. The inventory now focuses on iden-           on the identified wetland or converted wetland



                     Table. Summary of use, maintenance@ and improvements of various wetland designations.

                     Wetland designation                    Use                       Maintenance                  Improvement
                     Prior Conversion (PC@-        Produce agricultural          Yes                           Yes
                       converted before 23            commodities
                       December 1985, but
                       not abandoned

                     Farmed wetland (FW)-          May be farmed as it was May maintain the de-                None
                       still meets the wet-           before 23 December              gree of drainage that
                       land criteria, includ-         1985                            existed before 23 De-
                       ing seasonally                                                 cember 1985
                       ponded wetlands, sea-
                       sonally flooded wet-
                       lands, potholes, and
                       playas
                     Wetland (W@-includes          May be used to produce        None                          None
                       natural conditions             agricultural commodi-
                       and abandoned wet-             ties when weather
                       lands                          permits without re-
                                                      moving woody vegeta-
                                                      tion

                     Commenced conversion          Same as prior conver-         Yes                           Yes
                       (CC)                           sion when completed
                     Third party                   Produce agricultural          May maintain the de-          None, unless determined
                                                      commodities                     gree of drainage that        by the Soil Conservation
                                                                                      existed as of date of        Service to have minimal
                                                                                      third party action           effects
                     Converted wetland             Production of agricul-        None                          None
                       (CW)--converted                tural commodities
                       after 23 December              will cause a person to
                       1985                           be ineligible for
                                                      USDA benefits

                     Minimal Effect UAW)           Produce agricultural          As per minimal effect         As per minimal effect agree-
                                                      commodities                     agreement                    ment
                     Artificial Wetland            Produce agricultural          Yes                           Yes
                       (AW)-including irri-           commodities
                       gation-induced wet-
                       land









                                                                                                    NATjoNAL PRwRAw 99



              (Table). To date, the SCS has provided inventory          FSA exemptions. Also, some wetlands are in-
              information to very few other users. However, the         cluded in lands designated as "prior converted
              inventory and related products (e.g., hydric soils        cropland." Such lands may be subject to other
              lists, soil maps, and ASCS slides) are valuable           wetland laws or authorities even though they are
              tools for other agencies or interested parties who        exempt from FSA. Users should consult with SCS
              wish to make wetland determinations.                      State conservationists before using the SCS Wet-
                The SCS Wetland Inventory is designed pri-              land Inventory to become aware of limitations of
              marily for FSA; therefore, users should be aware          the inventory and to understand how FSA wet-
              of its advantages and limitations. Because the            land and converted wetland designations were
              SCS Wetland Inventory uses various tools and              applied.
              works from information available at a compara-
              tively large scale, it is very detailed in the wet-                         Reference
              lands and converted wetlands it identifies. Gener-
              ally, the SCS Wetland Inventory identifies more           Federal Interagency Committee for Wetland Delineation.
              wetlands than other inventories. However, in                 1989. Federal manual for identifying and delineating
              most instances, the SCS Wetland Inventory iden-              jurisdictional wetlands. Cooperative technical
              tifies only FSA wetlands and converted wetlands.             publication of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.
                                                                           Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and
              Other lands meeting wetlands criteria (e.g., arti-           Wildlife Service, and USDA Soil Conservation Service.
              ficial wetlands) may not be identified because of            Washington, D.C. 76 pp.








              100  BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



              Appendix. Prairie Soils Regions'Wetland Mapping Conventions
                               for the 1985 Food Security Act (FSA)


              POTHOLES AND SATURATED - PRAIRIE SOILS
              (WISCONSIN GLACIATED REGION)

              Wetlands will be inventoried using the following procedure which was
              developed to maintain consistency between field offices. This will be used
              as the basis for making office determinations of wetlands in the Prairie
              Pothole soils. It takes into consideration above normal and below normal
              precipitation years. The principal tools used to make the wetland inventory
              are: soil surveys, National Wetland Inventory (NWI) maps, black and white
              aerial photos, and ASCS color slides.

              Step l.--Review NWI maps where available. NWI maps will give an excellent
              overview of the wetlands in the area. All wetlands on the NWI maps will be
              considered wetlands for these conventions unless review of the ASCS slides
              fails to confirm the area as meeting vetland criteria. This could happen
              for the following reasons:

               1. Review of the slides for all the years does not show pothole basins as
              having water, hydrophytic vegetation, drowned out crops. or crop color
              during abnormally dry or wet years.

               2. The vetland has been drained since the WWI photos were taken. Look for
              manipulation such as ditches, new tile lines, dikes or levees.

              RM: Many wetlands are excluded on NWI maps because of the Fish and
              Wildlife Service's Farmed Wetland Policy. The SCS state office may wish to
              contact the FWS regional wetland coordinator to get an overview of the KWI
              mapping conventions.

              Ste2 2.--Review the soil survey. Review of the soil survey will help
              identify which areas of the field have potential for wetlands.

              Is the site on a hydric soil map unit or on a map unit with hydric
              inclusions, or on any wet miscellaneous areas or spots symbols such as
              depressional areas, riverwash, and beaches, or on water areas that meet
              hydric water table, ponding, or flooding criteria? See Appendix for hydric
              soil criteria or KFSAM 512.10-512.12.

              Step 3.-Review ASCS color slides (and color infrared if available) for the
              years 1981 to 1988 (when available). In most cases, 5-7 years will be
              available in most counties. Use Geological Survey or weather service
              climatological data in conjuction with the ASCS slides. Review the
              climatological data to determine those years which were above or below
              normal precipitation 2 to 3 months prior to the date of the slide. The
              slides were taken in late June or July. In most cases, flights were flown
              in July.








                                                                     NATioNAL PRorRAms lol



          When reviewing slides, the folloving criteria are considered indicators of a
          vetland and will be marked.


           1. Hydrophytic vegetation in the area.

           2.  Water or drowned out crop (mud flat).

           3.  Stressed crop production due to wetness (yellow).

           4.  Color of crop in dry or vet years (greener or yellow).

           5.  Differences in color due to different planting dates.

          When viewing the slides, place a clear overlay on the Kodak caramate
          screen.  Circle the wetlands with a dry erasable marker for the first year
          (view vettest year first) reviewed. Go to the next year slide, circle new
          wetlands, and place a checkmark by those wetlands that have reoccured.
          Repeat the process for all the years. The clear overlay is a good way to
          being the process. After using the conventions for a period of time,
          experience may allow the clear overlay to be dropped from the process.
          Always check for manipulation of the wetlands. Document manipulations!
          (See exhibit - Wetness History . . . - as an example of documentation.)

          For 5 or more years of slides (see exhibit 1):

               1 circle, no checks, and vetland is verified by NWI map, possible
               vetland, review weather data to make a determination. The NWI must be
               reviewed. If the area with 1 circle and no checks cannot be verified
               by NWI, the area is not a wetland.

               I circle and 1 check and verified by NWI area is a vetland. If area is
               not verified by NWI, area is a probable vetland, review weather records
               to help make the determination.

               I circle and 2 or more checks, area is vetland whether or not verified
               by NWI.

               If area shows up on NWI map but does not show on any years of the ASCS
               slides, area is not a vetland. Check for vetland manipulations.

          For 4 or less years of slides:

               1 circle, no checks, and verified by NWI, area is wetland

               1 circle and no checks, and not on NWI area is possible wetland, check
               weather records and prior manipulations to help make a decision.

               I circle and 1 or more checks, area is a wetland whether or not
               verified by NWI.

               No circles or checks from ASCS slides and on NWI, area is a possible
               wetland, check weather records. A field check may be necessary.

          Step 4.--The vetland boundaries will then be transferred to in ASCS
          8 inch/mile map or other suitable base map (aerial photo). This transfer is








             102  BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



             more accurately done by projecting the ASCS slide on the ASCS map and
             outlining the wetlands. The wetlands will be delineated and labeled with a
             "W.11 Converted Wetlands will be recorded with a "CW." Those potholes
             located In cropfielde,vhere drainage activities are evident before December
             230 1985, but have not completely drained the potholes and they still meet
             vetland criteria but are farmed, will be recorded on map as a Famed Wetland
             1OFW' "


             Undrained potholes in prairie soils with herbaceous vetland plants or
             wetlands farmed under natural conditions will be shown as a vetland "W.

             Saturated Prairie Soils that meet vetland criteria, but have not been
             manipulated (except farmed under natural conditions), are wetlands "W."

             Artificial wetlands "AW" may be difficult to determine with this process.
             Farmer information or an onsite visit may be necessary.

             Step S.-The district conservationiat will review the wetlands inventory and
             any other pertinent information available. A field trip will be taken only
             if necessary to check questionable wetlands. The appropriate FSA wetlands
             determination will be documented on the official ASCS map (photo) and
             SCS-CPA-026. Pertinent supporting data will be added to the case file.
             Scope and effect of the existing drainage on famed wetlands "EV" will be
             documented.










                                                                         NATioNAL Programs 103



                                   GUIDELINES FOR qwEn6qm 2qULTNqEATIONS

                                  POTHOLES AND SATURATED - PRAIRIE SOILS


                      yes or no - 8qHydric soil

                  2.  yes or no - Does vetla0qnd show up on NWI?

                  3.  0 = Circle vetland first year observed
                  4.  2qV- Checkmqark for each subsequent year observed

                  S.  Outline boundaries of wetland and enter symbol



            EXAMPLE: Five (5) or more years of ASCS slides




                                                  ASCS
                   HYDRIC              q811-qmqi     SLIDES
            q0      SOILS       0qNWI     B q& W      q8q1-q8q8      STATUS



            q1       Yes        Yes      No        0 or X     Posaible-Check weather records*


                    No         No       No        0          None



            2       Yes        No       Yes       0          Probable-Check weather records*


                               Yes      Yes       0          Wetland



            3       Yes        Yes      Yes       0          Wetland
                    or         or       or        or
                    .No        No       No        more



            X = An X is used   when team member has a question on a call. District
                 conservationist needs to make decision. Not used often.


            *Field checks may be needed.
 








                                                                            REGIONAL,kND FEDERm-STATE COOPMUTIVE PROGrUMS                          105


                   Regional and Federal-State
                   Cooperative Programs





                            Coastal Mapping Programs at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
                                       Service's National Wetlands Research Center


                                                                                   by




                                                       James B. Johnston and Lawrence R. Handley

                                                                 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                                              National Wetlands Research Center
                                                                      1010 Gause Boulevard
                                                                     Slidell, Louisiana 70458


                                  ABSTRACT-Over the past 10 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) National
                                  Wetlands Research Center (center; formerly the National Coastal Ecosystems Team) has been
                                  continuously involved in the production of maps for use by coastal decision makers. The types of
                                  maps produced by the center have been national, regional, or local in scope depending on user
                                  needs. Map scales have ranged from 1:24,000 to 1:250,000. Themes depicted have included
                                  biological resources, including wetlands and seagrasses; upland habitat or land use; water
                                  resources such as water quality, bathymetry, and salinity; cultural features such as ownership,
                                  archaeological sites, and dredge-spoil disposal areas; and soils and landforms. We present
                                  overviews on the various mapping programs of the center. We highlight efforts such as the
                                  ecological inventories of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts; the ecological characterization
                                  atlases of the Gulf of Mexico; and the large scale (1:24,000) habitat maps of various coastal regions
                                  of the United States. Center methods and techniques are discussed, including the collaborative
                                  efforts between the center and FWS's National Wetlands Inventory for updating wetland maps
                                  and adding upland and seagrass bed delineations to inventory maps. We also make
                                  recommendations for future coastal ecosystem mapping programs that use conventional and
                                  automated mapping methodologies, such as geographic information systems and image
                                  processing.



                      The National Wetlands Research Center (cen-                         All of our mapping projects are developed as
                   ter) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has                special interest programs (e.g., Louisiana land loss
                   an ongoing program in habitat mapping of wet-                       or seagrass mapping) in cooperation with other
                   lands and uplands. We cooperate with the National                   Federal and State agencies, such as the U.S. Army
                   Wetlands Inventory (NWI), using its processes of                    Corps of Engineers (COE), the U.S. Environmental
                   photointerpretation, quality control and assurance,                 Protection Agency (EPA), and the Louisiana De-
                   and distribution. We differ from NWI in mapping                     partment of Natural Resources. Technical assis-
                   biological data and resources at other scales of                    tance is also provided from within FWS. We have
                   1: 100,000 and 1:250,000, in adding upland habitat                  added uplands to wetland maps and developed
                   to the wetland maps, and in developing time-se-                     criteria for the incorporation of the additional up-
                   quenced mapping for habitat trend analysis.                         land categories. We have provided updates of hab-








                 106    BjowrsicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                 itat maps that the center completed previously.          as well as additional subcategory identifiers such
                 From the sequential dates of mapping we can look         as rice fields, parks, cemeteries, golf courses, spoil
                 at a trend analysis of habitat loss and gain. We use     areas, and transportation corridors. The North
                 the Cowardin et al. (1979) classification system as      American Waterfowl Management Plan suggests
                 the primary criteria for wetland delineation             looking at rice fields as habitat for wintering
                 through the various systems, subsystems, classes,        ducks, and FWS is interested in the breakdown of
                 and subclasses. However, if additional information       forested land into scrub-shrub or evergreen, and
                 is available, we are able to add modifiers, which        deciduous forests as habitats suitable for red-
                 NWI is usually not able to do because data are not       cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) nesting.
                 available. For example, for coastal Louisiana we            One of the great needs in habitat mapping is the
                 are adding a salinity modifier on the habitat maps.      addition of the upland classification to properly
                 Through additional coordination at the local level,      analyze and assess habitat changes and processes.
                 we are able to gather this type of information for       In assessing the habitat changes for an area, it is
                 many of our special projects. We have completed a        difficult to understand "Where did the wetlands
                 number of projects related to habitat mapping at         go?" if uplands are the only category. To under-
                 the 1:24,000 scale. Coastal Louisiana was mapped         stand the processes of change in the landscape, for
                 for 1956, 1978, and 1988, with an update in 1983         example, it is necessary to know what type of
                 for the lower Mississippi River Delta and the Ter-       uplands replaced the wetlands. Can one assume
                 reborme Marsh area. In 1985, we coordinated with         that wetlands were filled in or drained for urban
                 the National Aeronautics and Space Administra-           development or could they have gone into upland
                 tion (NASA) to produce aerial photography of             agricultural land, rangeland, or forest? Around
                 coastal Louisiana. At that time, only 11 habitat         San Francisco Bay, with its wholesale develop-
                 maps were developed for the State of Louisiana to        ment, it is assumed that any loss of wetlands went
                 compare data with pre-Hurricane Juan satellite           into the uplands category, but this is not always
                 imagery. We mapped coastal Texas for 1956 and            true. Finally, wetlands lose acreage to other wet-
                 1979, and mapped 10 quadrangles for 1983. We             land categories as the water regimes change.
                 mapped habitats in coastal Mississippi in 1956 and         The addition of the upland categories helps us
                 1979. For Alabama, 32 quads for the Mobile Bay           understand the overall picture of habitat change
                 area were completed for 1956 and 1979. For the           in a particular area. In the San Francisco Bay, for
                 west coast of Florida, we completed selected quads       example, wetlands certainly lost many acres, but
                 of the Panhandle area as well as 26 quads of Tampa       the greatest loss of all occurred in upland agricul-
                 Bay in the mid-1950's, 1962, and 1982. For San           tural land. The land of the market gardens, truck
                 Francisco Bay, we completed 20 quads of the south        farming, and alfalfa around the San Francisco Bay
                 bay for the mid-1950's, 1976, and 1985. For the          lost almost four times as many acres as in the
                 north bay, an additional 24 quads were completed         wetlands. The upland categories are very impor-
                 for 1976 and 1985; another 63 quads were com-            tant, and the need is certainly present for the
                 pleted for only 1985 for a surrounding area of the       development of a comprehensive and systematic
                 bay. These are most of the habitat mapping projects      uplands classification system that will comple-
                 that we have completed with multiple year up-            ment the existing wetlands classification.
                 dates.                                                      We have developed projects to analyze habitat
                   The upland classification that we use is pat-          trends and changes. For example, in San Francisco
                 terned after Anderson et al.'s (1976) classification,    Bay, we have put together a habitat change map
                 which is used by the U.S. Geological Survey              for the mid-1950's, 1976, and 1985. We have done
                 (USGS) in its land use mapping. However, the             the same thing for the lower Mississippi Delta for
                 upland classification is gradually evolving, just as     4 years (1956, 1978, 1983, and 1988). In addition,
                 the wetland classification has changed over time.        in several of our mapping projects we are develop-
                 The upland classification we use is now commonly         ing the wetland maps to include selected indicator
                 referred to as "the Handley upland classification"       species. For example, in the lower Mississi i
                                                                                                                              ppi
                 because we have gradually added more identifiers         River Delta, we are adding a habitat modifier for
                 to the uplands, as the special projects dictate          two particular species-spartina alterniflora
                 greater detail and varying needs.                        (smooth cordgrass) and Phragmites australis
                    Examples of these identifiers include urban           (common reed). Spartina is primarily an indicator
                 forest, rangeland, agricultural, and barren lands,       of salinity, and Phragmites an indicator of fresh or








                                                                    REGioNAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CooPERATrm PROI,-RAms               107



                 brackish water. We are also interested in deter-            bay's waterfowl management plan, by EPA's Es-
                 mining how much loss or gain has taken place for            tuarine Program assessments, in two court cases,
                 each species between 1978 and 1983, and between             by the California attorney general's office, and in
                 1983 and 1987.                                              at least a dozen other projects, programs, and
                    The mapping of the Chandeleur Islands is pri-            studies.
                 marily seagrass mapping. We have photography                   Special projects completed or ongoing at the
                 from three dates (1978, 1982, and 1987) that has            center, are generally done in the interest of FWS.
                 been interpreted for habitat. In addition, in 1990          In particular, we provide technical assistance to
                 we will interpret photos from April 1969, October           Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Offices, regional
                 1969, November 1988, and June 1989. Also, we are            offices, or national wildlife refuges. For example,
                 acquiring aerial photography of the Chandeleur              we are mapping seagrasses in Perdido Bay, in
                 Islands on a quarterly basis to study seasonal              Florida and Alabama, for 1940, 1978, and 1987, for
                 variations in the seagrass cover. Although this             the Panama City Enhancement Office. On Eglin
                 project was undertaken originally in conjunction            Air Force Base in Florida, we are developing eco-
                 with other center studies on the redhead (Aythya            logical community maps for the U.S. Air Force and
                 americana) population that winters at the                   FWS to use in surveying red-cockaded woodpecker
                 Chandeleur Islands, it has evolved into a seagrass          habitats for active colonies.
                 photointerpretation study of its own.                          The information we have collected has been
                    The Louisiana Coastal Zone Project was per-              used to develop digital data bases that can be
                 formed for the State of Louisiana to update data            entered into the center's geographic information
                 following Hurricane Juan. Louisiana is using                system (GIS) to implement natural resource in-
                 these habitat maps to compare with Landsat The-             ventories, habitat trend analyses, and carto-
                 matic Mapper Simulator digital data acquired                graphic modeling projects. We work with other
                 before Hurricane Juan to analyze the hurricane's            Federal and State agencies in need of the habitat
                 effects on the breakup of marshes. In coastal Lou-          maps and the digital data to conduct their work.
                 isiana, we are also photointerpreting and map-              These other agencies include the National Park
                 ping uplands and wetlands in 330 quads. This                Service, COE, EPA, and Louisiana's Department
                 project will take about 3 years to complete. At             of Natural Resources. We have developed a digital
                 present, we are in Phase I, which is the photo-             data base ofthe habitat maps for coastal Alabama,
                 interpretation of 110 quads. Phase II and Phase             Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and portions of the
                 III will be the completion of the photointerpreta-          Gulf Coast of Florida. In addition, we have digital
                 tion of the remaining 220 quads over the next               data for other selected areas ofthe country includ-
                 2 years. This project will provide an update using          ing New Jersey, the lower Chesapeake Bay, the
                 1988 photography to add to our existing 1956 and            St. Lawrence Seaway, and the San Francisco Bay.
                 1978 data bases of coastal Louisiana.                          We have also been involved in the development
                    In Mobile Bay, Alabama, we are mapping 26 quads          of maps for atlases and inventories at scales of
                 to update the 1956 and 1979 wetland maps. In the            1:100,000 and 1:250,000. In 1978, we began devel-
                 San Joaquin Valley, we are mapping 83 quads; 26 of          oping the first of the ecological atlases for regions
                 these quads focus on uplands, and the other 57 are an       of the Gulf Coast. In all, four atlases were devel-
                 update of wetlands and uplands. This mapping is for         oped: the Mississippi Deltaic Plain Atlas, the
                 the San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program and will            Texas Barrier Islands Regional Atlas, the Coastal
                 be used in analyzing the Kesterson National Wildlife        Alabama Ecological Atlas, and the Florida Ecolog-
                 Refuge selenium problem.                                    ical Atlas. A fifth atlas, the Chenier Plain Ecolog-
                    To show the overall aspects of some of these             ical Atlas, is in progress; it will fill in the final gap
                 projects, we not only had the habitat maps for the          along the Gulf Coast. The mapping for each of
                 San Francisco Bay Project for several dates, but            these atlases is completed on 1:100,000 USGS
                 we also developed two reports that provided an              base maps. Five topics per map are displayed:
                 analysis of the habitat trends in the south bay and         biological resources, socioeconomic features, soils
                 the north bay, a report on the comparison of fish           and landforms, oil and gas infrastructure, and
                 and wildlife use of a natural marsh with an arti-           climatology and hydrology. For each topic we ac-
                 ficial marsh, and two large-format habitat maps             cumulated a great deal of information from many
                 of the bay area. The information produced in our            resources in mapped form, text format, site visits,
                 trend analysis is being extensively used in the             meetings with regional experts, and reviewers'








                108    BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



                comments. The reports that were produced as part        rookeries and nesting sites have either disap-
                of these overall projects include bibliographies of     peared or changed locations.
                biological and socioeconomic literature, informa-         Representatives from oil companies and State
                tion synthesis, map narratives, and some special        and Federal agencies met on 7 December 1989 to
                reports on modeling efforts, ecological community       discuss the need for a comprehensive, updated
                profiles, and seagrass atlases. The Minerals Man-       biological resources mapping program. Nation-
                agement Service, EPA, and various State agencies        wide, the greatest need in thematic mapping is to
                were instrumental in funding, collecting data,          update FWSs ecological inventory. One sugges-
                writing reports, and reviewing the atlases and          tion made by the center is that the 1:250,000-scale
                reports.                                                maps do not lend themselves well to detail for
                   The ecological inventories were completed by         site-specific analysis, oil spill risk assessment, or
                the center in 1984; they cover the Atlantic, Gulf       digitizing. We propose that the ecological inven-
                and Pacific coasts, and the lower Mississippi Val-      tory be updated using the 1:100,000-scale USGS
                ley. The scale of the maps we used was 1:250,000;       maps as the mapping base. The USGS 1:100,000
                the maps included an inventory of a single              digital line graphs are completed for the country.
                topic-biological resources. Some resources we           By doing this we would provide additional theme
                mapped are fish spawning areas, bird rookeries,         overlays of political boundaries, hydrology, and of
                bird nesting areas, endangered species habitats,        the transportation network. This scale of maps
                major natural waterways, turtle nesting areas,          would provide a manageable and usable product
                and State and Federal wildlife refuges and man-         that would be more meaningful to planners, envi-
                agement areas. The ecological inventory maps            ronmental consultants, and analysts, and is more
                were conceived as aids to site planning of thermal      specific and detailed for oil spill cleanup, risk
                power plants along the Atlantic Coast; their scale,     assessment, site planning, and permit analysis.
                however, made specific site planning difficult.           Another aspect of mapping the center provides
                Overall use has far overshadowed the deficit-,          is the coordination and organization of flights to
                these maps have become extremely valuable aids          acquire aerial photography and digital data over
                for regional environmental impact assessment            many areas. We organized a consortium of Fed-
                and environmental analysis, oil spill risk assess-      eral and State agencies to provide the funding for
                ment, oil spill sensitivity, and oil'spill cleanup      a flight of coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Ala-
                planning.                                               bama, and a portion of the western Florida Pan-
                   Several entfites have developed products based       handle. These groups included FWS, EPA (At-
                on these maps. Resource Planning Institute of           lanta Region and Dallas Region), COE (New
                Columbia, South Carolina, an oil industry consul-       Orleans District and Mobile District), and the
                tant, has developed a set of maps of the coastal        States of Alabama and Mississippi. Nearly 3,000
                United States; these maps deal with the sensitiv-       line-miles were flown resulting in the collection of
                ity of particular coastal segments to oil spill         1,000 colorinfrared photographs at 1:65,000 scale,
                cleanup activities. MERG, an oil industry consor-
                tium working through consultants such as                and airborne Thematic Mapper Simulator (TMS)
                Coastal Environmental, Inc., has developed sets         digital data. The coastal Louisiana, Mississippi,
                of maps that delineate segments of the coastal          and Alabama flights were completed between 6
                United States that should be protected from oil         November 1988 and 30 March 1989. Because of
                spill impact on a priority basis. S.L. Ross of Can-     the success of this flight, we were asked to orga-
                ada has developed a computerized data base that         nize a similar group to fund a flight of coastal
                many oil companies are using on microcomputers          Texas for the fall of 1989. This consortium in-
                for oil spill risk assessment and oil spill cleanup.    cluded FWS, EPA (Dallas Region), COE (Galves-
                  All of these products have one major flaw-the         ton District), and the Soil Conservation Service.
                data used to develop the maps. In particular, the       The coastal Texas Right, flown by NASA out of
                biological resource information taken from the          Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Califor-
                ecological inventory maps and ecological atlases        nia, encompassed about 3,000 flight-line miles,
                is outdated and in some cases highly generalized.       took a thousand 1:65,000-scale col6r-infrared pho-
                For example, the priority resources to be protected     tographs, and collected TMS digital data. The
                or cleaned may not be in those locations any            Texas coast was flown between 27 November and
                longer. For instance, 35% of the Gulf Coast bird        15 December 1989.








                                                                  REGIONAL AND FEDEML-STATE COOPEFUTIVE PROGMMS                109



                                  References                                 data. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof Pap. 964. 28 pp.
                                                                          Cowardin, L. M., V Carter, F C. Golet, and E. T. LaRoe.
                Anderson, J. R., E. E. Hardy, J. T. Roach, and R. E.         1979. Classifications of wetlands and deepwater
                   Witmer. 1976. A land use and land cover                   habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,
                   classification system for use with remote sensor          FWS/OBS-79/31.103 pp.









                                                                          REmoNAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CooPERATivE PRoGRAms                       ill



                       Monitoring Seagrass Distribution and Abundance Patterns:
                                          A Case Study from the Chesapeake Bayl


                                                                                 by




                                               Robert J. Orth, Kenneth A. Moore, and Judith F Nowak

                                                            Virginia Institute of Marine Science
                                                                  School of Marine Science
                                                                College of William and Mary
                                                              Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062


                                 ABSTRACT.-Seagrasses, or submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), have been mapped in the
                                 Chesapeake Bay five times between 1978 and 1987 with standard aerial photographic
                                 techniques, resulting in annual reports on SAV distribution. Acquisition of the vertical
                                 photography at a scale of 1:24,000, adhering to strict quality-assurance guidelines based on
                                 sun angle, tidal stage, cloud cover, wind speed, and season, has produced excellent,
                                 high-contrast imagery delineating beds of SAV from adjacent, unvegetated areas.
                                 Ground-truthing data from various State, Federal, and public organizations have corroborated
                                 the photographic data base. Digitized bed outlines resulting from photointerpretation of the
                                 imagery onto 1:24,000-U.S. Geological Survey topographic quadrangles have been stored on a
                                 Virginia Institute of Marine Science geographic information system (GIS). A report
                                 summarizing the photographic. and ground survey data is produced each year. Results from
                                 these surveys have shown distinct changes in the distribution and abundance of SAV in
                                 different areas in the bay over the last 10 years. The amount of SAV has increased 21% from
                                 1978 to 1987 with some areas showing rapid increases in less than 5 years. The success of
                                 these annual surveys in the Chesapeake Bay indicates that aerial photographic techniques
                                 can be used to delineate spatial and temporal patterns of seagrass communities, as well as
                                 those communities comprised of brackish-water species. Appropriate GIS systems can be
                                 employed to assess historical trends at any location.


                      Seagrasses are submersed vascular plants                      dense assemblages of vertebrates and inverte-
                   found in shallow-water coastal and estuarine en-                 brates and often serve as nursery areas for many
                   vironments throughout the world. There are about                 commercially important species, such as the bay
                   50 species growing in a wide variety of sediments                scallop, Aequipectin irradians. Seagrass meadows
                   from the intertidal zone to depths of 10 m. In turbid            are important in nutrient cycling between sedi-
                   estuarine environments, such as the Chesapeake                   ments and the overlying water, and they contrib-
                   Bay, seagrasses are not found at depths below 2 In               ute to the detrital food chain. Only a few groups of
                   at mean low water (MLW), whereas in less turbid                  animals (e.g., geese, dugongs, manatees) actually
                   areas, such as the Caribbean Sea, seagrasses can                 consume seagrassses; however, the attached epi-
                   be found at depths of 50 m or more.                              phytes are food for invertebrates (e.g., gastropods,
                      Seagrasses, like their emergent wetland coun-                 amphipods), which in turn are food for secondary
                                                                                    consumers.
                   terparts, serve many different functions. Because                   In the continental United States, seagrasses are
                   they baffle currents and stabilize sediments, ex-                present in every coastal State except Delaware,
                   tensive seagrass beds adjacent to shorelines can                 Georgia, and South Carolina, although quantita-
                   reduce shoreline erosion. Seagrass beds support                  tive estimates on distribution and abundance in
                                                                                    many States are generally lacking. Table 1 pres-
                                                                                    ents a summary of data currently available on the
                    Contribution No. 1576 from the Virginia Institute of Marine     abundance of seagrasses as compared with total
                    Science, Gloucester Fbint, Virginia 23062.                      area of salt marsh. Seagrass coverage in many








                      112      BioLoGicAL RFPoRT 90(18)



                      Table 1. Salt marsh and seagrass coverage ing seagrass distribution and abundance is criti-
                         (hectares) by Stateo (modifted from Orth and cal for making quantitative assessments of losses,
                         van Montfrans 1990). No data are available for thereby increasing our understanding of factors
                         seagrasses in those coastal States not listed.                    controlling growth and distribution.


                                                   Salt marsh             Seagrass
                      State                        (reference@          (referencel)           Development of a Seagrass
                      New York                       10,810,              78100   10          Monitoring Program: A Case
                      New Jersey                     83,9892              12:62A 1,11            Study of Chesapeake Bay
                      Delaware                       26,183    3                0
                      Virginia-Maryland            145,813     3,4        1735312
                                                               1                  13          A decline of seagrass and brackish-water spe-
                      North Carolina                 64)291    5          80,972           cies throughout Chesapeake Bay in the late 1960's
                      South Carolina               149,580     1                0
                      Georgia                      151,538     1                0 14       and 1970's (Kemp et al. 1983; Orth and Moore
                      Florida-Atlantic Coast         38,826    6,7c         2800  14       1983b, 1984) led the U.S. Environmental Protec-
                      Florida-Gulf Coast           137)455     8          9131700 14       tion Agency to initiate a major research program
                      Alabama                        11,855    9          12,300  14       in 1978. This program determined the distribution
                      Mississippi                    24,919    9           2' 000 14       and abundance of submersed bay grasses and the
                      Louisiana                    720,648     6            4100  14       factors that contributed to their decline. The great-
                      Texas                        174,899                68:500           est loss of vegetation occurred in the upper and
                      a Wetland   areas identified as containing          salt-tolerant    middle sections of the bay and tributaries (Fig. 1).
                       vegetation (categorized as "salt marsh" or "nonfresh" in data       The results of the studies indicated that nutrient
                       reports or published papers) were used and listed in the totals     enrichment and high levels of turbidity were asso-
                       above.                                                              ciated with the declines in a number of areas
                      b 1, Field et al. 1988; 2, Tiner 1985a; 3, Tiner 1985b; 4,
                       Silberhorn, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, personal          (Kemp et al. 1983).
                       communication; 5, '17iner 1977; 6, Reyer et al. 1988; 7, Perry         A 1987 agreement signed by the governors of
                       1984; 8, Roach et al. 1987; 9, E. C. Pendleton, U.S. Fish and       Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and the
                       Wildlife Service, personal communication; 10, Macomber and          mayor of Washington, D.C., committed the States
                       Allen 1979; 11, Dennison, et al. In press; 12, Orth et al. 1989;
                       13, Ferguson et al. 1988; 14, Iverson and Bittaker 1986.            to develop management policies for the living re-
                       Includes 34,540 ha of mangroves listed in Perry 1984.               sources of the bay. A committee of Federal, State,
                                                                                           and university scientists and managers developed
                                                                                           a management policy to protect, enhance, and re-
                      States may be underestimated because of the lack                     store seagrass and brackish-water species (collec-
                      of quantitative mapping studies. Seagrass moni-                      tively referred to as submerged aquatic vegetation
                      toring programs are rare because of the inherent                     or SAV) in the bay. This policy was approved and
                      technical difficulties and cost in censusing these                   signed in July 1989. An implementation plan for
                      underwater populations (Orth and Moore 1983a).                       the SAV management policy is being developed by
                      Some seagrass beds have been mapped success-                         the committee.
                      fully with remote-sensing techniques such as low-                       Surveys of SAV and brackish-water species
                      level or satellite photography, or through field                     have revealed several large changes in distribu-
                      surveys including transects or randomized sam-                       tion and abundance over a short time. Therefore,
                      pling (Orth and Moore 1983a; Walker 1989). How-                      one requirement of the SAV management policy is
                      ever, most State and Federal agencies have fo-                       to develop a monitoring program that will annu-
                      cused their efforts on emergent wetlands. The U.S.                   ally determine the distribution and abundance of
                                                                                           SAV. This program will be implemented by using
                      Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands In-                    low-level, vertical aerial photographs and ground
                      ventory is one such mapping effort.                                  surveys. This survey methodology was developed
                         In recent decades, seagrass declines have oc-                     over a 10-year period in Chesapeake Bay. In aerial
                      curred worldwide (Kemp et al. 1983; Orth and                         photographs, seagrasses-under appropriate en-
                      Moore 1983b; Cambridge and McComb 1984;                              vironmental conditions-generally have a signa-
                      Neverauskas 1987). The magnitude of these                            ture distinct from adjacent, unvegetated areas.
                      losses, in many cases, has been difficult to assess                  Aerial photographs also provide a synoptic view of
                      because of inadequate data on distribution and                       baywide patterns for future analysis. The first
                      abundance patterns before the decline. Monitor-                      baywide survey to use low-level, vertical aerial








                                                                         RFGioNAL AND FEDERAL--STATE CooPERATivE PRoGRAms                 113







                                                     77- 100'          14 - SUSOVENANNA     760105 U
                                                                              FLATS


                                                  KILOMETERS
                                             0    10  20   30   40  BALTIMORE                                           cr_
                                                                                                                        W
                                                                                                                        a-
                                                                                                                        a.


                                                   WASHINGTON                                    13                390
                                                                                                                   00,








                                                                                                                        W
                                                                                                                        -J

                                                                                10




                                                                                    9



                                                                                      12

                                                                                                             7     180
                                                                                           8                       00





                                                                                          3
                                                                                              ku
                                                                                              QL


                                                                           5
                                                                                 2


                                                                                                                        W


                                                                                       4                                0

                                                                                                                14
                                                      cw I.,
                                                                                                X-11
                                                                                                                   370
                                                                                                                   00





                  Fig. 1. Chesapeake Bay and tributaries showing major declines of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV-,
                     crosshatched area) during the 1960's and 1970's, and showing areas where SAV was still abundant (stippled
                     area; reprinted with permission of Science; see Orth and Moore 1983b).








                    114    BiowmcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                    photography was conducted in 1978 (Orth et al.               elodea), Ceratophyllum demersum (coontail), Na-
                    1979; Anderson and Macomber 1980). Subsequent                jas guadalupensis (southern naiad), and Vallisne-
                    baywide surveys were conducted in 1984-87 and                ria americana (wild celery) are less tolerant of high
                    1989 with the same methodology (Orth et al. 1985,            salinities and are found in the middle and upper
                    1986, 1987, 1989). Additional aerial surveys were            sections of the bay and tributaries. Ruppia mari-
                    conducted in the lower bay in 1974, 1980, and                tima (widgeon grass) is tolerant of a wide range of
                    1981, and historical aerial photographs were used            salinities and is found throughout the bay. About
                    to map the lower western shore in 1971 (Orth and             11 other species are occasionally found in the mid-
                    Gordon 1975).                                                dle and upper reaches of the bay and tidal rivers
                                                                                 (Table 2). Hydrilla verticillata (hydrilla) was intro-
                                                                                 duced into the Potomac River in 1981 and rapidly
                              Submerged Aquatic                                  became abundant in the tidal freshwater section.
                               Vegetation Species
                                                                                       Aerial Photography and Ground
                      Ten SAV species are commonly found in the                                        Truthing
                    Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The limits of
                    a species' distribution are determined by its salin-            SAV photographs are obtained by using stan-
                    ity tolerance (Orth and Moore 1981). Zostera ma-             dard aerial mapping cameras, with either black
                    rina (eelgrass), tolerant of salinities as low as            and white or color film (both film types have been
                    10 o/oo, is abundant in the lower portion of the bay.        used effectively in the monitoring program). Pho-
                    Myriophyllum spicatum (water milfbil), Potamo-               tographs are taken at an altitude of about 12,000
                    geton pectinatus (sago pondweed), Potamogeton                feet, yielding a 1:24,000 photographic scale. Cov-
                    perfoliatus (redhead grass), Zannichellia palustris          erage includes all areas known to have SAV and
                    (horned pondweed), Elodea canadensis (common                 areas that could potentially support SAV (i.e.,



                    Table 2. Species of submerged aquatic plants found in Chesapeake Bay and tributaries (from
                                                                     Orth et al. 1989).

                    Family                                                  Species                            Common name
                    Characeae (muskgrass)                       Chara braunii                                  Muskgrass
                                                                Chara zeylanica
                                                                Nitella flexilis
                    Potamogetonaceae (pondweed)                 Potamogeton perfoliatus bupleuroides           Redhead grass
                                                                Potamogeton pectinatus                         Sago pondweed
                                                                Potamogeton crispus                            Curly pondweed
                                                                Potamogeton pusillus                           Slender pondweed
                                                                Ruppia maritima                                Widgeon grass
                                                                Zannichellia palustris                         Horned pondweed
                                                                Zostera marina                                 Eelgrass
                    NaJadaceae                                  Najas guadalupensis                            Southern naiad
                                                                Najas gmcillima                                Naiad
                                                                Najas minor                                    Naiad
                    Hydrocharitaceae (frogbit)                  Vallisneria americana                          Wild celery
                                                                Elodea canadensis                              Common elodea
                                                                Egeria densa                                   Water-weed
                                                                Hydrilla verticillata                          Hydrilla
                    Pontedariaceae (pickerelweed)               Heteranthera dubia (= Zosterell dubia)         Water stargrass
                    Ceratophyllaceae (coontail)                 Ceratophyllum demersum                         Coontail
                    Trapaceae                                   Trapa natans                                   Water chestnut
                    Haloragaceae (water milfoil)                Myriophyllum spicatum                          Eurasian water milfoil









                                                                    REGIONAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CooPERATivE PRoGRAms                     115



                generally all areas where water depths are less               Table 3. Guidelines followed during acquisition of
                than 2 in at MLW), as well as land control points.                             aerial photographs.
                   Survey flight lines are prioritized by area and
                are flown when the standing crop for the dominant             Tidal stage--Photography is acquired at low tide,
                species is at its peak. General guidelines govern-               ï¿½ 0-1.5 feet, depending on overall water clarity and
                ing mission planning and execution have been                     tidal regime of the area, as predicted by the Na-
                established; these guidelines address tidal stage,               tional Ocean Survey tables.
                plant growth, turbidity, sun elevation, wind,                 Plant growth-Growth stages must ensure maxi-
                water and atmospheric transparency, sensor op-                   mum delineation of SAV, and when phenologic
                eration, and plotting (Table 3). These guidelines                stage overlap should be greatest.
                ensure that photographs will be obtained during               Sun angle-Surface reflection from sun glint must
                optimal conditions for detecting SAV, thus aiding                not cover more than 30% of frame. Sun angle
                accurate photointerpretation.                                    should be between 20' and 40* to minimize water
                   Field surveys of SAV communities are done by                  surface glitter. At least 60% line overlap and 20%
                a number of State and Federal agencies and per-                  side lap are used to minimize image degradation
                sons in Maryland and Virginia, including the U.S.                due to sun glint.
                Geological Survey (USGS), Maryland Department                 Turbidity--Clarity of water must ensure complete de-
                of Natural Resources, and Chesapeake Bay Foun-                   lineation of grass beds. This is visually determined
                dation. Some surveys are conducted independent                   from the airplane to ensure that SAV could be seen
                of the aerial mapping program; these include                     by the observer.
                those surveys associated with SAV restoration                 Wind-Photography is acquired during periods of no
                programs in Maryland and Virginia, whereas                       wind or low wind. Offshore winds are preferred
                other surveys support the aerial survey by check-                over onshore winds when wind conditions cannot
                ing SAV beds that were mapped the previous year.                 be avoided.
                All data are synthesized in a report of the annual            Atmospherics-Photography is acquired during peri-
                mapping program.                                                 ods of no haze or low haze or clouds below aircraft.
                                                                                 There should be no more than scattered or thin bro-
                                 Mapping Process                                 ken clouds, or thin overcast above aircraft, to en-
                                                                                 sure maximum SAV-to-bottom contrast.
                   The USGS's 7.5-min topographic quadrangles                 Sensor operation-Photography is acquired in the
                are used as a basis for mapping SAV beds from                    vertical mode with 5* tilt. Scale/altitude/film/focal
                aerial photography, digitizing SAV beds, and com-                length combination must permit resolution and
                piling SAV bed-area measurements (Fig. 2). Pho-                  identification of about 1 m2 area of SAV (surface).
                tointerpretation of SAV beds requires all avail-              Plotting-Each flight line includes sufficient identifi-
                able information, including knowledge of distinct                able land area to ensure accurate plotting of grass
                aquatic grass signatures on film, ground surveys,                beds.
                and low-level aerial reconnaissance surveys. De-
                lineation of boundaries of SAV beds onto topo-
                graphic quadrangles is done by superimposing the              ber (1 = very sparse or <10% coverage; 2 = sparse
                appropriate mylar quadrangle onto the appropri-               or 10-40% coverage; 3 = moderate or 40-70%
                ate photograph. A best fit is obtained where minor            coverage; 4 = dense or 70-100% coverage) corre-
                scale differences are evident between the photo-              sponding to the density categories. Additionally,
                graph and the mylar quadrangle. Shoreline                     each distinct SAV unit is assigned a two-letter
                changes are noted on the quadrangle if significant            designation unique to the map. Subsections of
                shoreline erosion or accretion has occurred since             beds are further identified as being part of a
                USGS publication of a map.                                    contiguous bed by the addition of a code unique to
                   In addition to delineating the boundaries of the           that bed.
                SAV bed, the percent of cover within each bed is
                estimated by using an enlarged crown-density
                scale similar to that developed for estimating for-              SAV Perimeter Digitization and Area
                est crown cover. Bed density is classified into one                                Calculation
                of four categories based on a subjective compari-
                son with the density scale. Either the entire bed,               The perimeters of all SAV beds mapped from
                or subsections within the bed, are assigned a num- aerial photographs are digitized using a Numonics








                          116      BiowwAL REPoRT 90(18)










                                                                                                             4 @5
                                                                                        _WSOJA NANNA
                                                                                                 ArS





                                                                                  B IMORE,
                                                                                          14   S,      1.    17
                                                                                                       .1
                                                                                         '0     v2ql
                                                                                         25
                                                                                  5 \-@ /8- "'
                                                        ASHIN N                   N                    158
                                                                                          31@@                 Ln
                                                                                  159                  38
                                                                                                             '60
                                                                                  35
                                                                                  I     7A
                                                        40                        @41    14"3'
                                                                                                       1     46
                                                                                           C@,-                    0
                                            4           61              411@      (X 51,,1       '                 @3
                                                                                  so             52-   53    54
                                                              58 '162             _60
                                                                                               65



                                                                                  to

                                                                                                                                     '69

                                                                                               02
                                                                                  87 89   90           91    92 t@293                       17
                                                                                  96

                                                              94
                                                                        x                                       101
                                                                    103           ",105                      107 108


                                                                                                          119


                                                                                  121
                                                                    120           x 122
                                                                                        L.19
                                                                                                             124
                                                  121   126 1271 128    129\'     '30                  133   111
                                                                                  139    141
                                                        135             -/fn

                                                                                  14 146
                                                                        .4
                                                       N                                               2
                                                                                                             6
                                                                                                         @40.








                                                 0          20                    148 149
                                                                                  @
                                                   KILOMETER                      f
                                                                                  155 15!      156     157
                                                                                        I


                        Fig. 2. Chesapeake Bay-locations of topographic quadrangles used in submerged aquatic vegetation monitoring
                            program.









                                                             REGioNAL AND FEDERmSTATE CooPERAnvE PRwRAms               117



              Model 2400/2200 Digitablet Graphics Analysis           amount of SAV that had been lost in the Chesa-
              System with a resolution of 0.00254 cm and an          peake Bay up to that time. Qualitative assess-
              accuracy of 0.0127 cm. Coordinates are transmit-       ments indicated that there may have been in
              ted to a PRIME 9955 computer for area calculation      excess of 50,000 ha, at peak levels (Bayly et al.
              and data manipulation with a software program          1978). Thus, current SAV populations may be less
              developed at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sci-     than half of those that existed 20 years ago. Sev-
              ence. The area of each bed is reported as a mean of    eral areas exemplify the changes described pre-
              three trials. The range of these three trials is not   viously and are discussed in more detail to provide
              to deviate from the mean by more than 5%.              an additional perspective on the changes that
                The perimeter of each SAV bed is defined by a        have occurred in the bay.
              polygon with a linear point density of 60 per chart      The lower eastern shore (section 14) has had
              centimeter (5 m ground resolution). The total          abundant seagrass since 1978 (Fig. 6). Zostera ma-
              number of points defming any SAV bed is depen-         rina and Ruppia, maritima are the dominant spe-
              dent on overall bed size. The SAV bed perimeter is     cies in this area. Because this area is close to the
              stored as X and Y coordinates in centimeters from      mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, the generally less
              the quadrangle origin. Perimeters are later con-       turbid water apparently allows for a much greater
              verted to latitude and longitude.                      depth penetration of light and thus a greater depth
                A standard operating procedure was developed         distribution of SAV as compared with western
              to aid orderly and efficient processing of data, and   shore areas (Orth and Moore 1988a).
              to comply with the need for consistency, quality         Seagrass in the Rappahannock River (section
              assurance, and quality control. These standard         16), which consists of Zostera marina and Ruppia.
              operating procedures include a detailed procedure      maritima, was abundant along both shores in
              outlining 46 steps for digitization of SAV maps; a     1971. There was a rapid decline in seagrass be-
              47-step checklist for editing SAV perimeter com-       tween 1971 and 1974, with continued absence of
              puter files; a digitizer log in which all operations   SAV through 1986. However, since 1987 there has
              are recorded and dated, and which is used to guide     been a rapid increase of R. maritima in some
              and record editing operations; and a flowchart         downriver areas (Fig. 7). This change has paral-
              used to track progress of all computer operations,     leled similar increases observed with this species
              including all changes in file names.                   in other mid-bay areas.
                                                                        Submerged vegetation in the upper Potomac
                                                                     River was absent in 1978. However, a rapid in-
                      Vegetation Trends in                           crease was observed in 1984, with continuing ex-
                          Chesapeake Bay                             pansion through 1987 (Fig. 8). The abundance in
                                                                     1987 was the most recorded since the early 1900's
                The distribution of SAV in the Chesapeake Bay        and was largely due to the rapid spread ofHydrilla
              and tributaries has been organized into 3 zones        verticillata, after its accidental introduction in
              and 21 sections (Fig. 3). In 1978, the first baywide   1981. Although H. verticillata is by far the most
              survey of seagrasses delineated 16,894 ha with         dominant species in this region, 12 other species
              17.8, 44.0, and 38.2% in the upper, middle, and        have been reported. The reason for their reoccur-
              lower bay zones, respectively (Fig. 4). By 1987,       rence is unknown, but may be associated with the
              there were 20,230 ha, a 21% increase from 1978,        increase in water clarity created by the dense mats
              with 14.6, 45.9, and 39.2% in the upper, middle,       of H. verticillata in inshore areas. The increase in
              and lower bay zones, respectively. From 1978 to        submerged vegetation in the upper Potomac River
              1987, there were relatively small changes in most      may have been accelerated because of the reduc-
              sections of the lower bay zone, and both increases     tion in the discharge of nutrients by the Blue
              and decreases in sections of the middle and upper      Plains Sewage Treatment Plant in Washington,
              bay zones (Fig. 5). The increases were primarily       D.C. Total suspended solids and phosphate loading
              in the upper Potomac River (section 11) and the        have declined. Nitrification began in 1983, chang-
              middle reaches of the bay along the eastern shore      ing the main nitrogen input from ammonia to
              (sections 12 and 13). Decreases were in the upper      nitrate. Although no defitiite links between nutri-
              reaches of the bay (sections 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7). Data  ent reductions and seagrass regrowth in this re-
              are not available for seagrass abundance in the        gion have been made, these changes in discharge
              bay before 1978, making it difficult to estimate the   could only have had positive effects.








                 118   BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)









                                  3940. 0              1
                                                                  SUSQUEHANNA R N
                                             CHESAPEAKE                                          Cc
                                                  BAY                                            Uj
                                                                                                 a_
                                                                                                 a_
                                                      PATAPSCO
                                                                                                 D
                                 3910. 0                                              4
                                                              5


                                                                                6


                                 3840. 0 -                 8                                     Ljj
                                                               R.
                                                                                                 0
                                                                                7                0



                                                        POT
                                 3810. 0 -
                                                                               13@

                                                                          15
                                 3740. 0 -                                     14
                                                                          16

                                                                                                 LLJ

                                                                                                 0
                                 3710@ 0 -


                                                                           20

                                3640@ 0                            21
                                       0             0             0             0            C
                                       0             0            0              C)           0
                                                                                 0            fn
                                                                                 (0



                Fig. 3. Chesapeake Bay and tributaries showing delineation of zones (3) and sections (21) developed for discussion
                   of trends of submerged aquatic vegetation.









                                                                                        RmioNAL AND FEDERAI-STATE COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS                                    119


                                    SAV Abundance              in the      Chesapeake Bay


                              25000



                              20000'                                             Ni     f-'@Wzgagv       [I UPPER
                                                                                                                      Fig. 4. Abundance of submerged aquatic
                                                                                                                          vegetation by zone for the Chesapeake
                              15000.
                                                                                                                          Bay and tributaries for 1978, and 1984
                                                                                                         El MIDDLE        through 1987.

                              10000.

                                                                                                         0 LOWER

                                5000-



                                    0-                      1"            4P          I"
                                        1978         1984        1985         1986         1987


                                          Summary and                                                 sources and groundwater inputs as well as reduc-
                                    Recommendations                                                   tion in sediment inputs, must be expanded if
                                                                                                      seagrasses are to remain a part of the Chesapeake
                                                                                                      Bay's important living resources (Orth and Moore
                         Submerged vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay                                   1988b).
                     and its tributaries has been an abundant natural                                  Because of the importance of seagrasses to
                     resource and, in some sections, it still is. Popula-                             coastal estuaries and lagoons of the United States,
                     tions that experienced rapid declines in the 1970's                              and because of their vulnerability to changes in
                     have had some recovery in the 1980's. The recov-                                 water quality, we recommend that a major initia-
                     ery in some sections has been substantial and may                                tive be undertaken to census this resource on a
                     be due to the improved water quality from reduced                                nationwide basis, as is ongoing in the Chesapeake
                     upland input of nutrients and sediments. How-                                    Bay. For most areas we recommend that a combi-
                     ever, large areas of the bay still have the potential                            nation of low-level aerial photography, flown
                     to support seagrass populations. Thus, nutrient                                  under strict guidelines, and ground-truth studies,
                     reduction strategies, including point and nonpoint                               including permanent transects, be established to


                              4500-


                              4000-


                              3500-



                              3000-
                                                                                                                                                   0 1978
                              2500-


                                                                                                                                                   M 1987
                              2000-



                              1500-


                              1000


                                500


                                    0
                                                   00/1'

























                                      1    2    3    4    5    6   7    8    9    10   11  12    13   14  15   16 17 18 19        20   21
                                         Upper          I                  Middle                     I              Lower
                     Fig. 5. Abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation for the 21 bay and tributary sections for 1978 and 1987.








                  120   BioLoGicAL REPoirr 90(18)




                                                       EASTERN SHORE HISTORICAL WINDOW
                         1000-            PLOT OF TOTAL SAV AREA FOR ALL DENSITY CLASSES


                  S
                  A      800-
                  V


                  A
                  R
                                                              >00<
                  E      600-                                 >00<
                  A



                  H
                  E      400
                  C
                  T
                  A
                  R
                  E
                  S      200-




                            0

                              1977 1978 1979         1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987                        1988


                                                                YEAR


                  Fig. 6. Abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) for a portion of the lower eastern shore of Virginia
                   (section 14), 1978-87.



                  examine long-term changes in species density and      the cooperation and financial support of many
                  composition. Some regions (e.g., Florida), because    State and Federal organizations over the past 10
                  of the extent of the seagrass beds, may require       years. These organizations include the U.S. Envi-
                  high-altitude or satellite photography. However,      ronmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic
                  these baseline data are critical for the proper
                  management of this resource, regionally as well       and Atmospheric Administration!s Coastal Zone
                  as nationally. A coordinated, cooperative program     Management Program, Maryland Department of
                  between Federal and State agencies, in which          Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
                  standardized methods are used, will not only          neers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Commit-
                  allow an assessment of the changes in distribution    tee to Preserve Assateague Island, and Allied-Sig-
                  and abundance at these different levels, but also     nal, Inc. We especially thank R. Batiuk of the U.S.
                  will protect existing resources.                      Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake
                                                                        Bay Liaison Office, for his continuing encourage-
                           Acknowledgments                              ment, and A. Frisch, who has made significant
                                                                        contributions to ensure the quality of the data
                   The monitoring program for SAV in the Ches-          management. H. Neckles provided valuable com-
                  apeake Bay would not have been possible without       ments on the initial draft.








                                 REGioNAL AND PEDERmSTATE CooPFRATivE PRocmms 121





                          RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER HISTORICAL WINDOW

                     PLOT OF TOTAL SAV AREA FOR ALL DENSITY CLASSES
             800-





        S
        A
        V    600-

        A
        R
        E
        A


             400-
        H
        E
        C
        T
        A
        R    200-
        E
        S






               0

               1970 1972 1974, 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988


                                   YEAR

        Fig. 7. Abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) for the lower Rappahannock River (section 6), 1971-87.


           2000





            1500-





             1000-





             500





               0--
                  1978     1984     1985     1986     1987
        Fig. 8. Abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation for the upper Potomac River area (section 11), 197"7.








                   122    BiowcmcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                                     References                                 Orth, R. J., and K. A. Moore. 1983a. Submersed vascular
                                                                                   plants: techniques for analyzing their distribution
                                                                                   and abundance. Mar. Tech. Soc. J. 17:38-52.
                   Anderson, R. R., and R. T. Macomber. 1980.                   Orth, R. J., and K. A. Moore. 1983b. Chesapeake Bay:
                      Distribution of submersed vascular plants in                 an unprecedented decline in submerged aquatic
                      Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Final report. U.S.                 vegetation. Science 222:51-53.
                      Environmental Protection Agency, Chesapeake Bay           Orth, R. J., and K. A. Moore. 1984. Distribution and
                      Program, Grant R805970. 126 pp.                              abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation in
                                                                                   Chesapeake Bay: an historical perspective. Estuaries
                   Bayly, S., V D. Stotts, P F Springer, and J. Stennis.           7:531--540.
                      1978. Changes in submerged aquatic macrophyte             Orth, R. J., and K. A. Moore. 1988a. Distribution of
                      populations at the head of the Chesapeake                    Zostera marinaL. andRuppia maritimaL. sensu lato
                      Bay-1958-1975. Estuaries 1:74-85.                            along depth gradients in the lower Chesapeake Bay,
                   Cambridge, M. L., and A. J. McComb. 1984. The loss of           U.S.A. Aquat. Bot. 32:291-305.
                      seagrass from Cockburn Sound, western Austra-             Orth, R. J., and K. A. Moore. 1988b. Submerged aquatic
                      lia. I. The time course and magnitude of seagrass            vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay: a barometer ofbay
                      decline in relation to industrial development. Aquat.        health. Pages 619-629 in M. Lynch, ed.
                      Bot. 20:229-243.                                             Understanding the estuary: advances in Chesapeake
                   Dennison, W C., G. Marshall, and C. Wigand. 1990.               Bay Research. Chesapeake Res. Consort. Publ. 129.
                      Effect of 'brown tide" shading on eelgrass (Zostera          CBP/I`R,5@2@.
                      marina L.) distribution. Lecture notes in coastal         Orth, R. J., K. A. Moore, and H. H. Gordon. 1979.
                      estuarine studies. In press.                                 Distribution and abundance of submerged aquatic
                   Ferguson, R. L., J. A. Rivera, and L. L. Wood. 1988.            vegetation in the lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia.
                      Submerged aquatic vegetation in the Albermarle-              Final report. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
                      Pamlico estuarine system. Final report. National             Chesapeake Bay Program. EPA- 600/8-79-029/SAV1.
                      Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and               219 pp.
                      Atmospheric Administration, Beaufort Laboratory,          Orth, R. J., J. Simons, R. Allaire, V Carter, L. Hindman,
                      Beaufort, N. C. 68 pp.                                       K. Moore, and N. Rybicki. 1985. Distribution of
                   Field, D. W, C. E. Alexander, and M. Broutman. 1988.            submerged aquatic vegetation in the Chesapeake
                      Toward developing an inventory of U.S. coastal               Bay and tributaries- 1984. Final report.
                      wetlands. Mar. Fish. Rev. 50:40-46.                          Environmental Protection Agency, Cooperative
                   Iverson, R. L., and H. R Bittaker.       1986. Seagrass         Agreement X-003301-01. 155 pp.
                      distribution and abundance in eastern Gulf of Mexico      Orth, R. J., J. Simons, J. Capelli, V Carter, A. Frisch,
                      coastal waters. Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci.                 L. Hindman, S. Hodges, K. Moore, and N. Rybicki.
                      22:577--602.                                                 1987. Distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation
                   Kemp, W M., W. R. Boynton, R. R. Twilley, J. C.                 in the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries and
                      Stevenson, and J. C. Means. 1983. The decline of             Chincoteague Bay-1986. Final report. U.S.
                      submerged vascular plants in upper Chesapeake                Environmental Protection Agency. 180 pp.
                      Bay: summary of results concerning possible causes.       Orth, R. J., J. Simons, J. Capelli, V Carter, L. Hindman,
                      Mar. Tech. Soc. J. 17:78-89.                                 S. Hodges, K. Moore, and N. Rybicki. 1986.
                   Macomber, R. T, and D. Allen. 1979. The New Jersey              Distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation in the
                      submerged aquatic vegetation distribution atlas.             Chesapeake Bay and tributaries-1985. Final report.
                      Final report. New Jersey Department of                       U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 296 pp.
                      Environmental Protection. 25 pp.                          Orth, R. J., and J. van Montfrans. 1990. Utilization of
                   Neverauskas, V P 1987. Monitoring seagrass beds                 marsh and seagrass habitats by early stages of
                      around a sewage sludge outfall in South Australia.           Callinectes sapidus: a latitudinal perspective. Bull.
                      Mar. Pollut. Bull. 18:158-164.                               Mar. Sci. 46:126-144.
                   Orth, R. J., A. A. Frisch, J. F Nowak, and K. A. Moore.      Perry, H. M., editor. 1984. A profile of the blue crab
                      1989. Distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation           fishery of the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf States Mar. Fish.
                      in the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries and                    Comm. 9.80 pp.
                      Ch-incoteague Bay-1987. Final report- U.S-                Reyer, A. J., D. W Field, J. E. Cassells, C. E. Alexander,
                      Environmental Protection Agency. 260 pp.                     and C. L. Holland. 1988. The distribution and areal
                   Orth, R. J., and H. H. Gordon. 1975. Remote sensing of          extent of coastal wetlands in estuaries of the Gulf of
                      submerged aquatic vegetation in the lower                    Mexico. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
                      Chesapeake Bay. Final report. National Aeronautics           Administration, Strategic Assessment Branch,
                      and Space Administration. Contract NAS1-10720.               Rockville, Md. 18 pp.
                      62 pp.                                                    Roach, E. R., M. C. Watzin, J. D. Scurry, and J. B.
                   Orth, R. J., and K. A. Moore. 1981. Submerged aquatic           Johnston. 1987. Wetland changes in Mobile Bay.
                      vegetation of the Chesapeake Bay: past, present              Pages 92-101 in T A. Lowery, ed. Symposium on the
                      and future. Pages 271-283 in Transactions of the             natural resources of the Mobile Bay estuary, Mobile,
                      46th North American wildlife natural resources               Alabama. Alabama Sea Grant Extension Service
                      conferences.                                                 MASGP-87-007.








                                                                     RF,GioNAL AND FEDERAL-STATF CoopERATivF PRWRAMs               123



                 Tiner, R. W, Jr. 1977. An inventory of South Carolina's        Burke, H. A. Groman, T R. Henderson, J. A. Kusler,
                    coastal marshes. S. C. Mar. Resour. Cent. Tech.             and E. J. Meyers, eds. Wetlands of the Chesapeake
                    Rep. 23. 33 pp.                                             Bay. Environmental Law Institute. Washington,
                 Tiner, R. W, Jr. 1985a. Wetlands ofNewJersey. U.S. Fish        D.C. 389 pp.
                    and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory,
                    Newton Corner, Mass. 117 pp.                             Walker, D. 1. 1989. Methods for monitoring seagrass
                 Tiner, R. W, Jr. 1985b. Wetlands of the Chesapeake             habitat. Victoria Institute of Marine Sciences,
                    Bay watershed: an overview. Pages 16-24 in D. M.            Victoria, Australia. Working Paper 18. 32 pp.









                                                                           REGIONAL AND FE I)ERAL-STATE COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS                  125



                    Mapping Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in North Carolina with
                                                 Conventional Aerial Photography



                                                                                 by




                                                         Randolph L. Ferguson and Lisa L. Wood

                                                   National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                                             National Marine Fisheries Service
                                                                  Southeast Fisheries Center
                                                                      Beaufort Laboratory
                                                              Beaufort, North Carolina 28516


                                  ABSTRACT.-Mapping submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) directly supports the National
                                  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's legislated responsibilities in estuarine and marine
                                  science, and it supports President Bush's no net loss of wetlands policy. Marine SAV includes
                                  some of the most productive primary producers in the marine environment. SAV functions as
                                  an underwater nursery area forjuveniles or adults ofmany estuarine-dependent, commercially
                                  and recreationally exploited fish and shellfish. SAV is a valuable resource to monitor, conserve,
                                  and enhance, as is being done, for example, in Chesapeake Bay.
                                   We are mapping SAV in coastal waters of North Carolina with conventional aerial
                                  photography. The immediate objective is to complete initial photographic coverage,
                                  photointerpretation, and mapping of SAV habitat in this State. We also will evaluate remote
                                  sensing of SAV by digital sensors on a variety of platforms, including satellites and aircraft.
                                  The long-term objective of this work is to monitor SAV in North Carolina and to develop a
                                  protocol to monitor SAV nationwide in coastal waters on a 2- to 4-year cycle.
                                   Digital remote sensing of emergent and submergent wetlands may offer significant
                                  advantages for frequent monitoring of large study areas relative to aerial photography, the
                                  present standard forremote sensing and mapping of SAV. Because ofits submergent existence,
                                  however, SAV is more difficult to detect and map than emergent wetland vegetation.


                                    Authorization                                   of SAV from satellites and aircraft, and (3) develop
                                                                                    a protocol for monitoring of SAV in coastal marine
                      This project directly supports the National Oce-              waters nationwide on a 2- to 4-year cycle, as part
                    anic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA)                    of NOAA's Coastal Ocean Program (Thomas and
                    legislated responsibilities in estuarine and marine             Ferguson 1990).
                    science, monitoring, and management contained in
                    the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the Coastal                               Introduction
                    Zone Management Act, the Clean Water Act, the
                    Marine Sanctuaries Research and Protection Act,                    SAV-vegetation adapted to growing under
                    the Magnuson Fisheries and Conservation Act, the                water-includes some of the most productive pri-
                    National Environmental Policy Act, and President                mary producers in the marine environment (Fer-
                    Bush's no net loss of wetlands policy.                          guson et al. 1980). SAV provides habitat rich in
                                                                                    food and cover for juveniles and adults of many
                                        0 ectives                                   estuarine- epen ent, commercially and recrea-
                                                                                    tionally exploited fish and shellfish, but SAV also
                       The goals of this project are         to (1) map and         is vulnerable to adverse effects from anthropogenic
                    monitor submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in                   activities (Zeiman 1982; Thayer et al. 1984; Zei-
                    coastal North Carolina with conventional aerial                 man and Zeiman 1989). SAV is too valuable a
                    photography, (2) evaluate digital remote sensing                national resource not to monitor, conserve, and








                 126    BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



                 develop on a timely basis, as is being done, for         areal extent of SAV (Orth et al. 1990). In 1987,
                 example, in Chesapeake Bay (Orth et al. 1990).           North Carolina had about four times more SAV
                    At present, we are mapping SAV in coastal             than Chesapeake Bay (Orth et al. 1989). In
                 North Carolina with conventional aerial photogra-        coastal North Carolina, the area of SAV exceeds
                 phy. We will complete photographic mapping and           the area of salt marshes and is 81% of the total
                 then evaluate digital remote sensing of SAV with         area (101,000 ha) of salt water plus freshwater
                 airborne and satellite digital sensors.                  marshes (Field et al. 1988). In North Carolina, the
                    Digital remote sensing may provide significant        total estuarine area is 890,000 ha, while the estu-
                 advantages in cost and timeliness over aerial pho-       arine shoalwater area, (that area less than 6 feet
                 tography, the present standard for remote sensing        deep at mean low water [MLW]), is about
                 and mapping of SAV. Costs of photographic and            320,000 ha (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1970).
                 digital approaches are generally similar for small       Bottoms less than 6 feet deep at MLW are poten-
                 study areas, but costs increase rapidly for photo-       tially habitable by SAV in coastal North Carolina
                 graphic approaches when subject areas exceed             (Ferguson et al. 1989b). Therefore, about 9% of
                 50,000 ha (Klemas and Hardesky 1987). SAV is             the total estuarine area and 25% of the potentially
                 difficult to detect and map relative to terrestrial or   habitable estuarine shoal area in the sounds of
                 emergent habitats, however, because it occurs un-        North Carolina currently support SAV.
                 derwater. Although satellite imagery has been ap-          The Beaufort Laboratory of the National Ma-
                 plied to detection of SAV with limited success           rine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has aerial photog-
                 (Ackleson and Klemas 1987), SAV mapping is               raphy of most known SAV in coastal North Caro-
                 problematic with available satellite imagery. New        lina (Figure) at scales of 1: 12,000 to 1: 50,000. The
                 airborne digital sensors, such as multispectral,         photography covers the sounds from Bogue Inlet
                 solid-state video cameras (McKim et al. 1985),           to Drum Inlet in 1985 at a scale of 1:12,000 or
                 may ultimately provide the necessary combination         1:20,000, and the sounds from Cape Lookout to
                 of spectral and spatial resolution and flexibility of    Oregon Inlet, northern Core Sound, and southern
                 timing for image acquisition required for detection      and eastern Pamlico Sound in 1988 at scales of
                 and mapping of SAV.                                      1:24,000 and 1:50,000. The 1:50,000 photography
                    Conventional aerial photography is the stan-          was taken to provide horizontal control for the
                 dard approach for mapping SAV at the present             soundward leg of two parallel flight lines of
                 time. SAV generally is mapped from photographs           1:24,000-scale photography required to span the
                 taken at low tide at scales of 1:24,000 or larger        entire width ofthe extensive shoal area in eastern
                 (Ferguson et al. 1989b; Orth et al. 1989). Emer-         Pamlico Sound.
                 gent wetlands are routinely mapped from aerial             Photointerpretation and photography is ongo-
                 photography taken at scales of 1:40,000 or smaller       ing (Figure), but the extent of photography inter-
                 (e.g., Wilen 1990). This difference in photographic      preted and mapped has been limited. Only about
                 scale for the two types of wetlands is necessary         5% of total SAV habitat-seagrass habitat in
                 because the contrast between SAV and un-                 southern Core Sound between Cape Lookout
                 vegetated bottoms can be inherently low, as it is in     and Drum Inlet-has been delineated in a pub-
                 areas where submerged sediments are dark or              lished chart (Ferguson et al. 1989b). The 1988
                 where water has high concentrations of dissolved         1:50,000-scale photography (but not the 1:24,000)
                 organic matter or suspended particulate material.        from Ocracoke Inlet to Oregon Inlet has been
                 Visualization canbe improvedbyuse oflarge-scale          interpreted, and preliminary seagrass maps have
                 photography taken when dissolved and particulate         been digitized for that area. A preliminary map of
                 materials are at a minimum.                              seagrasses in northern Core Sound also has been
                                                                          digitized based on interpretation of the 1988,
                    Current Inventory Coverage                            1:24,000-scale photography, and a chart of SAV
                                                                          that includes this area will be published in 1991.
                    For a number of reasons, North Carolina is a          Seagrass occurs in western Pamlico Sound, in
                 particularly appropriate location to map SAV and         southern Roanoke Sound, and west of Bogue Inlet
                 test digital remote sensing of high salinity and         to the border with South Carolina, but these
                 brackish SAV, (Ferguson et al. 1989b). Of the            areas, as well as SAV in brackish-water areas of
                 contiguous 48 States, North Carolina, with about         northern Roanoke, Albemarle, and Currituck
                 81,000 ba of SAV, ranks second after Florida for         sounds have not yet been suitably photographed.








                                               REGIONAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CoopERATivE PRoGRAms 127













                                        .AVIRGINA STATE LINE.4,

                                                          CURRITUCK SOUND





                                                                               SOU140

                                                                   P,
             A  CHOWAN RIVER
             B. ROANOKE RIVER
             C. ROANOKE SOUND
             D. OREGON INLET                                    czoo
             E. PAMLICO RIVER
             F. NEUSE RIVER
             G. DRUM INLET
             H  BACK SOUND                                         vl@
             I  BOGUE INLET                                                        0\1 lp
             J. SOUTH CAROLINA                                                   lb
                STATE LINE                                                     0


                                                  IS                          OCRACOKEINLET


                                                                        CORE  SOUND


                                                  E30GUE SOUNDA
                                                                   CAPE LOOKOUT











                                                              50 MILES







           Figure. Coastal North Carolina.








                  128    Biow=AL REPoRT 90(18)



                  Albemarle and Currituck sounds will be photo-           phyllum spicatum), bushy pondweed (Najas qua-
                  graphed in 1990 with funding from the Albe-             dalupensis), sago pondweed (Potamogeton pecti-
                  marle-Pamlico Estuarine Study.                          natus), redhead grass (P. perfoliatus), widgeon-
                     Surface-level sampling has progressed beyond         grass (Ruppia maritima), wild celery (Vallisneria
                  the area presently photographed and includes            americana), and horned pondweed (Zannichellia
                  both high-salinity and brackish-water areas (Fer-       palustris).
                  guson et al. 1989b). High- and intermediate-salin-
                  ity waters in North Carolina are populated by the            Pro   .ect Period and Scope
                  temperate species, eelgrass (Zostera marina); the
                  tropical species, shoalgrass (Halodule wrightii);         This project began in 1985 in North Carolina
                  and the panlatitudinal species, widgeon grass           under base (NMFS) funding from the Beaufort
                  (Ruppia maritima). Unlike eelgrass and shoal-           Laboratory, Southeast Fisheries Center. Subse-
                  grass, widgeon grass is eurylialine and occurs in       quently, project activities have been supported
                  both high-salinity waters and brackish waters.          with additional funding from NOAA's Coastal
                  North Carolina is the southern limit for eelgrass       Ocean Program and the U.S. Environmental Pro-
                  and the northern limit for shoalgrass on the east       tection Agency's (EPA) National Estuarine Pro-
                  coast (Thayer et al. 1984). The northern limit of       gram for Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. The first
                  shoalgrass has been extended to near Oregon             aerial photography (both color and infrared) was
                  Inlet, North Carolina (Ferguson et al. 1989b).          done using basefunds for Bogue, Back, and south-
                     SAV includes seagrasses that require moder-          ern Core sounds in 1985. Additional support was
                  ate- to high-salinity seawater and it includes          obtained in 1987-1988 and in 1990-1991 from
                  freshwater species that tolerate low-salinity           EPA's Albemarle-Pamlico Program. Under this
                  brackish water. An exception is widgeongrass,           funding, a visual aerial survey (December 1987) of
                  which thrives in fresh water and in seawater.           Core Sound and eastern Albemarle and Pamlico
                  The SAV species of eelgrass, shoalgrass, and            sounds, and photography (April 1988) of Core
                  widgeongrass occur to a limited extent in southern      Sound and eastern Panilico Sound (both color and
                  Roanoke Sound, but are abundant to the south in         infrared at scales of 1:24,000 and 1:50,000), were
                  Pamlico, Core, Back, and Bogue sounds (Figure).         completed. SAV samples from Core, eastern
                  These species also occur west of Bogue Sound and        Pamlico, Roanoke, and eastern Albemarle sounds
                  to the border with South Carolina. In Pamlico,          (March 1988) and Currituck Sound (October 1987)
                  Core, Back, and Bogue sounds, SAV habitats tend         also were collected to provide ground-level verifica-
                  to be large and luxuriant on the extensive shoals       tion for interpretation of current and anticipated
                  along the inside of the Outer Banks where salinity      photography, and to provide regional data on spe-
                  tends to be highest and bottoms are sandy. Along        cies composition of SAV.
                  the Outer Banks, muddy shoals also support lux-
                  uriant seagrass meadows, but these areas are               Project activities are ongoing. F\mding from
                  restricted to small protected bays associated with      NOAA!s Coastal Ocean Program will allow (1) com-
                  emergent marshes. In contrast, the relatively soft      pletion of interpretation of photography and anal-
                  bottom of the mainland shore in Core Sound is           ysis of SAV and sediment samples in hand, (2) con-
                  characterized by thin shoreline beds. Although          struction and publication of SAV charts, (3) testing
                  SAV occurs in western Pamlico Sound, eelgrass           ofremote sensing of SAV by digital sensors, and (4)
                  and shoalgrass are displaced in the low-salinity        development of a protocol for nationwide monitor-
                  areas of the estuaries of lower Neuse and Pamlico       ing of SAV. Cooperative funding from NOAA and
                  rivers by species tolerant to brackish waters.          EPA will provide for complete photographic cover-
                  These two species also have not been reported to        age and initial mapping of SAV in coastal North
                  occur in Albemarle or Currituck sounds.                 Carolina. Subsequently, fimding will be sought to
                     SAV does occur in brackish waters of the estuar-     implement a SAV habitat monitoring program. We
                  ies of the Neuse and Pamlico rivers and in the          anticipate that the initial mapping of North Caro-
                  Albemarle, Currituck, and northern Roanoke              lina will be completed in 1993 and that the moni-
                  sounds (Beal 1977; Ferguson et al. 1989b), where        toring will continue indefinitely. Testing of digital
                  salinities remain low and waters tend to be turbid.     sensors has not begun, but will be proposed as
                  Species common in brackish water in coastal North       technological advances and funding permit
                  Carolina include Eurasian water milfbil (Myrio-         (Thomas and Ferguson 1990).









                                                                REGioNAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CooPERATivE PRoGRAms            129



                        Product Description                             line have 60% endlap, and photographs along par-
                                                                        allel flight lines have 20% sidelap. Development
                 We have two types of products. Published               and copying of film are done commercially by a
               charts are on 3- by 4-foot chart paper at a scale of     contractor for CGS and follow CGS guidelines and
               1:36,000. The subject area's of the two charts           quality-control procedures.
               published to date are southern Core Sound be-              Surface-level information is acquired in two
               tween Cape Lookout and Drum Inlet (Ferguson              phases. The first phase of sampling collects re-
               et al. 1989a), and northern Core Sound and               gional information about SAV and environmental
               sotheastern Panilico Sound between Drum Inlet            conditions, especially turbidity, in the study area.
               and Osracoke Inlet (Ferguson, et al. 1991). The          Stations for sampling of SAV are selected by a
               next chart to be published (with a similar size and      dot-matrix approach. A matrix of rectangularly
               scale) will document change in SAV habitat (1985         arranged dots of appropriate dimensions and spa-
               to 1988) in southern Core Sound. The second type         tial density (e.g., 1.3-scaled nautical miles from
               of product is a digital data base. The SAV habitat       center to center) is placed over a NOAA nautical
               data are stored in a geographic information              chart. The latitude and longitude of dots occurring
               system (GIS).                                            at water depths of 0 to 10 feet are determined.
                                                                        These locations are then visited with the aid of
                          Inventory Methods                             LORAN C, and they are examined for the presence
                                                                        of SAV to a radius of about 0.2 nautical miles. Any
                  Inventory methods include acquisition of pho-         SAV present is identified to species or is sampled
               tography and surface-level information and pho-          along with surface sediment and returned to the
               tointerpretation. Cartographic products can be no        laboratory for analysis. Salinity and Secchi disc
               better than the quality of the source data, which        depth are recorded. Activities affecting water qual-
               are the aerial photography and surface-level sam-        ity (e.g., dredging, commercial fishing activity, or
               ples. Aerial photography for the project has been        local drainage of turbid water) are noted along
               conducted by NOAA, National Ocean Survey, and            with general environmental observations at the
               Coastal and Geodetic Services (CGS) in Rockville,        site. This sampling phase is done just before and
               Maryland. We select seasonally optimal times             during the photographic mission. At this time, the
               based on biological considerations and potential         surface party is in periodic (at least daily) contact
               for clear-air days. These times are April and May        with the flight crew by telephone or radio to discuss
               or late August through early October for moder-          the mission decisions for a given day.
               ate- to high-salinity areas in coastal North Caro-          SAV habitat noted in the first phase of surface-
               lina. Different species of SAV in moderate- to           level sampling is key to the recognition of the
               high-salinity waters in North Carolina achieve           variety of SAV habitat areas visible in the photog-
               maximum biomass at different times; eelgrass in          raphy. Interpreting photos of SAV habitat is based
               late spring, and shoalgrass and widgeongrass in          on the photointerpreter's experience and often in-
               late summer to early fall (Ferguson et al.               volves subjective judgment. Visualization is best
               1989a,b). Brackish-water SAV is best photo-              achieved stereoscopically at low magnification
               graphed during maximum biomass, which occurs             (e.g., x 8), viewing pairs of the 9- by 9-inch color
               between August and October for most species in           transparencies illuminated with high-, uniform-,
               North Carolina. Within these seasonal windows,           and variable-intensity light. Appearance of SAV
               the decision to fly a particular photographic mis-       habitat can vary considerably and may riot be
               sion is dependent on time of day (sun angle less         consistent from place to place. Experience is re-
               than 25' to minimize glint from reflected sun-           quired to identify and delineate SAV habitat with
               light), tidal stage (low for minimum amount of           accuracy and reproducibility. That experience is
               water to penetrate), and other local conditions          increased by feedback from the second phase of
               (absence of cloud cover, minimal haze, low water         surface-level sampling.
               turbidity, and absence of surface waves). During            The second phase of surface-level sampling oc-
               photography, location along flight line, yaw, pitch,     curs subsequent to the acquisition and initial ex-
               and altitude are controlled within CGS guidelines        amination of the photography, and it is an essen-
               by the pilot and navigator. The photographer de-         tial training activity for photointerpreters. Specific
               termines exposure, focus, and overlap of adjacent        areas of SAV habitat not sampled during phase
               exposures. Sequential photographs along a flight         one-in particular, unusual, potential, or ques-








                   130    BioLomcAL REPoirr 90(18)



                   tionable SAV habitat observed in the photogra-              Cartographic Procedures
                   phy-are located and visited.
                     SAV habitat is circumscribed by tracing a pen-          Cartographic procedures include georeferenc-
                   cil line around continuous meadows of SAV or           ing, scaling, compiling, production of chart prod-
                   clusters of "patches" of SAV onto a stable base        ucts, and digitization of SAV habitat data. The
                   overlay of the photograph. The growth form of          base maps are 1:24,000-scale, 7.5-min United
                   SAV beds is a combination of historical and pres-      States Geological Survey (USGS) topographic
                   ent physical and biological interactions (Fonseca      maps or 1:20,000-scale CGS shoreline manu-
                   et al. 1983; Fonseca and Kenworthy 1987). Thus,        scripts. Four cultural (e.g., road intersections and
                   areas with clusters of SAV patches, as well as         buildings) and, if necessary, natural (e.g., shore-
                   areas with apparently continuous cover of SAV,         lines) features visible in the photograph and also
                   constitute SAV habitat. We have made no attempt        present in the base map are traced, along with the
                   yet to categorize polygons of SAV habitat accord-      polygons of SAV habitat, to provide horizontal
                   ing to the two gradients of patchy to continuous       control for the photography. The SAV polygons are
                   and thin to dense. Distinctions tend to be arbi-       compiled on referenced stable base overlay of the
                   trary and problematic. The appearance of SAV           base map by tracing, if scales are consistent, or
                   bed form can change, for example, as a function of     with a zoom transfer scope that also allows for
                   scale and overall quality of the photography. Beds     scaling and (if necessary) correction for distortion.
                   of SAV, moreover, often intergrade from one            Su .bsequently, the SAV habitat tracings are inked
                   growth form to another. The causative factors of       using a 0.3-mm permanent ink pen.
                   the different bed forms and their significance to         The inked SAV overlays and theirbase maps are
                   secondary productivity and habitat management          the source materials for charts produced by stan-
                   issues, in any case, remain the subject of further     dard photographic and printing techniques and for
                   research.                                              digitizing and plotting computer-generated maps.
                     In our experience, estimates of SAV habitat          Printed chart products of SAV habitat are pro-
                   tend to be conservative. For example, thinly           duced by CGS. For the chart that was published in
                   grassed areas (e.g., shoreline beds with a contin-     1989 (Ferguson et al. 1989a), SAV habitat infor-
                   uous cover of small plants on dark-ap'pearing bot-     mation was superimposed on a base map compiled
                   toms, or widely dispersed patches of SAV) can be       from edited stable bases of USGS 7.5-min quad-
                   virtually undetectable in the photography, de          rangles for shoreline and land information, and
                                                                       -  NOAA nautical charts for navigational aids (chan-
                   pending on water clarity, substrate darkness, and      nel markers) and bathymetric data. The chart
                   photography scale. SAV habitat discovered by           published in 1991, for the area between Drum Inlet
                   surface-level sampling is added to the photo-          and Ocracoke Inlet, is based on CGS shoreline
                   graphic tracings after in situ measurement of the      manuscripts generated from photography col-
                   habitat and reexamination of the photography.          lected at the same time as that for SAV (1988). This
                   Under ideal conditions, individual SAV patches as      is being done because changes in shoreline be-
                   small as 1 m in diameter are detectable (with          tween the most recently published USGS maps
                   magnification) in photography at a scale Of            and our 1988 photography were substantial. The
                   1:24,000, but in practice, minimum habitat sizes       SAV overlays are digitized on a cooperative basis,
                   recorded are:5 0.3 ha.                                 and maps are generated as computer plots by the
                     The project maintains all commissioned pho-          State of North Carolina, Department of Environ-
                   tography, photographic-scale stable base tracings      ment, Health and Natural Resources, Center for
                   of SAV habitat, stable base reference maps, and        Geographic Information and Analysis (CGIA), in
                   stable base SAV overlays. We are also seeking          Raleigh. For map products or information about
                   historical photography and examining it for refer-     obtaining map products, see Appendix A.
                   ence and retroactive change analysis of SAV dis-
                   tribution and extent. Unfortunately, historical                  Estimated Funding
                   photography often is of limited value for estimat-
                   ing total SAV habitat because of the absence of           Estimated funding requirements for aerial pho-
                   surface-level verification and because of inappro-     tographic mapping of SAV in marine and brackish
                   priate scale, season, tidal stage, water turbidity,    waters of coastal North Carolina are $190,000 per
                   sun glint, or areal coverage.                          year for 3 years. This amount includes photogra-









                                                                 REGIONAL AND FEDERA1,STATE COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS               131



               phy, photointerpretation, surface-level sampling,          0 justification for classification of areas -as
               scaling and compiling of SAV on 1:24,000-scale                outstandmig resource   Iwaters, and
               USGS maps, digitizing into a GIS system, and               0  public interest reports in newspapers and on
               construction and publication of SAV charts. It does           television.
               not include funding required to construct current
               CGS shoreline manuscripts. Requirements for                                  References
               mapping SAV in other States would be similar,
               dependent on the extent of estuarine shoal areas,          Ackleson, S. G., and V Klemas. 1987. Remote sensing of
               growth characteristics and extent of SAV, and                 submerged aquatic vegetation in lower Chesapeake
               water- and bottom-quality considerations. Addi-               Bay: a comparison of Landsat MSS to TM imagery.
               tional funds, dependent on sensor and platform,               Remote Sens. Environ. 22:235-248.
               are required to conduct evaluations of digital re-         Beal, E. 0. 1977. A manual of marsh and aquatic
                                                                             vascular plants of North Carolina with habitat data.
               mote sensors.                                                 North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station,
                                                                             N.C. State Univ. Raleigh. Tech. Bull. 247.298 pp.
                 Anticipated Future Activities                            Ferguson, R. L., J. A. Rivera, and L. L. Wood. 1989a.
                                                                             Seagrasses in southern Core Sound, North
                  Anticipated future activities include (1) comple-          Carolina. NOAA-Fisheries Submerged Aquatic
               tion of initial aerial photographic mapping of SAV            Vegetation study, southern Core Sound, North
               in coastal North Carolina, (2) initiation of monitor-         Carolina. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
               ing of SAV in coastal North Carolina on a cycle of            Administration-Fisheries, Beaufort Laboratory,
               2 to 4 years, (3) evaluation of digital sensors               Beaufort, N.C. 3- x 4-foot chart, with text and
               (e.g., Landsat Thematic Mapper, SPOT, and ai                  illustrations.
                                                                     ir-  Ferguson, R. L., J. A. Rivera, and L. L. Wood. 1989b.
               borne multispectral solid-state video camera) for             Submerged       aquatic     vegetation     in     the
               detection and mapping of SAV habitat, (4) devel-              Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system. North
               opment of a protocol including photographic and               Carolina Department of Natural Resources and
               digital imagery for mapping SAV, and (5) coordi-              Community Development, Raleigh, N.C., and U.S.
                                                                             Environ- mental Protection Agency, National
               nation with or initiation of mapping of SAV in the            Estuary Program. Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine
               coastal areas of other States.                                Study, Project 88-10. 68 pp.
                                                                          Ferguson, R. L., G. W Thayer, and T R. Rice. 1980.
                                                                             Marine primary producers. Pages 9-69 in F. J.
                            User Perspective                                 Vernberg and W. Vernberg, eds. Functional
                  State and Federal environmental managers and               adaptations of marine organisms. Academic Press,
                                                                             New York.
               researchers and private citizens have been Partic-         Ferguson, R. L., L. L. Wood, and B. T Pawlak. 199 1. SAV
               ularly interested in information related to location          habitat from Drum Inlet to Ocracoke Inlet, North
               and extent of SAV. A blue-ribbon panel on environ-            Carolina. NOAA-Coastal Ocean Program
               mental indicators recently reported to the gover-             Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Study. National
               nor of North Carolina a high-priority need for                Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National
                                                                             Marine Fisheries Service, Beaufort Laboratory,
               assessment of SAV as an indicator of coastal water            Beaufort, N.C. [Three- by four-foot chart with text
               quality and of the well-being of the State's living           and illustrations]
               marine resources. Throughout this project, the             Field D. W, C. E. Alexander, and M. Broutman. 1988.
               following information requests concerning SAV                 Toward developing an inventory of U.S. coastal
               have been received:                                           wetlands. Mar. Fish. Rev. 50(l):40-46.
                                                                          Fonseca, M. S., and W J. Kenworthy. 1987. Effects of
               ï¿½  habitat measurement methodology,                           current on photosynthesis and distribution of
               ï¿½  importance to fisheries,                                   seagrasses. Aquat. Bot. 27:59-78.
               ï¿½  importance to waterfowl,                                Fonseca, M. S., J. C. Zieman, G. W Thayer, and J. S.
               ï¿½  distribution of endemic eelgrass wasting                   Fisher. 1983. The role of current velocity in
                  disease,                                                   structuring eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadows.
                                                                             Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci. 17:367-WO.
               ï¿½  regulation of inshore fishing activities,               Klemas, V, and M. A. Hardisky 1987. Remote sensing
               ï¿½  distribution as an oil-sensitive habitat,                  of estuaries: an overview. Pages 91-120 in V Klemas,
               ï¿½  site-specific occurrence and species composition           J. P Thomas, and J. B. Zaitzeff, eds. Remote sensing
                  in areas proposed for dredge and fill operations           of estuaries, proceedings of a workshop. U.S.
                  or water-related construction,                             Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and
                                                                             Atmospheric Administration, Estuarine Programs
               ï¿½  index for monitoring water quality and health              Office and National Environmental Satellite Data
                  of living marine resources,                                Service, Washington, D.C.








                    132     Biow=AL REPoRT 90(18)



                    McKim, H. L., V Klemas, L. W, Gatto, and C. J. Merry.       Thomas, J., and R. L. Ferguson. 1990. National
                        1985. Potential of remote sensing in the Corps of          Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration@s habitat
                        Engineers dredging program, U.S. Army Water                mapping under the Coastal Ocean Program. Pages
                        Resources Support Center, U.S. Army Corps of               27-37 in S. J. Kiraly, F. A. Cross, and J. D.
                        Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering            Buffington, eds. Federal coastal wetland mapping
                        Laboratory, Hanover, N.H. Spec. Rep. 85-20. 42 pp.         programs. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Biol. Rep. 90(18).
                    Orth, R. J., A. A. Fi-isch, J. F Nowak, and K. A. Moore. 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1970. Technological
                        Distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation in the        impacts on estuary resource use. Pages 1-122 in
                        Chesapeake Bay and tributaries and Chincoteague Bay        National estuary study. Vol. 5. U.S. Government
                        1987. Chesapeake Bay Program, U.S. Environmental           Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
                        Protection Agenc@, Annapolis, Md. 247 pp.               Wilen, W. 1990. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
                    Orth, R. J.,   ,K. A. Moore, and J. C. Nowak. 1990.            National Wetlands Inventory. Pages 9-20 in S. J.
                        Monitoring seagrass distribution and abundance             Kiraly, F. A. Cross, and J. D. Buffington, eds.
                        patterns: a case study from the Chesapeake Bay. Pages      Federal coastal wetland mapping programs. U.S.
                        112-124 in S. J. Kiraly, R A. Cross, and J. D.             Fish Wildl. Serv., Biol. Rep. 90(18).
                        Buffington, tech. coords. Federal coastal wetland       Zeiman, J. C. 1982. The ecology of the seagrasses of
                        mapping programs. U.S. Fish Wild]. Serv., Biol.            south Florida: a community profile. U.S. Fish Wildl.
                        Rep. 90(18).                                               Serv., FWS/OBS-82/25.185 pp.
                    Thayer, G. W, W, J. Kenworthy, and M. S. Fonseca.           Zeiman, J. C., and R. T. Zeiman. 1989. The ecology of
                        1984, The ecology of eelgrass meadows of the               the seagrass meadows of the west coast of Florida:
                        Atlantic coast: a community profile. U.S. Fish Wildl.      a community profile. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Biol.
                        Serv., FWS/OBS-84/02. 147 pp.                              Rep. 85(7.25). 155 pp.








                                                       REGioNAL tND FmmmSTATE CoopmunvE PRwmms             133



                     Appendix. Availability of Map Products and Contacts
                                             for More Information



               For a free copy of published charts or more information on SAV mapping, write to:

                    Randolph L. Ferguson
                    NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service
                    Beaufort Laboratory, Southeast Fisheries Center
                    Beaufort, North Carolina 28516

               For a customized computer plot of SAV (not free) or more information on digitization of SAV data
                  and the North Carolina GIS data base, write to:

                    Karen Siderelis, Director
                    Center for Geographic Information and Analysis
                    North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources
                    512 North Salisbury Street, Room 1193
                    P. 0. Box 27687
                    Raleigh, North Carolina 27611

               For more information on aerial photographic and cartographic procedures, write to:

                    Rear Admiral J. Austin Yeager NICG
                    Director, Charting and Geodetic Services
                    NOAA, National Ocean Service
                    Room 1006, Rockwall Building
                    6001 Executive Boulevard
                    Rockville, Maryland 20852








                                                                       REGIONAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CooPEP.ATivE FRoGmms                    135



                   Project Plan for Mapping and Geographic Information System
                  Implementation of Land Use and Land Cover Categories for the
                                            Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study



                                                                              by




                                                        H. M. Cheshire and Siamak Khorram


                                                               Computer Graphics Center
                                                           North Carolina State University
                                                        Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7106


                               ABSTRACT.-The Albemarle-Pamlico (A/P) system in North Carolina is one of 12 estuaries
                               in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Estuary Program. The lack of a
                               current land use inventory for the Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine drainage area has been
                               identified as a critical gap in the A/P Study resource data base. At an A/P Study workshop late
                               in 1987, Landsat Thematic Mapper UND digital data were recommended as the most
                               cost-effective and practical source for developing an inventory for the 12 million acres of A/P
                               drainage basin. The Computer Graphics Center (North Carolina State University) and the
                               Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (formerly Land Resources Information
                               Service; North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources) are
                               cooperating in the development, storage, and dissemination of the inventory. The study area
                               includes a portion of Virginia and nearly one-third of North Carolina including almost all of
                               the Tidewater region. The project will result in: 1) a current digital land use and land cover
                               inventory based on Landsat TM data classified, verified, and registered to the A/P Study
                               geographic information system data base; 2) digital files in a standard data exchange format
                               available to investigators and resource managers; 3) a capability within the A/P Data
                               Management Center to maintain, analyze, and make future updates to the inventory; and
                               4) land use and land cover maps summarized by geopolitical boundaries.


                     Objectives and Background                                   Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, encompassing
                                                                                 about 3,000 square miles of protected inshore wa-
                    The Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study (A/P                   ters and 20,000 square miles of land. It includes
                  Study) is a joint project of the U.S. Environmental            over two-thirds of North Carolina's coastal wet-
                  Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of North                 lands and extends west into the Piedmont region.
                  Carolina. The estuary is 1 of 12 in the Federal                   In 1989, the Computer Graphics Center (CGC)
                  National Estuary Program. The ultimate goal of                 at North Carolina State University and the Center
                  the A/P Study is to aid in effective management of             for Geographic Information and Analysis (CGIA)
                  the important estuarine resources in northeastern              were funded to conduct such an inventory. The
                  North Carolina through scientific research and                 CGC is a university-wide research unit that con-
                  public awareness. The North Carolina A/P Study                 ducts research and training in the areas of remote
                  Program Office determined that lack of a land use              sensing, image processing, geographic information
                  inventory for the Albemarle-Pamlico estuary was                system (GIS) design and applications, and inte-
                  a critical gap in the A/P resource data base. As a             grated relational data-base design and manage-
                  result of an A/P Study workshop in late 1987,                  ment systems. The CGIA operates a GIS and
                  Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data were identi-                 serves as the official repository of digital geo-
                  fied as the most practical and cost-effective data             graphic data for the State of North Carolina. The
                  source for developing a land use inventory for the             CGIA is a receipt-funded agency in the Division of
                  more than 12 million acres of drainage basin. The              Information Services, North Carolina Department
                  study area includes all of the tributary basins of             of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources.








                 136    BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                    The goal of this mapping project is to provide       National Aeronautics and Space Administration-
                 baseline data on the Albemarle-Pamlico drainage         Goddard Space Flight Center. A number of specific
                 basin resources in a form usable by scientists and      applications have also been developed by CGC
                 decision makers to aid in research and manage-          staff and implemented under the Land Analysis
                 ment activities. The objectives of the project are to   System. Before analyses, TM data will be con-
                 (1) develop a current digital land use and land         verted to a Lambert Conformal projection to im-
                 cover inventory of the entire Albemarle-Pamlico         prove compatibility with the CGIA A/P data base.
                 drainage area, (2) integrate these data into the A/P      The drainage area encompasses several physio-
                 Study data base at CGIA, and (3) develop mecha-         graphic provinces including Tidewater, Middle
                 nisms for maintaining and updating the land use         and Upper Coastal Plains, and Piedmont. Win-
                 and land cover data. Up-to-date, accurate land use      dows roughly corresponding to the physiographic
                 and land cover data are not currently available for     provinces will be created from each TM scene so
                 North Carolina, but would serve a critical need in      that an area under consideration at any one time
                 the user community.                                     will be fairly uniform with respect to topography,
                                                                         soils, moisture, and other physical characteristics.
                                Methodology                              A guided clustering algorithm will be used for an
                                                                         initial separation of each area into broad, Level I,
                                                                         categories. Each broad category will then be bro-
                                General Approach                         ken down into more detailed categories. Training
                    Landsat TM digital data will be used to map          sites in the TM scenes will be used for testing
                 land use and land cover over the entire Albe-           which combination of bands is best suited for dis-
                 marle-Pamlico Study area. Data will be partly           criminating more detail within each broad cate-
                 classified based on, U.S. Geological Survey             gory. Spectral signatures of the more detailed
                 (USGS) Standard Level II categories with a min-         cover types will also be determined by interactive
                 imum mapping unit of 5 to 10 acres. Land use and        guided clustering of digital data for training sites.
                 land cover information will then be integrated          The clustering algorithm developed at CGC pro-
                 with theA/P Study data base being maintained at         vides the analyst with an interactive display ofthe
                 CGIA, and procedures for updating the informa-          spatial distributions of clusters at each iteration
                 tion will be outlined.                                  and with final cluster statistics. The clusters will
                                                                         be compared with maps or photographs ofeach site
                      Remote Sensing Data Acquisition                    to determine if the clustering process has ade-
                                                                         quately characterized a training site. We expect
                    Five Landsat TM scenes cover all but a very          that several clusters or spectral signatures will be
                 small portion of the Albemarle-Pamlico drainage         found representing each cover type. Cluster statis-
                 basin. The study area encompasses nearly one-           tics will be compiled, nonunique clusters will be
                 third the land area of North Carolina and a por-        deleted or merged, and confusion areas will be
                 tion of southeastern Virginia. Cloud cover made         identified.
                 the most recent (1989) TM scenes unsuitable for           At this point, the list of land use and land cover
                 use over much of the area, but five scenes from         categories may be revised to show categories not
                 winter of 1987 and 1988 (November, December,            previously included but which are distinct on the
                 and January) have been acquired from Earth Ob-          imagery, or to merge categories that cannot be
                 servation Satellite Company. Aerial photography         adequately separated. Cluster statistics will then
                 required for location of training sites or verifica-    be used to categorize an entire window by using a
                 tion of classification accuracy will be obtained        K-means minimum distance classifier. Data from
                 from existing sources.                                  the various windows (and categorical levels) will
                                                                         be recombined and classification accuracies will be
                                  Data Analysis                          evaluated before transfer to CGIA.
                    Remotely sensed data will initially be digitally       Registration and Vertical Integration
                 analyzed by North Carolina State University per-                             of Data
                 sonnel at CGC facilities. The major-image process-
                 ing software package at CGC is the Land Analysis          CGIA has aquired the Earth Resources Data
                 System running under the T!ransportable Applica- Analysis Systems (ERDAS) software, which is
                 tions Executive, both of which were developed by compatible with the ARQ/INFO GIS. Classified









                                                               REGioNAL AND FFDERmSTATE CooPERATPvE PPOGRAms               137



               image data from the Land Analysis System at the          to 10-acre mapping unit and recommended a clas-
               Computer Graphics Center is being converted to           sification scheme compatible with the USGS stan-
               ERDAS format and transferred to CGIA as classi-          dard hierarchical land use and land cover classifi-
               fications are completed. Personnel from CGIA will        cation scheme. This classification scheme would
               complete the transfer from ERDAS to the                  provide a framework for the identification of broad
               ARC/INFO Albemarle-Pamlico Study data base.              categories, but is flexible enough to permit aggre-
               This transfer initially consists of vectorizing the      gation or greater separation at lower levels. For
               land use data and entering them into ARC/INFO.           example, while the project is committed only to
               Land use data will have to be registered to the          differentiating between forested and nonforested
               existing AIP data base to ensure geometric accu-         wetlands (Level II), it is fully expected that greater
               racy and data continuity.                                separation will be possible. For instance, the user
                                                                        community would benefit from information on the
                              Final Results                             relative distributions of salt marshes versus fresh-
                                                                        water coastal marshes. Particular interest has
                  The inventory will provide complete coverage          been expressed in determining if stands of Atlantic
               for all but about 3% of the A/P drainage area. The       white-cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) can be iden-
               data will be georeferenced to the North Carolina         tified from the digital data. These possibilities will
               State Plane Coordinate System and will be inte-          be investigated as the project progresses.
               grated with the existing A/P data base.                     In October 1989, a half-day introductory training
                  Classified color-coded image data will be repro-      session at the Computer Graphics Center intro-
               duced in photographic format at an approximate           duced CGIA personnel to the basics of remote-sens-
               scale of 1:250,000. Results of the classification may    ing technology. Topics included terminology, char-
               also be plotted in map format at variable scales.        acteristics of Landsat TM data, and a discussion of
               CGIA plans to produce a series of acre summary           the approach to be used in completing the project.
               reports of land use by county and subbasin. CGIA         Two people from CGIA have been designated to
               will also produce digital files of land use data in a    work on the A/P Study and are being trained in
               standard data exchange format that can be distrib-       digital image processing at the Computer Graphics
               uted on a cost-recovery basis for use in GIS's in-       Center. CGIA has just received ERDAS, and com-
               stalled in county, local, and regional agencies, and     pleted installation in January 1990. ne total fand-
               to other A/P cooperating agencies, such as EPA,          ing for this portion of the project, including GIS
               USGS, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.              implementation, is $139,622.
                  In addition, procedures for maintaining and up-
               dating the information will be in place at the com-                    Time Schedule
               pletion of this project. CGC and CGIA will produce
               a report that describes the techniques used to              Image classification was completed on the first
               develop the land use and land cover inventory,           image by the end of March (1990). This also
               defines the classification scheme, documents the         marked completion of formal training of key CGIA
               limitations of the satellite data, and describes the     personnel. Work on conversion of the Land Analy-
               data available at CGIA for the project area.             sis System data to ERDAS format began as soon
                                                                        as CGIA received the first scene. By early spring
                              Project Status                            1990, procedures for classifying and transferring
                                                                        the data will have been tested and verified. The
                  In summer 1989, an advisory committee met to          target date for completing the raster-to-vector con-
               review the project and to discuss a proposed clas-       version and integration with ARC/INFO is 30 Sep-
               sification scheme. The committee consisted of rep-       tember 1990. Final results of the image classifica-
               resentatives from Federal, State, and local agen-        tion are expected to be available through CGIA by
               cies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,      October 1990 and are currently available for se-
               EPA, the North Carolina Department of Agricul-           lected areas.
               ture, North Carolina Divisions of Coastal Manage-
               ment and Environmental Management, Univer-                  Relevance of Project Results
               sity of North Carolina, North Carolina State
               University, CGIA, and city, county, and regional            The need for land use and land cover data has
               planning agencies. The committee approved the 5- been clearly expressed by managers and research-







                  138    BiowwcAL RFPoRT 90(18)



                  era concerned with the Albemarle and Pamlico             cies, representatives of county and local govern-
                  sounds. No accurate assessments of the contribu-         ments in the A/P Study area, and university per-
                  tions of nonpoint sources to instream. water-quality     sonnel. The committee represents the data needs
                  problems can occur without up-to-date information        of the user community. The commi e'sobjectives
                  on land use. Assessing the effects of nonpoint           are to (1) assist in refining the land use classifica-
                  source activities on eutrophication will be critical     tion scheme, (2) identify critical areas for which
                  for developing effective management strategies.          more detailed resource data are needed, (3) rec-
                  Resource analysts may also use acreage estimates         ommend output products, and (4) plan for future
                  of land uses to sensitive areas to estimate loading      data needs beyond the time frame of this project.
                  values for sediments, nutrients, or toxic substances        The State of North Carolina is considering the
                  for use in water-quality or groundwater models.          use of Landsat TM or other remotely sensed data
                  Researchers will also use the information for wild-      for developing land use and land cover informa-
                  life habitat analyses or multistage sampling. Re-        tion for the entire State on a regular 2- to 5-year
                  source managers require the information for eval-        basis. The advisory committee will help evaluate
                  uating proposed development, determining the             the results of this AT Study to determine if the
                  proximity of a particular land use to water intake       approach produces products that will meet the
                  locations, point source discharges, or other critical    needs of the user community.
                  point locations,,or for generating acre summary
                  reports for land use categories.                                    Acknowledgments
                    An advisory committee has been established by
                  the Computer Graphics Center and CGIA to over-              We wish to acknowledge the cooperation and
                  see the project. This committee consists of re- participation of the Center for Geographic Infor-
                  source managers from Federal and State agen- mation and Analysis.









                                                                          REGioNAL AND FEDERAL-STATE COOPERATIVE PW)GRAMS                     139




                   Loss of Coastal Wetlands in Louisiana: Cooperative Research to
                                                     Assess the Critical Processes



                                                                                by




                                                                     S. Jeffress Williams


                                                                    U.S. Geological Survey
                                                                     914 National Center
                                                                   Reston, Virginia 22092


                                                                                and



                                                                   Asbury H. Sallenger, Jr.

                                                                    U.S. Geological Survey
                                                                  600 Fourth Street, South
                                                               St. Petersburg, Florida 33701


                                 ABSTRACT.-Erosion of the Nation's shorelines and loss and deterioration of our coastal
                                 wetlands are widespread and serious problerns that affect all regions of the United States. As
                                 a result of natural and human-induced factors, the coastal plain of Louisiana, which contains
                                 40% of the tidal wetlands in the conterminous 48 States, is undergoing the greatest amount
                                 of coastal erosion and wetlands lose of any State in the Nation. The barrier islands that provide
                                 a natural buffer for Louisiana's deltaic plain environments are experiencing erosion rates of
                                 20 m/year, while wetlands losses are about 100 km2/year. In response to these problems and
                                 the lack of scientific understanding of the processes causing erosion and land loss, the U.S.
                                 Geological Survey has, since 1986, conducted field investigations in Louisiana, working closely
                                 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other Federal and State agencies. Research
                                 elements included in the studies of Louisiana's coastal barriers and wetlands are (1) the
                                 shallow geologic framework, (2) documentation by maps and aerial photographs of the physical
                                 changes that have occurred during the past 135 years, (3) measurements of several critical
                                 processes in the coastal zone and in a typical sediment-starved or sediment-rich basin, and
                                 (4) transfer of the results and findings to coastal resource managers. Studies of a similar nature
                                 are also under way in Lake Michigan and along the Alabama-Mississippi coast.


                     More than one-half of the U.S. population lives                bordering a coast are experiencing erosion and
                   within a 1-hour drive of the Nation's marine or                  wetland deterioration, and 26 of these States suf-
                   Great Lakes coasts, and the density of population                fer from an overall net erosion of their shorelines.
                   and development in the coastal zone is predicted                 The National Academy of Sciences forecasts an
                   to increase into the 21st century. At present, de-               increase in sea level rise; this would accelerate
                   veloped coastal areas face potential loss of life and            coastal erosion and wetland degradation.
                   billions of dollars in property damage because of                   The physical processes causing wetlands loss
                   long-term coastal erosion and storm effects. In                  and barrier island erosion are complex and varied,
                   addition, valuable coastal wetlands and estuarine                and many are not well understood. In addition, the
                   habitats are being rapidly altered as a result of                technical and academic community debates about
                   natural and human-induced factors. All 30 States                 which of the many contributing processes, both








                  140    BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



                  natural and human-induced, are most significant.          Federal agencies and State geological surveys as
                  Controversy also surrounds some of the measures           well as academic researchers.
                  that are being proposed to mitigate erosion and
                  reduce wetlands loss. Much of the debate is focused            Louisiana Barrier Island
                  on the reliability of predicted results of a given
                  management, restoration, or erosion mitigation                          Erosion Study
                  technique. With better understanding of the phys-           As shown in Fig. 1, much of the territory bor-
                  ical processes of wetlands loss, such predictions         dering the Gulf of Mexico is undergoing shoreline
                  will become more accurate, and a clearer consen-          erosion. Louisiana, however, has the greatest rate
                  sus should appear on how to reduce erosion and            of erosion compared with other Gulf region States,
                  land loss.                                                and also with other coastal States. Much of this
                                                                            erosion occurs along the barrier islands, which act
                     Role of the U.S. Geological                            as buffers, protecting the wetlands and estuaries
                  Survey in Coastal Erosion and                             landward from the effects of storms, ocean waves,
                        Wetlands Loss Research                              and currents.
                                                                              In 1986, the USGS and the Louisiana Geological
                    As the primary Federal agency for conducting            Survey (LGS) began a 5-year study that focuses on
                  research and information gathering on all earth           the processes causing barrier island erosion. The
                  science topics, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)         study areas (Fig. 2) extend from the Isles
                  is engaged in studies focused on improving scien-         Dernieres to Sandy Point and to the Chandeleur
                  tific understanding of the physical processes affect-     Islands east of the Mississippi River Delta. Be-
                  ing coastal environments. USGS's Coastal Geology          cause long-term erosion of Louisianars barrier is-
                  Program consists of four major studies: (1) Louisi-       lands is due to both sea level rise, relative to the
                  ana Barrier Island Erosion Study, (2) Louisiana           land, and diminishing sand supply, the primary
                  Wetlands Loss Study, (3) Southern Lake Michigan           objectives of this study are to quantify processes
                  Coastal Erosion Study, and (4) Alabama/Missis-            related to sea level rise and sand supply, and to
                  sippi Coastal Erosion and Pollution Study. Each           present the results in a form that can be applied to
                  study is being done in close cooperation with other       practical problems such as predicting future




                                                                f    ANNUAL SHORELINE CHANGE
                       OKLAR014A        ARKANSAS
                                                                I   Erosion           Accretion
                       .-  - -                                         M    5
                                                                            3.0- 4.9 -
                                                                            1.0- 2.9 -
                                                                            L_ @. I --  C=
                                          LOLTISLANA                   ED
                        77-XAS
                                                                     A:A Al0'A
                                                                M.bi@e_

                                                                             P-
                                                                              City
                                          Lake cld.
                                                     New
                          Houston                  Orleans


                                                                                              Tampa
                                               Gulf     0       MeXicO
                                                        ?f

                  C@
                  Chn.d                                                                          F-
                                            COASTAL EROSION and ACCRETION
                                                            in the
                                                     GULF OF MEXICO



                                                 0  so          00    300 WES
                                                              1@
                                                 0  100        .1.0 .0. KILOMETERS




                  Fig. 1. Map of shoreline erosion and accretion around the Gulf of Mexico.









                                                                                               REGIONAL AND FEDERAIL-STATE COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS                                       141






                                                                            LOUISIANA
                                                                                                             NEW ORLEANS






                                                                           HOUMA
                                                                         0
                                                 Atchafalaya IWef
                                                                                                   Baralaiia BaytS     a'           Brelon Sound



                                                                                                                                      V
                                                                Teffebonne Bay N&I,
                                                          4                            e                                 Sandy @Point




                                                                Wes Derri@es
                                                                                                         GULF OF MEXICO


                         Fig. 2. Map of the southern Louisiana deltaic plain. The U.S. Geological Survey investigations of barrier island
                             erosion and wetland loss cover regions east and west of the Mississippi River Delta.


                         changes. The study is divided into three main                                          wash, net offshore sediment transport, and gra-
                         parts:                                                                                 dients of sediment transport along the length of
                         III Investigate the geologic framework of the Mis-                                     the shoreline. Careful analyses of tide gauge
                             sissippi River deltaic plain (Fig. 3) where the                                    records show a progressive rise in relative sea
                             barrier islands have formed and migrated land-                                     level over the entire region, with local rates
                             ward. This involves using sediment cores and                                       exceeding 1 cnVyear (Penland et al. 1987, 1989).
                             geophysical profiles to provide a broad regional                                   Most of this rise is due to compaction and sub-
                             understanding of the historical development of                                     sidence of the recent deltaic sediments. A series
                             the barrier islands and a conceptual view of the                                   of field experiments and modeling efforts is
                             processes of barrier island erosion. Compari-                                      being undertaken (e.g., direct measurements of
                             sons of archival maps and photographs of the                                       the waves that wash over the Isles Dernieres
                             coast (from the past 135 years) are yielding                                       barrier islands during winter storms and hurri-
                             accurate measurements of the geomorphic                                            canes).
                             changes taking place (Fig. 4).                                                 0   Assemble the research results as digital data
                             Develop a better quantitative understanding of                                     sets, atlases, and technical reports for use by
                             the processes responsible for erosion. The focus                                   coastal scientists, planners, and engineers. Ap-
                             has been on only a few of the many physical                                        plications of the study results include develop-
                             processes, including relative sea level rise, over-                                ing better techniques for determining the rate







                                                                                                                                                                                  ox':
                                                                                                                                                                 EH,NA
                         Fig. 3. A succession of six Mississippi
                             River deltaic complexes has been de-
                             posited over the past 7,000 years be-
                             cause of channel switching by the                                                                LAFOURCHE-
                                                                                                                                                               -MODERN
                             river. (Adapted from Prazier 1967.)
                                                                                                                                                    Plaque'----.,
                                                         ya








                                                          4


































































                                                                                             Trinn                                                   Shor  I"
                                                                                             Shoal                                           Bayou
                                                                                                                                          Lafour  Che
                                                                                                                        Shis)               Shoreline
                                                                                                                                  Isles                        Pleistocene
                                                                                                                       Shoal    Dernieres
                                                                                                                                                               Holocene
                                                                                                                  R               Miles      50                Barrier Shoreline
                                                                                                                                                               Subaqueous
                                                                                               Gul of Mexico                 !11111111116E@!@             -- -
                                                                                                                           0      Kilometers     100           Sand Bodies









                      142      BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)





                                                             4
                                                                                         Terrebonne Bav

                           caiI1014 Bay
                                                           elln     ig Pelto BaY
                                                          BaY                                       q 'C@q6'
                                                 -7                    . .. .......... ... . .                   Fig. 4. Widespread erosion and deterio-
                                                                                                                     ration of the Isles Dernieres barrier
                                                                 S DO,                                               island arc since 1853 resulted from
                      1853        e-r,.  co               I qLqE
                                                                                                                     rapid rise in relative sea level, lack of
                                                                                                                     sediment, and frequent storm effects
                                                                                                                     on the coast.
                                                                                    Terrebonne Ba.v
                          Caillou Ba@'         q_@2qW      'qiqv    Lake Pelto



                                                                                             0 mi 3
                           'q@'O4qf qAqfe,-Co        ISLES        DE6qRq1q4q11E2qV-'qS
                                                                                             0 km 5
                         at which artificially nourished beaches should                        port renewable natural resources estimated at a
                         be replenished and predicting future shoreline                        value of $1 billion per year. However, an estimated
                         erosion so coastal planners can plan construc-                        80% of the Nation's tidal wetlands area loss has
                         tion at a safe distance landward qfq@rom the erod-                      occurred in Louisiana. The areas of greatest loss
                         ing shoreline.                                                        are in the modem Mississippi River Delta and the
                                                                                               Barataria and Terrebonne basins to the west
                      Louisiana Wetlands Loss Study                                            (Fig. q5q)_ Map comparisons by several scientists
                                                                                               have been used to show that wetlands loss has
                         Of the 48 conterminous States, Louisiana has                          steadily increased during the 20th century to an
                                                                                                                        2
                      25% of the vegetated wetlands and 40% of the tidal                       estimated 100 q1k:m /year by 1978, the latest year for
                      wetlands. These coastal wetlands, including the                          which detailed measurements are available. If this
                      associated bay and estuarine environments, sup-                          rate of wetland loss continues, the U.S. Army Corps




                                                                                               Coastal Zone
                                                 q@O       1q@0 k.                 Baton            Boundary
                                                                                 Rouge

                                            ake          Lafayette
                                     0q/,L, 0qtl 1,                                                  New
                                         Charles






                                                                                                   Nw.



                      8q-40                39.4 mi2/yr

                        30 -        28.1 2qMjq2q/yr

                                                                                      LOSS                            GAIN
                      .q2 20q-   15.8 mi2/yr                                                   Very Severe
                      _qj 10 q-                                                                Severe
                                     .7 mi2q/yr                                               Moderate
                            1900         1940       1980                                     Low
                                         Years


                      Fig. 5. Map showing the areal distribution and wetland loss rates for coastal Louisiana (adapted from Gagliano
                         et al. 1981).
 







                                                               REGioNAL AND FFDFRAi__STATE CooPERATivE PRoGRAms          143



                of Engineers estimates that in the next 50 years            Southern Lake Michigan
                nearly 1 n-,dllion acres of Louisiana wetlands will be               Erosion Study
                converted to open water.
                   Conceived as a natural extension of the Barrier       Over the past several years, fluctuating water
                Island Erosion Study, the USGS studybegan in late       levels in the Great Lakes, combined with storm
                1988 in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife     waves and surge flooding, have caused significant
                Service (FWS) and Louisiana State agencies. Em-         and widespread coastal erosion and damage, par-
                phasis is on understanding the critical physical        ticularly in urban areas such as Chicago. The
                processes that cause the extreme rate of wetlands       USGS, working closely with the State geological
                loss in coastal Louisiana and identifying the best      surveys of Illinois and Indiana, recently completed
                management practices to address those losses.           the second year of a planned 5-year investigation of
                   This USGS and FWS wetlands study includes            the shoreline of southern Lake Michigan. This
                four parts: (1) baseline data is being compiled and     study included surveying the coast and nearshore
                entered into a computer-based geographic infor-         areas to (1) assess the extent of historic erosion,
                mation system; (2) research is being conducted on       (2) investigate the geologic factors controlling the
                a basin scale to understand some of the critical        magnitude and range of water level fluctuations in
                processes causing wetlands loss; (3) at specific        the recent geologic past, (3) locate offshore sand
                sites, research is being conducted on the effects       bodies for use as fill to rebuild beaches and dam-
                                                                        aged portions of the shore, and (4) measure sedi-
                and utility of various wetlands management ac,          ment transport processes throughout all seasons of
                tivities on the processes; and (4) the information      the year.
                and results from these studies will be relayed to
                the user community by means of reports, maps,            Alabama-Mississippi Erosion
                and workshops.
                   The wetlands study elements dealing with re-                  and Pollution Study
                search on some of the critical physical processes are     As in much of Louisiana, the Alabama-
                being undertaken by USGS scientists as well as          Mississippi coastal region is a dynamic system of
                scientists at the Louisiana Geological Survey and       coastal barriers, tidal inlets, wetlands, and large
                Louisiana State University under contract with the      bays and estuaries that are undergoing environ-
                USGS. Field studies will be conducted in two sepa-      mental change due to natural and human activi-
                rate hydrologic basins, one sediment-rich and the       ties. In response to the physical changes taking
                other sediment-poor, in order to compare and con-       place, the USGS, in cooperation with the two State
                trast the dominant processes in each. Investiga-        geological surveys, is undertaking a 5-year study
                tions are now under way in the sediment-poor Ter-       focused on understanding the geologic processes
                rebonne basin-Timbalier Bay and parts of the            that cause erosion and movement of fine-grained
                Barataria basin (Fig. 2); field studies in the sedi-    sediments and pollutants in the coastal zone. The
                ment-rich Atchafalaya basin will start in 1991.         first year of effort, fiscal year 1990, will concen-
                Research elements under investigation for each          trate on deciphering the geologic framework of the
                basin include:                                          Alabama-Mississippi coastal region.
                ï¿½  meteorological forcing events,                                         Summary
                ï¿½  fine-grained sediment dispersal,
                ï¿½  saltwater and freshwater dispersal,                    In addition to the four studies currently under
                ï¿½  physical processes of marsh deterioration,           way in USGS's Coastal Geology Program, several
                ï¿½  wetlands soil development, and                       other activities are in progress. As directed by
                ï¿½  subsidence-soil compaction.                          Public Law 100-220, USGS and the National Oce-
                   In addition, a study contracted to Coastal Envi-     anic and Atmospheric Administration have devel-
                                                                        oped a plan for conducting geologic studies along,
                ronments, Inc., is examining the effects of small-      and remapping the coastal zone of, the U.S. portion
                scale freshwater diversions from the Mississippi        of the Great Lakes. This plan, submitted to Con-
                River on brackish marshes adjacent to the levees.       gress in December 1989, recommends a 10-year
                The duration of the USGS-FWS wetlands study is          effort of phased surveys and would include research
                expected to be 6 years.                                 contributions by agencies in each of the affected








                   144     BiowwcAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   States. To date, Congress has not provided funds              chronology. Pages 287-315 in Transactions of the
                   for implementing this study.                                  Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies,
                      Congress has also directed USGS to formulate a             Vol. 17.
                   plan to extend and expand the present regional             Gagliano, S. M., K. J. Meyer-Arendt, and K. M. Wicker.
                   coastal studies into a research program of national           1981. Pages 295-300 in Land loss in the Mississippi
                   scope. This effort is under way and includes obtain-          River deltaic plain: Transactions of the Gulf Coast
                   ing recommendations from other Federal agencies               Association of Geological Societies. Vol. 31.
                   as well as the appropriate agencies in each of the         Penland, S., K. E. Ramsey, R. A. McBride, T. F Moslow,
                   coastal States. This plan was submitted to Con-               and K. A. Westphal. 1989. Relative sea level rise and
                   gress in June 1990.                                           subsidence in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. La.
                                                                                 Geol. Surv. Tech. Rep. 3. 65 pp.
                                                                              Penland, S., J. R. Suter, and R. A. McBride. 1987. Delta
                                     References                                  plain development and sea level history in the
                                                                                 Terrebonne coastal region, Louisiana. Pages
                   Frazier, D. E. 1967. Recent deltaic deposits of               1689-1705 in N. C. Kraus, ed. Coastal Sediments
                      the Mississippi River-their development and                '87. American Society of Civil Engineers.









                                                                      REGioNAL AND nDER"TATE CoopmuTrm PRormAms                        145



                            Marine Wetland Mapping and Monitoring in Florida



                                                                            by




                                                                   Kenneth Haddad


                                                              Marine Research Institute
                                                     Florida Department of Natural Resources
                                                               100 Eighth Avenue, S.E.
                                                            St. Petersburg, Florida 33701


                               ABSTRACT.-The Department of Natural Resources, Florida Marine Research Institute, has,
                               implemented a program of mapping and monitoring Florida's coastal marine wetland habitat.
                               Because of Florida's extensive coastline and the need for timely monitoring, Landsat Thematic
                               Mapper CM satellite data have been used as the base for the mapping effort. Aerial
                               photography is used for seagrass mapping; the photointerpreted results are digitized into the
                               USGS quad-rectified TM base map. The TM data are processed to distinguish the marine and
                               estuarine emergent vegetation. Although the protocol and techniques for the mapping effort
                               have begun and an initial mapping effort has been completed, a fully established monitoring
                               effort is still in a developmental stage. The success of this program is predicated on the
                               flexibility of using multiple sources of data with a resultant digital product.



                    The State of Florida has one of the most exten-            technical data on the status and trends of coastal
                 sive coastlines in the United States and climati-             and marine resources have become available, it
                 cally ranges from tropical and subtropical to tem-            has become evident that this targeted approach to
                 perate. This has resulted in a complex and diverse            management is inadequate over the long term.
                 assemblage of species and habitats that are often             Habitat has been lost, species abundance has de-
                 unique and fragile. Florida@s population growth is            clined, polluted waters have reduced shellfish har.
                 one of the highest in the Nation, with more than              vest areas, and fisheries have been closed.
                 80% of State inhabitants living within 16 1km of the             This realization has stimulated the evolution of
                 coast. The resultant effects on marine and estua-             an ecosystem approach to resource management.
                 rine resources, although at times obvious, have               This kind of approach is based on the fact that
                 been poorly understood, rarely quantified, and as-            without an understanding of species' interactions,
                 sumed to be far-reaching.                                     communities     'community interactions, and cumu-
                                                                               lative environmental impacts (natural and
                      System Analyses and Management                           human-induced), management actions will often
                                                                               be reactive rather than preventive or corrective.
                    With such a diverse richness of Florida's marine
                 resources and a resultant diverse group of users,
                 management of the State's marine resources is not                Habitat Mapping and Trend
                 an easy task. The difficulty is compounded by the                                  Analyses
                 State's rapid growth and the currently unquantifi-
                 able effect of this growth on marine resources.                  A first step in building a digital ecosystem data
                    A primary goal of the Florida Department of                base is the determination of the extent and loca-
                 Natural Resources, Marine Research Institute                  tion of critical habitat. In 1983, FMRI, through the
                 (FMRI), is to conduct research and synthesize that            National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
                 research into information that can be used to make            tion (NOAA) Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource
                 sound resource management decisions. Most ma-                 Management and Florida's Department of Envi-
                 rine resource management strategies and actions               ronmental Regulation, initiated a program to map
                 in Florida have been oriented to single species. As           and monitor coastal wetlands and submerged








                   146    BioLoGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                   habitat, including salt marshes, mangroves, sub-                    Geographic Referencing
                   merged aquatics, oyster reefs, and unconsolidated
                   bottom. With such an expansive coastline in Flor-          TM data consist of six spectral layers of infor-
                   ida, we analyzed unconventional methods for the         mation for each V4 acre (30 x 30 m) on the ground
                   mapping effort.                                         and a thermal band with 4-acre resolution. Each
                     Initially, we evaluated mapping techniques to         spectral band is rectified to 7.5-min U.S. Geologi-
                   determine cost, accuracy, and production-time           cal Survey (USGS) quadrangles in a UTM projec-
                   comparisons between digital image processing of         tion by using a bilinear interpolation technique.
                   Landsat Thematic Mapper CM data and carto-              Welch et al. (1985) determined that this type of
                   graphic aerial photography methods. A 69% cost          process can achieve accuracy standards for
                   saving and 83% production-time reduction was            1:50,000-scale maps and approach the standards
                   realized with TM data (Haddad and Harris 1985a).        for 1:24,000-scale maps. Rectification of the indi-
                   We also determined that aerial photography was          vidual spectral bands, rather than the finished
                   often needed for photointerpretation and digitiza-      product, is standard because of the need to con-
                   tion into the resource map when submerged habi-         tinually return to the raw data for additional
                   tats were being mapped (Haddad and Harris               analyses.
                   1985b). In marine wetlands, classification accu-
                   racy for both aerial photographs and TM data was                         Image Analyses
                   >90%. Based on these results, FMRI began sys-
                   tematically mapping Florida's estuarine and ma-            We have not developed a rigid protocol for sta-
                   rine wetlands, excluding the Everglades National        tistical analysis of the satellite imagery data, but
                   Park and Biscayne Bay. That effort began in 1984,       workable techniques have been standardized. Nu-
                   was completed with updates in 1986, and required        merous types of statistics have been tested for
                   about 2 years of effort (1 year = 2080 hours).          their ability to classify marine and estuarine wet-
                                                                           lands and for computer processing times. Stan-
                                   Trend Analyses                          dard classifiers, such as the maximum likelihood,
                     Habitat trend analyses also have been com-            which can use either supervised or unsupervised
                   pleted for selected areas of the State from the         approaches to generate statistical clusters, are
                   1940's to the present. A major conclusion from the      processing-intensive and cumbersome in a pro-
                   trend analyses is that submerged aquatics have          duction operation. This observation is based on
                   often experienced the greatest loss, and this loss is   our specific needs relative to coastal wetlands and
                   no longer due to mechanical effects, but rather to      does not consider the use of this approach for
                   changes in water quality. This conclusion is sup-       general mapping needs. With this type of algo-
                   ported by the fact that submerged aquatic losses        rithm, and most algorithms in use, the higher the
                   often occur in deeper waters within estuaries, sug-     spatial resolution the more difficult it is to resolve
                   gesting insufficient light penetration as a caus-       confusion within and among classes. At some
                   ative factor. Uss of marsh and mangrove has             point, human intervention with a photoiziterpre-
                   substantially decreased in Florida, and where suf-      tive-like process is necessary.
                   ficient protective measures have been established,         Our approach has been to use a rapid parallel-
                   increases in aerial extent have been observed           piped type of classifier to initially process the data
                   (Haddad and Hoff-man 1985b).                            into 256 classes. The classifier is run on the green,
                                                                           red, and near-infrared, and the red, near-infrared,
                           Mapping Techniques                              and mid-irS3rared TM spectral bands, respectively,
                                                                           to generate two statistical images. The first image
                     We needed to decide on a base map (the digital        is pictorially similar to a color-infrared photograph
                   map to which all data are referenced) early in the      and can be image-interpreted by identifying those
                   program. As is common in many areas, base maps          clusters that represent the wetland categories of
                   were not available in digital form on a statewide       interest. We found that it is often advantageous to
                   basis, and the cost of digitization was prohibitive.    use the second image because of its accentuation
                   Therefore, the only reasonable approach was to          on the infrared bands. In particular, we have found
                   make the TM data the base map, and any addi-            that the mid-infrared band enhances our ability to
                   tional map layers (i.e., seagrasses, oysters) would     differentiate wetlands. In many cases, we use both
                   be digitally rectified to that base.                    images to selectively differentiate categories of








                                                           REGioNAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CooPERATwE PRWRAms             147



             interest, with the results being a third image com-   We have not found any statistical analyses that
             posed of the best clusters from each image.           adequately define seagrasses, although we have
               Although this approach is rapid and effective it    had success in limited cases. Variations in water
             still does not meet accuracy standards expected for   clarity, water depth, and sediment type preclude
             wetlands mapping when compared with interpre-         the use of standard spectral analyses. The image
             tation of photographs at similar spatial resolu-      must be manually photointerpreted in either the
             tions. The associative and subjective analyses per-   blue, green, or red spectral bands. Because of these
             formed by a photointerpreter are not yet              obstacles we commonly use aerial photography (ei-
             reproducible statistically. On the other hand, use    ther existing or contractually flown) to map
             of the TM mid-infrared band can have advantages       seagrasses. The photographs are photointerpreted
             in certain analyses where identification of differ-   and rectified to the Landsat base map, and the
             ent levels of moisture content enhance the ability    seagrass coverage is conventionally digitized as
             to differentiate wetland types beyond those observ-   wetland types into the wetlands data base.
             able in an infrared photograph.
               Once the images are clustered as best as can be           Habitat Trend Analyses
             statistically accomplished, National High Alti-
             tude Mapping Program aerial photographs, exist-                        Teelmiques
             ing National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) maps,              Trend analyses for coastal wetlands can be con-
             ground truthing, and many other data sources are
             used to identify or confirm clusters that are not     ducted with numerous techniques. The creation of
             pure to a given wetland type. For example, some       data for actual analyses must be done with caution
             clusters representing mangroves may be confused       because in most cases it is difficult to separate
             with a wet orange grove or a freshwater wetland,      errors in classification from actual habitat
             resulting in a 70% identification accuracy. The       changes. Trend analyses cannot be conducted on
             remote-sensing literature has many examples of        data that use different classification systems that
             this type of confusion, and it reports the statistical have not been normalized. In fact, it is very diffi-
             inaccuracies of this type of analysis. The litera-    cult to compare data that have been interpreted by
             ture reflects an academic approach to,image anal-     different investigators that use the same classifi-
             yses and not a production approach. We routinely      cation system if tedious interpretive calibrations
             "fix" the confused clusters by using simple digital   are not conducted. If done properly, habitat trend
             manipulations based on the interpreter's assess-      analyses can provide valuable insights on the ef-
             ment of the data. Orange groves and fi-eshwater       fects of habitat management regulations and the
             wetlands are reclassified into appropriate catego-    changes in the resources that use those habitats.
             ries, often increasing identification accuracies for
             mangroves >95%.                                                       Historical Data
               This flexible and rapid approach to wetlands           Historical analyses have been accomplished for
             mapping results in a highly accurate product, but     many areas in Florida by photointerpreting ar-
             only for wetlands. We routinely produce a final       chived photographs from the 1930's to 1970's. We
             map product that merges the wetland types with        rectify the interpreted data to the Landsat base
             the original color-infraredlike image. By providing   map and table-digitize them into a separate data
             this pictorial image for the background data, the     layer. When we use aerial photography, the inter-
             user is able to orient to the image and eliminate     pretations often must be transferred to a USGS
             the need for a summary presentation of data not       quadrangle to geo-correct the data for spatial in-
             classified as wetlands.                               consistencies before digitization. We can often by-
                                Seagrasses                         pass this step by using a three-point triangulation
                                                                   method when digitizing off the photographs. When
               Seagrass mapping presents special problems for      positional deviations are observed, new points are
             satellite image analyses. Landsat only collects an    picked and the digitization process is continued. If
             image over a given area once every 16 days. nis       the interpretation of the historical photographs is
             means that conditions conducive to mapping must       compatible with the TM analyses, then trend anal-
             all coincide on that given day. If the water is clear yses can be conducted. We have not attempted to
             and clouds do not obscure the area, there is a good   compare historical Landsat Multipectral Scanner
             potential for using imagery for seagrass mapping.     (MSS) data with the recent TM data because of the








                   148    BioLoGicAL RFxoRT 90(18)



                   uncertainties introduced by spectral and spatial        show both the process and, if using disparate data
                   resolution differences.                                 sources, the problems. The observed areas of
                                                                           change represent differences in final product res-
                                 Contemporary Data                         olution, habitat classifications, and real changes
                     When building a data base for trend analyses,         in habitat. Figure 1 a is a general map of a coastal
                   it is important to create an accurate habitat data      area of Tampa Bay, Florida. The data have been
                   layer with which historical and future data will be     consolidated to three classes and are a digital
                   compared. We concluded that contemporary data           representation of the 1982 NWI map. Figure lb
                   should be that layer. Contemporary data can be          represents the statistically clustered 1987 TM
                   ground-truthed and corrected for errors in clas i       data for the area of mangroves delineated in the
                                                                      B1_  1982 data. Figure 1c shows those areas that were
                   fication, which cannot be done for historical photo-    labeled as mangrove in 1982, but not classified as
                   graphs. This also gives the investigator a "feel' for   mangrove in 1987. Quantitatively, the area was
                   the area and increases the potential for accurate       reduced from 2,952 ha of mangrove to 2,564 ha, a
                   interpretation of historical photos. By expending       13% loss. However, when investigating the
                   initial efforts in the creation of the contemporary     changes, it becomes obvious that a large portion
                   data, a considerable reduction in effort is realized    of that change is not real and represents differ-
                   when developing the historical data base and con-       ences in interpretation techniques and classifica-
                   ducting future map updates.                             tion systems. Many of the smaller areas of change
                                                                           are actually uplands within the mangrove com-
                                 Data-base Updates                         plex. These types of features are averaged by the
                     One approach to updating the habitat data base        photointerpreter to become mangroves, even
                   is to remap a given area to compare with the            though the photography was at the 1:24,000 scale.
                   original maps. That process is time-consuming.          In the photointerpretation and digitization pro-
                   We have developed a technique that takes advan-         cess it becomes impractical and costly to try to
                   tage of the fact that TM data are digital. When         delineate these features at that scale. The pho-
                   working with a focused data base, such as coastal       t0interPreter makes a conscious decision to delin-
                   wetlands, we process the new TM data into 256           eate them or they are lumped into the mangrove
                   classes, as previously described. This produces an      classes; digital processing automatically rnain-
                   image, rectified to the base map, that can be ma-       tains their separation.
                   nipulated to update the original map. The original        The use of classification systems also contrib-
                   data are used to mask a given habitat, which is         utes to discrepancies in updating data. The NWI
                   then compared in a very rudimentary way with the        maps are based on the Cowardin et al. (1979) sys-
                   new TM image. For example, when updating man-           tem, whereas the State of Florida uses a modified
                   groves, we would use the original coverage of man-      Anderson (1976) system tailored to State needs. In
                   groves to locate those areas in the new TM image        Fig. 1c, a 162-ha area defined by NWI as man-
                   that should contain inangroves. Mangroves, in the       grove, falls outside the spectral clusters we con-
                   new image, can be expected to fall within a specific    Bider mangrove. In fact, this is a salt flat that has
                   range of statistical clusters, and those clusters       :530% mangrove and would never be classified as
                   that fall outside that range are identified as poten-   mangrove. To confuse the process further, this
                   tial areas of change. These areas can then be           same area was called the equivalent of a salt flat
                   visually assessed for changes. In theory, an inverse    in the 1950 NWI analyses, and thus shows a mis-
                   process can be used to identify areas of mangrove       leading increase of 162 ha of mangroves within the
                   growth, but we have not tested this approach be-        same classification system.
                   cause of insignificant amounts of growth in wet-          The point to be made is this-trend analyses
                   lands since our initial mapping effort with TM          must be conducted with caution and with a full
                   data.                                                   evaluation and understanding of the data being
                                                                           compared. In fact, of the 388-ha change between
                   Problems with Disparate Data                            1982 and 1987, less than 17 ha are due to real
                                                                           change (<l% change). If the original image used
                     Figures 1 a-1c depict the results of the updating     was TM rather than NWI, then the data updating
                   process, except that we have used mangroves dig-        would not have the problems that have been iden-
                   itized from a 1982 NWI aerial photographic map-         tified. This does not indicate that one process is
                   ping effort as the mask to a 1987 TM image to           better than the other, just that they are different.









                                                                 REGioNAL AND FFDERmSTATE C@@M"W @@s                           149








                                                                                            A M
            ....... ..
               FIGURE IR                                                   FIGURE



                !]!@@11 W A T E R
                M MRNGROVE.`..@,.@@
                M LAND

                                                             Ni



                                                                                       Q


               $
                        .. ... . .....


               IF                                                                                I I I rg r-M K L. M..



                                                                               A-

                                                                                                    ............... . .


               FIGURE Ic


                                                          C               Fig. la. 1982 NWI map depicting the location of man-
                                                                             groves used to mask the 1989 TM data.


                                                                          Fig. 1b. Classified 1987 TM data of the areas defaied as
                      NDS                                                    mangrove in 1982.


                                                                          Fig. lic. Areas depicted as mangrove in 1982 but not as
                                                                             mangrove in 1987.

                                      SALT FLATS
                                      (162 HR.)







                            Classification Systems                        by name. Thus, we name a salt marsh complex a
                                                                          salt marsh, and if we go to the next level of delin-
                  The importance of the classification system can-        eation we would name Juncus and Spartina as
               not be underestimated when using satellite image           components of that complex. Our classification, at
               processing for habitat delineation. This is some-          that point, could be cross-referenced with either
               thing that must be addressed in the initial stages         the NWI Cowardin et al. (1979) system or the
               of the mapping program. Because we have been               Anderson (1976) system. Because we are working
               primarily mapping coastal wetlands, we have cho-           with raster data at 30-m spatial resolution, we
               sen to tailor our classification to Florida wetlands       have categories that consist of marsh and water.








                    150    BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



                    These areas are often presented as a marsWwater             is not considered as part of an ecosystem. The
                    category, which is not used in most classification          wetlands are just one layer of information, out of
                    systems.                                                    many, that we are building into the Marine Re-
                       In Florida, we have observed that the TM anal-           source Geographic Information System. Linkage
                    yses can be better tuned to the Anderson system             to dredge and fill permits and other types of per-
                    and can have major discrepancies with the Cow-              mits, which will allow us to reconstruct permitted
                    ardin system. It is best to determine the limits of         habitat losses that cannot be mapped, is being
                    the classification systems relative to TM process-          investigated. Concurrent with our mapping ef-
                    ing and develop a hybrid system. If this is not done,       forts, we are conducting field research to assess
                    much effort can be spent attempting to force a              species utilization and production within the dif-
                    classification of the data, thus reducing the ability       ferent habitats. All of these efforts will eventually
                    to efficiently conduct trend analyses.                      provide the information necessary to implement
                                                                                an ecosystem approach to coastal resource man-
                                     Conclusions                                agement.
                       The Florida Marine Research Institute has de-                              References
                    veloped and implemented a coastal mapping effort
                    designed for efficient and cost-effective mapping           Anderson, J. R., E. E. Hardy, J. T Roach, and R. E.
                    and monitoring of Florida's geographically expan-              Witmer. 1976. A land use and land cover classification
                    sive coastal wetlands. A combination of Landsat                system for use with remote sensor data. U.S. Geol.
                    imagery, aerial photography, ground truthing, and              Surv. Prof. Pap. 964. 28 pp.
                    ancillary map data is used to produce digital maps          Cowardin, L. M., V Carter, F C. Golet, and E. T LaRoe,
                    from a Landsat TM map base. I have described, in               1979. Classifications of wetlands and deepwater
                                                                                   habitats of the United States. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,
                    a very general presentation, the techniques and                FWEVOBS-79/31.103 pp.
                    concepts we employ in the map-making and subse-             Haddad, K. D., and B. A. Harris. 1985a. Use of remote
                    quent habitat trend analyses. The success of this              sensing to assess estuarine habitats. Pages 662-675
                    effort has been based on the flexibility built into            in 0. T Magoon, H. Converse, D. Minor, D. Clark, and
                    the standardization of the mapping process.                    L.T. Tobin, eds. Coastal zone '85. Proceedings of the
                                                                                   fourth symposium on coastal and ocean
                       Many issues, such as ground truthing and digi-              management. Vol. 1. American Society of Civil
                    tal and hard-copy data distribution, have not been             Engineers, New York.
                    discussed. All require substantial planning and             Haddad, K. D., and B. A. Harris. 1985b. Assessment
                    can become major operational components of an                  and trends of Florida's marine fisheries habitat: an
                    effective program. We also have evaluated SPOT                 integration of aerial photography and thematic
                    satellite data for mapping efficiency, and we use              mapper imagery. Pages 130-138 in S. K. Mengel and
                    SPOT data when higher resolution mapping is                    D. B. Morrison, eds. Machine processing of remotely
                    required. The spectral superiority (particular                 sensed data. Purdue University, West Lafayette,
                    the mid-infrared bands) and lower costs of Land                Ind. 370 pp.
                    TM data make its use more advantageous for I             e  Welch, R., T. R. Jordon, and M. Ehlers. 1985.
                                                                                   Comparative evaluation of geodetic accuracy and
                    geographic areas.                                              cartographic potential of Landsat-4 and Landsat-5
                       Although our habitat mapping effort is impor-               thematic mapper image data. Photogram. Eng.
                    tant, it has little long-term meaning if the habitat           Remote Sens. 51(11):1799-1812.









                                                                           REGioNAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CooPERATivE PFoGRAms                      151








                    Satellite Data and Geographic Information Systems Technology
                                                 Applications to Wetlands Mapping



                                                                                  by




                                              Richard H. Sinclair, Jr., Mark R. Graves, and Jack K. Stoll

                                                   U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station
                                                             Environmental Laboratory (EN-B)
                                                                     3909 Halls Ferry Road
                                                                 Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180


                                  ABSTRACT.-Satellite digital images and geographic spatial data-base technology are well
                                  suited for mapping and analysis of the vast, complex wetland environments of the lower
                                  Mississippi River Valley. We applied these technological resources on two wetlands mapping
                                  projects. The first mapping project, completed for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS),
                                  illustrates the quantitative value of spatial seasonal data for mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
                                  habitat analysis. Crops and forested areas mapped from a summer Landsat Thematic Mapper
                                  scene were combined with flooded areas mapped from a winter scene to derme wintering
                                  habitat types and distributions. Results ofthis analysis were used by FWS's National Wetlands
                                  Research Center's regional office in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to determine the reliability of a
                                  Habitat Suitability Index model for mallards wintering in the lower Mississippi River Valley.
                                  Satellite resources are often dominantly competitive or, in fact, the only affordable solution to
                                  reliable seasonal data for habitat analysis of large geographic areas.
                                   The second project illustrates the efficiency of digital map data-base development to satisfy
                                  multiple requirements within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for wetlands regulation and
                                  impact analysis. The specific area involved is the Yazoo River basin floodplain, which is parallel
                                  to the Mississippi River in west-central Mississippi. Tlie basin covers all or parts of a 20-county
                                  region. Hydric (wetland) and nonhydric (nonwetland) soils are being digitized fi-om Soil
                                  Conservation Service soil survey photo map sheets. Results of this effort will be a high
                                  resolution, georeferenced digital data base and accompanying acreage statistics for wetland
                                  and nonwetland areas.


                                Mallard Wintering                                    lard (Artas platyrhynclws) wintering habitat vari-
                                    Habitat Study                                    ables in the lower Mississippi River Valley (LMV)
                                                                                     from Landsat digital images.
                                                                                        The scope of work completed by WES-EL for
                     Landsat Thematic Mapper Land Cover                              the FWS included the analysis of two seasonal
                      Mapping and Habitat Analysis in the                            Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes. A sum-
                                Lower Mississippi Valley                             mer scene was selected in August 1988 for map-
                                                                                     ping forests and agricultural cropland classes. A
                      This study was conducted by the U.S. Army                      winter scene was selected in January 1989 for
                    engineer, Waterways Experiment Station, Envi-                    Mapping typical surface hydrology (permanent
                    ronmental Laboratory (WES-EL) for the U.S.                       water bodies and seasonal flooding) that exists
                    Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Our objective                   during the mallard's southern migration. Statis-
                    was to derive georeferenced spatial data on mal-                 tical land cover information was developed as








                 152     BioLoGicAL RFPoRT 90(18)



                 input for a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) model        compatible tapes in 6,250 bits per inch, band-
                 of mallard wintering habitat in the LMV (Allen           sequential format. The tapes were generated by
                 1986). The FWS's objective was to use Landsat            the Thematic Mapper Image Processing System
                 TM data as a means to validate the mallard HSI           at the National Aeronautics and Space
                 model. The FWS scientists required land cover            Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight
                 statistics for 16-km2 sample areas within the proj-      Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
                 ect boundaries, as the HSI model specifies an               U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 1:24,000-scale
                 8-km mallard foraging radius (Allen 1986). FWS           maps were used to geometrically rectify the raw
                 personnel selected 25 sample areas from the sum-         Landsat TM data. The scene was centered near
                 mer scene based on statistics from 49 sample             Greenville in western Mississippi, and covered
                 areas that define the study area. Two of the 25          parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
                                                                                                                   2
                 sample areas were selected from a region border-         The scene size was about 2,000 km .          Eighteen
                 ing the 7 by 7 matrix making up the original 49          USGS map sheets were required to locate about
                 sample areas. These two areas were added so that         100 reference (control) points distributed uni-
                 densely forested land cover types would be in-           formly throughout the scene.
                 cluded in the analyses. Color-coded maps of land            All Landsat data were georeferenced to the Uni-
                 cover classes were plotted for each of the 25 se-        versal Transverse Mercator (UTM) r ection
                 lected sample areas. These maps were used to                                                       2P 0j
                                                                          (zone 15), with a grid resolution of 30 in . The final
                 record a FWS census (aerial transect) of the exist-      data file represents a matrix of 5,534 lines (verti-
                 ing mallard population near the time of data ac-         cal) by 5,368 elements (horizontal). The array ex-
                 quisition. Statistics, including area calculations       tracted for the 7- by 7-matrix analysis has the
                 for each class, were developed for the same 25           following UTM coordinates: upper left corner East-
                 sample areas (measuring 16 km2) in both scenes.          ing 605970, Northing 3751030; and the lower right
                 Our final results consisted of acreage data for          comer Easting 767010, Northing 3585010. This
                 flooded forest, flooded rice fields, and other           coordinate space does not include all the area
                 flooded cropland. These results were derived by          covered by the two additional sample sites selected
                 overlaying the classified data for the two Landsat       at a later date.
                 scenes and extracting acreage"where forests and             Color aerial photography, obtained in winter
                 crop classes from the summer scene coincided             1984, and information gathered from subsequent
                 spatially with flooded areas in the winter scene.        low-altitude aerial reconnaissance Rights were
                 Three sets of plots were produced for the 25 sam-        compared with the sunimer Landsat scene classi-
                 ple areas to illustrate the results for all stages in    fication. The photographs were particularly useful
                 the analyses.                                            in differentiating a small percentage of rice fields
                                                                          confused with adjacent forestland in the unsuper-
                 Data Sources                                             vised Landsat data analysis.
                    The United States' Landsat 4 and 5 satellites         Computer Hardware and Software Assets
                 carry the TM sensor package as the principal data-
                 gathering instrument. Radiant energy is recorded            With the exception of reformatting in the raw
                 in seven wavelength bands. Six of the bands Occur        data tapes, all image data analyses for this project
                 in the 0.45 pm (ultraviolet radiation) to 2.35 pm        were completed on one 386-based personal com-
                 (reflected infrared radiation) portion of the electro-   puter workstation. The personal computer work-
                 magnetic spectrum. Recorded data from these              station is enhanced for image processing and geo-
                 channels have a spatial resolution of 30 in. The         graphic information system (GIS) applications by
                 remaining band (band 6) is in the 10.4 to 12.5 Pm        a number of specific peripheral devices and add-on
                 (thermal infrared) portion of the spectrum and is        computer cards, including the following: an Opus
                 recorded with a spatial resolution of 120 m.             Systems CLIPPER 32-bit microprocessor board
                    The project study area was located within the         with four megabytes of random access memory,
                 correct Landsat TM frame by using the Landsat            operating in a UNIX environment at a clock speed
                 Worldwide Reference Systems Map at Path/Row              in excess of 30 MHz and executing 4 to 5 million
                 23,37 (U.S. Geological Survey 1982). FWS person-         instructions @per second; a Revolution Number
                 nel acquired both Landsat TM scenes from the             Nine 512 by'5-12 by 32-bit image board and 19-inch
                 Earth Observation Satellite Company in Lanham,           RGB graphics display monitor, an Archive V4 -inch
                 Maryland. The data were received on computer-            (60-megabyte cartridge) streaming tape backup









                                                              REGioNAL AND FEDERA"TATE CooPERAnvE PnoGRAms               153



               system; a GTCO 24- x 36-inch digitizing tablet; and     colder temperatures. This tends to lessen the scat-
               dual Maxtor 320-megabyte hard disk drives. Other        tering effect of the atmosphere on visible wave-
               peripherals were used in generating output prod-        lengths.
               ucts, including a Versatec 36-inch color electro-         Imageprocessingand analysis. After the individ-
               static plotter, Matrix Instruments digital and an-      ual channels were viewed on an image display
               alog cameras, and a Toyo thermal screen dump            device, we made decisions as to which data chan-
               11 -inch plotter.                                       nels would be used for gathering spectral cluster
                 All image analyses and GIS operations were            statistics over the images. The blue band was dis-
               conducted with the Earth Resources Laboratory           carded from both image analyses because of the
               (now the Science and Technology Laboratory) Ap-         excessive haze in the summer scene and-because it
               plications Software OMAS) developed by NASA.            did not contribute significantly to surface water
               Staff at the Waterways Experiment Station Envi-         delineation in the winter scene. After selection of
               ronmental Laboratory completed the first port Of        the proper channels, spectral cluster statistics for
               ELAS to the personal computer environment, first        the summer image were developed with both super-
               executing under the MS/DOS operating system             vised and unsupervised algorithms. Unsupervised
               and later under the UNIX operating system on the        statistics were gathered with the ELAS modules
               CLIPPER microprocessor. ELAS is a geobased in-          Normal Variation and TM M-amer. The Normal
               formation system originally designed for process-       Variation module is designed to compute the nor-
               ing and -analyzing digital imagery acquired by          mal variation of digital count data (reflectance val-
               multispectral scanners on aircraft or spacecraft,       ues from 0-255) found within selected channels of
               and data digitized fi-om maps. Digitized map data       the raster image data. Resulting parabolic coeffi-
               include polygon data digitized from thematic maps       cients for each channel are stored in an ELAS
               (e.g., soils, forest) and digitized topographic data    subfile for use by the ELAS module TM Trainer.
               such as those distributed by the National Carto-        TM Trainer uses a 3- by 3-pixel window to search
               graphic Information Center.                             the raw data for homogeneous training fields. The
                                                                       coefficients computed by Normal Variation are
               Landsat Thematic Mapper Data Classifi-                  used to model expected variations within the data.
               cation and Analysis of Results                          A 3 by 3 field in each channel is considered to be
                 The scope of the image classification and analy-      homogeneous if its variance falls below the parab-
               sis includes the procedures used to input the raw       ola for that channel (National Aeronautics and
               satellite digital image data, converting the image      Space Administration 1989). If that field is then
               data into meaningful terrestrial classes, and anal-     determined to be homogeneous in every channel, it
               ysis ofthe classified data fi-om both Landsat scenes.   is stored as one of the preliminary statistics. Once
                 Reformatting Landsat Thematic Mapper and              60 fields have been collected, the two with the
               computer compatible tape data. Raw Landsat TM           smallest-scaled distance are merged, opening one
               data were read from the tapes into the ELAS             of the temporary statistic bins for collection of an-
               operating environment by using the module Refor-        other field. Once this has happened, the process of
               mat Thematic Mapper Image Processing System,            searching for another statistic and merging the two
               The individual channels ofthe data were displayed       most similar statistics is continued throughout the
               in black and white and in true and false color-com-     remainder of the input data. Once all input data
               posite format to assess the quality of the digital      have been processed, the final processing command
               imagery. The summer scene was judged to be of           is used to merge all of the statistics that remain in
               marginal quality, as scattered clouds were present      the 60 temporary bins until no two statistics have
               throughout most of the scene and the blue and           a scaled distance less than 4.
               green bands (TM bands 1 and 2) exhibited a blur-          The supervised statistics for the summer scene
               ring effect attributed to high humidity during the      were derived from field data gathered by FWS's
               time of satellite data acquisition. The winter scene    National Wetlands Research Center Field Station
               was of relatively high quality except for a single      in Vicksburg, and FWS's Patuxent Wildlife Re-
               band of very thin, wispy, high-altitude clouds ori-     search Center. Polygons were digitized that
               ented east-west across the northern portion of the      bounded spatial locations in the data correspond-
               data. Better-quality data usually are obtained dur-     ing to known land cover types. Statistics for the
               ing the winter months (if cloud cover is absent)        pixel values within these polygons were computed
               because the humidity is normally lower during           by using the EI-AS module Supervised Training.








                    154     BiowmcAL RF.Poirr 90(18)



                    Because the analysis of the winter scene was lim-           classes, percent of area covered, and acreage calcu-
                    ited to discriminating water bodies and flooded             lations for the summer scene are presented in Table
                    areas (surface hydrology classes), we decided that          1. Classes developed, percent of area covered, and
                    unsupervised statistics-gathering methods would             acreage calculations for the winter flooding condi-
                    be the most expedient and reliable.                         tions are presented in Table 2, and habitat classes
                      We analyzed the final statistics (unsupervised            developed, percent of area covered, and acreage
                    and supervised) by comparing statistical distance           calculations for each class in the 7- by 7- matrix
                    measures. Specifically, we used the transformed             study area are presented in Table 3.
                    divergence measurements, in conjunction with vi-
                    sual display analysis, as a basis for merging or                               Discussion
                    deleting particular statistical clusters. Trans-
                    formed divergence is a saturating function of di-              We encountered considerable difficulty in pro-
                    vergence that has been demonstrated as helpful in           cessing the summer Landsat imagery. Atmo-
                    measuring the average difference between two-               spheric conditions at the time of scene capture,
                    class density functions (Swain and King 1973). We           coupled with poor crop conditions caused by a
                    also used several ELAS modules that produced                drought, made it difficult to distinguish between
                    visual representations of multivariate statistics           land cover types that should have been spectrally
                    during examination of the statistics.                       discrete. Relative humidity was excessive at the
                      After confi     i the final set of spectral cluster       time of image capture; therefore, single and mul-
                                  gurmg
                    statistics, we used a minimum distance classifica-          tiple scattering in the visible spectrum severely
                    tion algorithm to assign each digital count (pixel          diminished the quality of the three visible bands
                    reflectance value between 0 and 255) within the             (Landsat TM channels 1, 2, and 3). Because of
                    study area to one of the clusters. We used the ELAS         severe drought conditions, most field crops were
                    module Classifier Minimum Distance to obtain the            severely stressed. Only those fields that were well
                    image spectral classification for the study area.           irrigated displayed a closed canopy condition at
                      Georeferencing the Landsat images. We did geo-            the time of image acquisition.
                    metric rectification to the LJTM coordinate system             Optimal Landsat classifications are derived
                    after spectral clustering of the images to avoid any        when researchers acquire satellite and ground-
                    degradation of the computer-compatible tape data            truth data at the same time. When high-quality
                    before statistical analysis. The georeferencing
                    procedure consisted of finding easily recognizable
                    surface features (such as road intersections) on            Table 1. Summer land cover types and acreage
                    the image data that were present on the USGS                     calculations for the complete study area.
                    1:24,000-scale quadrangle maps. We obtained the                                     Summer
                    UTM coordinates of these points by manual digi-                          Land cover area calculations
                    tizing procedures, while the image data coordi-             Class    Description            Percent        Acres
                    nates (line and element values) were gathered by               1 Agriculture,                  2.7        84,173.5
                    positioning the cursor over the feature and using                  bare ground
                    EILAS module Common Display"read target"com-                   2 Water                         3.7       116,064.9
                    mand. The 100 control points were evenly distrib-              3 Forest                       13.5       419,817.8
                    uted through the entire study area. Once a rela-               4 Sand                          0.8        25,736.3
                    tion was established between the image data and                5 Cloud                         3.6       110,984.6
                    UTM coordinates, we derived a transformation                   6 Cloud shadow                  1.4        42,339.7
                    equation through using the ELAS module Com-                    7 Grass, shrub, scrub           4.0       122,754.6
                    pute Mapping Coefficients. We used the resulting               8 Water edge                    2.3        70,386.9
                                                                                   9 Agriculture, unknown          1.9        58,701.6
                    equation to transform the entire study area image            10  Agriculture,                 39.8      1,231,307.1
                    file to the LJTM coordinate projection. These pro-                 predominantly cotton
                    cedures were applied separately to the summer                11  Agriculture,                  8.1       251,987.4
                    and winter scenes.                                                 predominantly soybean
                      Merging Landsat Thematic Mapper classifica-                12  Agriculture, fallow          16.3       515,141.3
                    tions to obtain a habitat map. We constructed the            13  Agriculture, rice             1.5        48,012.9
                    final habitat map by overlaying the classified sum- Total
                    mer and winter scene spatial data files. Land cover









                                                                       REGioNAL AND FEDERm-STATE CooPERATrm RtOGRAms                    155



                   Table 2. Winter land cover types and acreage                 Table 3. Knal habitat types and acreage cal-
                        calculations for the complete study area.                   culations for the complete study area. Winter
                                                                                    and summer scene analyses are combined.
                                           Winter
                        Landsat Thematic Mapper land cover types                                  Winter and summer
                                    and area calculations                                      final habitat classification

                   Class Description              Percent         Acres         Class Percent       Description                 Acres
                     1 Nonwater                     86.9      2,693,000.8           1      93.3     Nonfl    t-d            2,889,185.5
                     2 Water                         13.1       404,408.2           2      0.3      Flooded rice                 8,269.8
                   Total                                                            3      4.7      Flooded agriculture        146,661.6
                                                                                                     (other)
                                                                                    4       1.7     Flooded forest              53,292.0

                                                                                Subtotal                                       208,223.4
                   Landsat imagery does not coincide with ground-               Total                                       3,097,409.0
                   truth data, more accurate results may require the
                   use of archive data from a previous year. Also, if
                   separation of crop types is especially important for
                   a satellite data study, crop calendars should be             These boundaries are digitized, displayed, and
                   consulted in conjunction with local weather condi-           edited on a color video monitor, converted to grid
                   tions when selecting imagery, so that spectral dif-          cell format (raster), and put into the proper coor-
                   ferences among land cover classes can be maxi-               dinate space in the GIS. Final operations are
                   mized.                                                       performed to adjust and edit data along map sheet
                                                                                boundaries in the GIS. County boundaries and
                   Yazoo Basin Wetlands Mapping                                 project river reach boundaries are also digitized
                                                                                so that retrieval of wetland locations and size
                     The WES-EL, Environmental Systems Division                 (acres) can be done by county or river reach.
                   remote-sensing applications team is involved in a
                   wetlands mapping project for the U.S. Army Corps                                  Source Data
                   of Engineers in the Vicksburg District. The objec-               The mosaics prepared for digitizing are com-
                   tive of this project is to create a georeferenced            posed of four SCS Soil Survey photo map sheets
                   digital wetlands data base for the Yazoo River               at a scale of 1:15,840 or 1:20,000, joined together.
                   basin in west-central Mississippi. The mapping's             Georeferencing procedures are accomplished with
                   being completed to aid regulatory personnel in               USGS 1:62,500-scale quadrangles. All soils data
                   addressing requirements set forth in Section 404             are rectified to the UTM coordinate system and
                   of the Clean Water Act of 1977.                              gridded at a resolution of 20 m.
                     The project area covers about 4.5 million acres
                   of predominantly agricultural land. The database             Computer Hardware and Software Assets
                   under development is a 20-county area in the
                   Yazoo River basin, a major tributary to the Mis-                 The personal computer workstation used in
                   sissippi River. The work involves the acquisition            developing the digital map data base of Yazoo
                   of Soil Conservation Service (SCS) photomosaic               River basin wetlands has an identical configura-
                   soils maps for each of the 20 counties. An exten-            tion to that previously described for waterfowl
                   sive reconnaissance of SCS soil types presented on           habitat mapping. The remote sensing applications
                   these maps was made in the field by the authors              team within WES-EL has four such workstations.
                   and staff from SCS, the U.S. Environmental Pro-              Operators of three digitizing workstations help
                   tection Agency, and Vicksburg District personnel.            complete work on 151 mosaics. The digitizing soft-
                   Soil types were categorized as hydric or nonhyd-             ware used is the commercial software package
                   ric. A consultant, who was formerly an SCS em-               from Earth Resources Data Analysis System.
                   ployee and the principal developer of the SCS                    Data-base Development Methodology
                   hydric and nonhydric: classification methodology,
                   also accompanied personnel in the field. Based on                A generalized description of the sequential steps
                   this review, the hydric or nonhydric soils bound- required to develop the digital map data base and
                   aries were traced on the photomosaic soils maps. to calculate wetland acreage follows.







                 156    BiowaicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                 1. Aggregate hychic and    nonhydrie soils on individ-     to adjust all the control points, including the two
                    ual SCS soil survey photo map sheets and as-            initial points, in the digitized file in the X and Y
                    semble the mosaics.                                     directions. These adjustments are sometimes
                 2. Select georeferencing control points on mosaics         made to get a better geometric fit of each map
                    and 1:62,500-scale USGS maps.                           sheet data set as it is gridded into the GIS master
                 3. Digitize all hydric and nonhydric soil bound-           data base. Immediately after each mosaic digi-
                    aries.                                                  tizer file is gridded, it is displayed and its spatial
                    a. Map data are digitized at any one of the three       relation to the surrounding hydric and nonhydric
                       personal computer workstations. Resulting            soils is carefully examined. Gridding of the indi-
                       digitizer files are copied onto 5.25-inch floppy     vidual mosaics into the larger digital data-base
                       disks and delivered to the data-base integra-        file is analogous to fitting very small pieces into a
                       tion administrator.                                  large puzzle. However, the gridding process is
                    b. Digitizer data files for individual maps (mo-        mathematically controlled; therefore, any offsets
                       saics) are gridded into the GIS master data-         (greater than 40 in) must be corrected by transla-
                       base file containing a UTM coordinate space          tion. The previously selected control points may
                       covering the entire project area. Some editing       be used by shifting the gridded mosaic in relation
                       may be necessary where map sheet bound-              to the average difference, in northing and easting
                       aries join because of photomosaic distortions        (UT1@D control point locations. This reduces the
                       or other cartographic irregularities encoun-         amount of editing required to fill in small data
                       tered in the data integration process.               gaps, and it allows smooth transitions for data
                 4. Wetland acreages are calculated by county and           overlaps at the edges.
                    reach and displayed on the color video monitor
                    or plotted as hard-copy maps and transparent                             Conclusions
                    USGS map overlays.
                                                                              The application of satellite digital image data
                    To date, 4 of 20 counties have been digitized and       and GIS technology is a highly effective technique
                 gridded into the GIS master data-base file. Defin-         for rapid and accurate wetlands mapping and
                 ing accurate coordinate reference points on the            analysis, especially for large inaccessible wetland
                 photomosaic map sheets is a critically important           complexes. Satellite data resources as a national
                 step before the digitizing operation. The process          asset are grossly underused for inventorying wet-
                 for selecting two diagonally opposed reference             lands and monitoring changes over time. GIS ca-
                 points begins by locating road L-Aersections or            pabilities offer tremendous advantages for quan-
                 other permanent landmarks that are readily iden-           titative analysis and visualization of spatial
                 tifiable on the mosaic map sheet and the corre-            relation that are so important to regional wet-
                 sponding 1:62,500-scale USGS quadrangle. Once              lands analyses. This ability to investigate spatial
                 these two points are located, the USGS quadran-            relations challenges scientists to exploit analyti-
                 gle is placed on the digitizing table and set up. The      cal modeling techniques for experimenting with
                 upper left and lower right map corner coordinates          new concepts that will increase the scientific
                 are read from the map in latitude and coordinates,         knowledge of wetland processes. The national
                 keyed into the computer, and related to a digitizer        goal of no net loss in wetlands provides the impe-
                 file by digitizing each corresponding reference            tus to apply these advanced technologies rou-
                 point. Next, the two specific mosaic digitizer setup       tinely and effectively in meeting or exceeding this
                 points are digitized off the USGS quadrangle *in
                 order to identify those coordinates for later use in       objective.
                 digitizing the hydric and nonhydric soil bound-
                 aries. An average of six additional control points                    Acknowledgments
                 per quadrangle also are located, and their UTM
                 coordinates are recorded. These points must be               Funding for the Mallard Wintering Habitat
                 selected at landmarks that are visible on the mo-          Study was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
                 saic map sheet. Differences are calculated be-             Service's National Wetlands Research Center.
                 tween common point coordinates from USGS                   Our work was assigned and coordinated with J. R.
                 maps and the mosaic map for the six additional             Nassar and M. W. Brown of the National Wet-
                 control points. An arithmetic average is calcu-            lands Research Center. Their cooperation and ex-
                 lated for the difference and, if necessary, is used        cellent technical support throughout the study









                                                                       RF,GioNAL AND FEDERAi-STATE CooPERATrm PRoGRAms                   157



                  was greatly appreciated. M. R. Graves, WES-EL,                technical coordination and supervision of work
                  was responsible for the Landsat image analysis,               conducted in both studies.
                  development of statistical habitat data, and pro-
                  duction of high-resolution color maps.                                           References
                     The Yazoo River Basin Wetlands Mapping
                  Task was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-               Allen, A. W. 1986. Habitat Suitability Index models:
                  neers, Vicksburg District. This work was con-                     mallard (winter habitat, lower Mississippi Valley). U.S.
                  ducted under the guidance of K. D. Parrish, the                   Fish Wildl. Serv., Biol. Rep. 82(10). 37 pp.
                  project manager of the upper Yazoo River Basin                National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 1989.
                  Project. E. J. Clairain, Jr., WES-EI!s research                   ELAS, Science and Technology Laboratory
                  team leader, and his staff were responsible for                   Applications Software, programmer reference, Vol. 1,
                  delineating wetland boundaries on maps. J. Tin-                   user manuals Vol. II and III. Report 183. John C.
                  gle of WES-EL was responsible for quality control                 Stennis Space Center, Miss.
                  of map and mosaic preparation to ensure accuracy              Swain, P H. and R C. King. 1973. Two effective feabire
                  and compliance with cartographic standards for                    selection criteria for multispectral remote sensing.
                  digitizing. J. S. Hutto, also of WES-EL, was re-                  Pages 5W--540 m Rvoeedings ofthe first international
                                                                                    joint conference on pattern recognition, IIEEE. Cat. No.
                  sponsible for generating a composite of all digi-                 73 CHO 82 1-9 C. Piscataway, N. J.
                  tized maps into a single geographic data base; she            U.S. Geological Surey. 1982. Index to Landsat worldwide
                  also was the coordinator of all computer-based                    reference systems (WRS) Landsat 1,2,3, and 4, Sheet
                  operations required to produce the final product.                 9. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
                  J. K. Stoll of WES-EL was responsible for overall                 USGS-EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, S. Dak.









                                                                     RFr,ioNAL Ai-m FMERAL-STATE CooPERAnvE PRoaRws                  159



                        The Digital Wetlands Data Base for the U.S. Great Lakes
                                                                   Shoreline



                                                                           by




                                                                  Michael Scieszka


                                                     Land and Water Management Division
                                                   Michigan Department of Natural Resources
                                                            Stevens T Mason Building
                                                                   P.O. Box 30028
                                                             Lansing, Michigan 48909



                              ABSTRACT.-Michigan has mapped and digitized a detailed land cover and land use
                              inventory. The program processes the land cover and land use files into various theme maps,
                              including a set of wetland maps. The wetlands map set is used to implement inventory and
                              public information requirements of the State's wetland protection act. The data collection
                              methodology and digital processing environment are being used by the International Joint
                              Commission to map the remainder of the United States' shoreline. I present an overview of
                              the Michigan Resource Inventory Program, how the data were collected, and how to access
                              the data.



                    The Michigan Resource Inventory Act (1979 PA              for a land cover and land use data base for the
                 204) authorized the Michigan Department of Nat-              Great Lakes shoreline. The DNR, in close cooper-
                 ural Resources (DNR) to conduct a statewide land             ation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
                 cover and land use inventory. The land cover and             (COE), was assigned the authority to acquire ae-
                 land use inventory mapped seven main catego-                 rial photography for the shoreline, interpret land
                 ries: urban land, agricultural land, openland,               cover and land use data, digitize the maps, and
                 forestland, water, wetlands, and barrens. This act           deliver various data sets for IJC use. The IJC
                 required DNR to digitize the inventory and to                intends to use this data to quantify the effects of
                 distribute the data in a format that maximizes               various shoreline and water level management
                 its use in local planning and zoning. During the             scenarios it is considering recommending to the
                 same legislative session, Michigan adopted the               governments within the Great Lakes basin.
                 Goemaere-Anderson Wetland Protection Act
                 (1979 PA 203), which required DNR to provide for                Proiect Scope and Inventory
                 the preservation, management, protection, and                                     Methods
                 use of wetlands. PA 203 also required DNR to
                 make a wetland inventory of the State, file it with             The land cover and land use inventory is a
                 local governments, and use the inventory data as             component of the      Michigan Resource Inventory
                 one of the identifiers of wetlands protected under           Program (MRIP) created by PA 204. This program:
                 the statute and administrative rules. The land
                 cover and land use inventory required through PA               0  manages and distributes the results of a
                 204 is being used to meet wetland inventory re-                   statewide 1:24,000 color-infrared aerial
                 quirements of PA 203.                                             photography flight made in 1978-79;
                    The International Joint Commission (IJQ,                    0  manages and distributes the results of a
                 through its Great Lakes Water Level Reference of                  1986-87 1:15,840 black and white infrared
                 1986 (U.S. State Department and Canadian Min-                     reflight of the northern two-thirds of
                 istry of External Affairs 1986), identified the need              Michigan, and a 1:24,000 black and white








                 160    BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



                     panchromatic flight from 1988, which                cover and land use classifications have been
                     covered the remainder of the state;                 mapped. The minimum-size mapping unit is 1.5 to
                  ï¿½  operates the Michigan Resource Information          5 acres. Our system is hierarchical to resolve ques-
                     System (MIRIS), which is the umbrella for           tions of double or multiple category classifications.
                     geographic information system (GIS)                 The system allows for further classification refme-
                     processing in Michigan. MIRIS contains a            ments to enable those users with specific needs to
                     digital base map for the State, the land cover      inventory smaller areas with greater detail and
                     and land use inventory, and, in selected            exactness.
                     areas, soils data, prime lands information,           To assist the photointerpreters, the inventory
                     and other thematic overlays (see Appendix A,        program contracted with the Michigan State Uni-
                     B, C, and D);                                       versity Center for Remote Sensing to develop a
                  ï¿½  provides mapping and GIS services to the            report entitled A Photo Interpretation Key to Mich-
                     Great Lakes research community through              igan Land Coverl Use. This report lists each cate-
                     the Great Lakes Information System. The             gory to be mapped and provides the definition and
                     geographic focus of these products is along         interpretive characteristics, such as tone and
                     the shoreline and into the Great Lakes,             color, texture, pattern, and shape. Stereo appear-
                     where DNR is encoding such information as           ance and commonly associated land cover and land
                     fish spawning sites, bathymetry, bottom             use activities were also presented when applicable.
                     sediments, sensitive shoreline features, and        An example of this report follows in a section on
                     wetlands;                                           Emergent Wetlands.
                  ï¿½  implements a statewide groundwater data                 Description:
                     base that verifies public and private water              These are areas dominated (30 percent
                     well locations and digitizes the verified               or more cover) by erect, rooted herbaceous
                     location along with the water well log to               hydrophytic plants which are growing out
                     create a data-base record containing such               of standing water or waterlogged soils.
                     information as the well's static water level,           Typical emergent plants are cattails, bul-
                     geological formation encountered, and depth;            rushes, rushes, reed grass, bur reed, arrow
                     and
                  ï¿½ provides con   Itractual servicesto public and           arum, arrowhead, pickerelweed and
                     private organizations in need of mapping and            sedges.
                     GIS services.                                            Marsh areas containing emergent types
                                                                             of aquatic plants can be differentiated
                   The land cover and land use inventory, which              from aquatic beds and open water by the
                 was completed between 1981-86, is an important              magenta hues indicative of denser vegeta-
                 component of all the activities and services pro-           tive cover and by a coarser texture. Sepa-
                 vided by the Michigan Resource Inventory Pro-               rating emergent marshes from shrub
                 gram. To-complete this inventory in an orderly and          swamp usually poses little problem be-
                 consistent manner, the Michigan Resource Inven-             cause of differences in texture and pattern,
                 tory Program established standards, a data collec-          and when viewed stereoscopically, height.
                 tion methodology, a classification system, and               Some emergent types have very distinc-
                 training and quality-control procedures.                    tive signature characteristics. For exam-
                   The land cover and land use inventory used                ple, hybrid cattail (7@ypha glauca), when
                 1978-79 aerial photography. The aerials are at a            canopy is homogenous and completely
                 scale of 1 inch to 2,000 feet (1:24,000) color-infra-       pure, is a bright green hue on CIR photog-
                 red photography. The photography mission was                raphy. A midseason shift from crimson or
                 flown between 1 June and 30 September to ensure             magenta to green for non-hybrid cattails
                 maximum leaf-on condition of trees. Sixty percent           indicates a decrease in IR reflectance asso-
                 overlap was shot for stereo viewing.                        ciated with dehydration of mesophyll de-
                   The Michigan Resource Inventory Program                   generation accompanying early senes-
                 adopted a land cover and land use classification            cence.
                 system that was designed to make the best use of             Muskrat houses may be detectable in
                 information from our aerial photography. The pro-           emergent wetlands as small, distinctive
                 gram started with the system by Anderson (1972),            white dots. Some may be ringed by a nar-
                 and expanded it to a third level. About 60 land             row dark band of water. Since cattails and








                                                               REGioNAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CooPERATivE PRoGRAms          161



                   bulrushes are the principal vegetation             rected overlay and the base were reviewed and
                   comprising muskrat habitats, the photo             corrected by the inventory program's chief cartog-
                   interpreter can be certain that one or both        rapher before digitization. In all, more than 1,100
                   plants are present.                                land cover and land use overlays were prepared
                     Reed grass varies in color from greens to        between 1981 and 1986. On the average, each
                   reds to pinks, depending indirectly upon           overlay contained 2,000 distinct land cover and
                   water quality and soil moisture. However,          land use polygons. A little more than $1 million
                   it has a characteristically smooth, velvety        were invested in the photointerpretation effort.
                   texture due to lack of leaf bending and            The 1978-79 aerial flight cost nearly $350,000.
                   large distinct heads. It is often found in            The same basic procedure is being used for IJC
                   disturbance areas (e.g., dredge spoil              work, although we did add one substantial wetland
                   deposits).                                         category called Coastal Submergents, which are
                   Interpretive Characteristics:                      defined as areas contiguous to the shorelines of the
                                                                      Great Lakes where rooted submerged aquatic
                   Color: Red, deep red-brown,     blue green,        plants are dominant.
                   dull green or mottled white patches of
                   bleached stalks (cattail, bur reed), medium            Description of Mapped and
                   red-brown, dark gray red-brown, browns,                        Digital Products
                   olive drabs, dark greens (bulrush, rush),
                   strong pink, purplish pink (pigweed,                  The land cover and land use inventory overlay
                   smartweed), pinks (sedges), light pink,            was either hand-digitized at the Michigan Re-
                   gray pink, gray blue gray, gray blue               source Inventory Program or subcontracted to dig-
                   (grasses), brilliant green blue, dark green        itizing service bureaus. The digital data are struc-
                   blue, white (dead vegetation).                     tured as line strings/text file. Each boundary line
                   Texture: Normally medium but may be                between different land cover and land use areas
                   smoother or fine if stands are pure; emer-         was digitized, and a single text per polygon area
                   gents may have a slightly granular tex-            was inserted. The internal coordinate system used
                   ture.                                              for georeferencing is the Michigan State Plane
                   Shape: Irregular.                                  Coordinate System for the State of Michigan files
                                                                      and is in latitude and longitude internal coordi-
                   Pattern: May be     concentric or banded           nates for IJC work.
                   around lake.                                          After the data were encoded, they were avail-
                   Site: Occurs in depressions in moraine, till       able in four basic forms:
                   plain and outwash and frequently borders             0 line/text file, which can be plotted in scales
                   open water in such depressions, shallow                ranging from 1 inch to 1,320 feet to 1 inch to
                   shoreline areas of lakes.                              2,000 feet. This product will contain all land
                  With the aerials and classification system, the         cover and land use including wetlands;
               photointerpreters prepared the land cover and            * digital version of the line/text file can be
               land use inventory through relatively standard             produced in Intergraph Design File Format,
               procedures. Clear sheets of acetate were placed            Standard Interchange Format, or Data
               over a photo being viewed under a stereoscope,             Exchange Format;
               Homogenous land cover and land use polygons              0 an acreage report, which quantifies land
               were delineated, interpreted, and coded. Supple-           cover and land use by governmental units, is
               mentary source materials, such as older invento-           published;and
               ries, soils data, and topographic maps, were used        0 a patterned theme map, which selectively
               when available. The acetate overlays were trans-           displays various land cover and land use
               ferred to a stable mylar overlay registered to a           polygons.
               screened mylar of the U.S. Geological Survey topo-        Appendix E shows a line/text example and a
               graphic base map. During this transfer, photo dis-     wetland theme map example. The theme maps are
               tortion was corTected by "rubber sheeting" the ac-     one of our most popular products. To generate a
               etate overlay to roads, property lines, and woodlot    theme map, we process the line,/text file through
               features on the topographic base. The final cor-       a series of routines built with IntergrapYs Spatial








                 162    BioLcGicAL REPoRT 90(18)



                 Editor/Spatial Analyst program. The routines            includes shrub and small or stunted trees. This
                 search the linEAext files, pull out the polygon         class includes both stable shrub wetlands and
                 wanted, and pattern the resultant file to highlight     areas in a successional stage leading to wooded
                 the theme.                                              wetlands. Some of the predominant species
                    To generate a wetland theme map, the follow-         include alder, dogwood, sweetgale, leatherleaf,
                 ing categories are searched for and extracted.          willow-buttonbush associations, and water
                 (Note: The following definitions are from the clas-     willow. Any standing dead trees, shrubs, and
                 sification system adopted for the Michigan Re-          stumps should be in the 612 category.
                 source Inventory Program; this system is the one        621 Aquatic Bed Wetland
                 being used for IJC effort.)                             The 621 category is used to map an area that
                 414 Lowland Hardwoods                                   generally has 300/6 or more vegetation cover of
                 Ash, elm, and soft maple, along with cottonwood,        submerged, floating-leaved or floating plants, and
                 balm of Gilead, and other lowland hardwoods.            is less than 2 m deep. Typical plant species are
                 423 Lowland Conifers                                    yellow water, lily, duckweed, and pond weeds.
                 Lowland species category, including areas           of  622 Emergent Wetlands
                 predominantly cedar, tamarack, black and white          These are wetland areas dominated (30% or more
                 spruce, and balsam fir stands.                          cover) by erect, rooted, herbaceous hydrophytic
                 51 Streams and Waterways                                plants, which are present for most of the growing
                 This category includes rivers, streams, creeks,         season in most years. These areas are usually
                 canals, drains, and other linear bodies of water.       dominated by perennial plants, although annuals
                 Where the water course is interrupted by a control      are often present too. Typical species include
                 structure that creates an impoundment, the              cattail, bulrush, sedges, reeds, wild rice,
                 impounded area should be classified as a                pickerelweed, arrowhead, and so forth.
                 reservoir. The boundary between streams and             623 Flats
                 lakes, or reservoirs, is the straight line across the   These are level or nearly level deposits of
                 mouth of the stream.                                    unconsolidated sand, mud, or organic sediments,
                 52 Lakes                                                with less than 75% aerial coverage of stones,
                 Lakes are nonlinear water bodies, excluding             boulders, or bedrock, and less than 30% aerial
                 reservoirs. A water body should be classified as a      coverage of vegetation other than pioneering
                 lake if a structure has been installed primarily to     Plants-
                 regulate or stabilize lake levels without
                 significantly increasing the water area. The                 Map Product Availability
                 delineation of a lake will be based on the areal
                 extent of water at the time the data are collected.        The Michigan Resource Inventory Program
                 53 Reservoirs                                           maps and digital data are available through three
                 Reservoirs are artificial impoundments of water,        methods. First, the program has all files in a
                 whether for irrigation, flood control, municipal or     readily retrievable form. Appendix F is a sche-
                 industrial water supply, hydroelectric power, or        matic of the overall system used to digitize, store,
                 recreation.                                             process, and output digital data for Michigan.
                                                                         People can call or write to acquire either plots or
                 611 Wooded Wetland                                      digital versions of the inventory program's data. 1
                 This class applies to wetlands dominated by trees          A second method of obtaining maps and digital
                 more than 6.1 m tall. The soil surface is seasonally    data is through the "local holders of map sets."
                 flooded with up to 30.5 cm of water. Several levels     When a county's land cover and land use base map
                 of vegetation are usually present, including trees,     and other data sets are processed, that county
                 shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Some of the pre-
                 dominant tree species include ash, elm, red maple,
                 cedar, black spruce, tamarack, and balsam fir.           A noininal fee is charged. For instance, if a user wanted a
                                                                          single quadrangle ofland coverdata, plots would cost$45 and
                 612 ShrublScrub Wetland                                  digital $60. Base maps for the same area would cost $35 for
                                                                          a plot and would cost $50 for digital. The Michigan Resource
                 This class applies to wetlands dominated by              Inventory Program is authorized to use these fees during the
                 woody vegetation less than 6 in tall. Vegetation         fiscal year to cover operating and staff costs.








                                                               RwioNAL AND FEDERmSTATE CoopiERATivE PRWRAms               163



              receives a set of mylars or a digital version of these  Resource Inventory Program and the U.S. Depart-
              data. This is required through PA 204, and it           ment of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service of
              follows the legislative intent of the program,          Michigan have jointly worked on encoding modern
              which is to assist local governments in making          soil surveys. We will continue providing the abil-
              land use decisions by providing them with accu-         ity to identify hydric soils in relation to wetlands
              rate land resource data. Counties ' also in-            and other vegetation. The Michigan Inventory
              formed that the wetlands data is to be considered       Resource Program is also working on a proposal
              as a preliminary wetland inventory of their area        to integrate SPOT Image Corporation satellite
              as required by PA 203.                                  imagery with existing land cover and land use
                Land cover and land use data can also be ob-          files to identify where land cover and land use
              tained through COE. The COE is establishing GIS         changes are occurring. This imagery, along with
              processing capabilities in its Detroit District of-     recent reflights, gives us the ability to update land
              fice. As part of our working relationship with
              COE, Michigan's shoreline land cover and land           cover and land use date for Michigan.
              use files, and the remainder of the U.S. shoreline
              files we are developing for IJC, will be delivered
              to the COE.                                                               References

                                                                      U.S. State Department and the Canadian Ministry of
                          ]Future Activities                             External Affairs. 1986. Great Lakes water level
                                                                         reference of 1986. U.S. State Department,
                 Our staff will be focusing its future wetlands          Washington, D.C., and the Canadian Ministry of
              activities in two areas. Since 1985, the Michigan          External Affairs, Ottawa, Canada. 10 pp.









                                                                                                      REGioNAL AND FEDERMSTATE COOPERAnVE PRWRAMS                                                    165



                                            Appendix A. Current Use Inventory Status Map of
                                                                      Bangor Township, Bay County


                                                                                                                         MAP I

                                                              KEWEENA                      CURRENT USE INVENTORY STATUS




                              ONTONAGON                                       2

                                            BIC                                                                                 LUCE
                                                          2     ï¿½tjjjOICKINSON 11               ALGER                         MACKINAC               HIPPEWA
                                                                                                CELIA          SCHOOLCRAFT
                                                                                                    2




                                                                             MENOMINEE                                                               MME
                                                                                                                                                     F  CHEBOYGAN     PRESGUE ISLE
                                                                                                                                            HARLEVO X
                                                                                                                                            F 2                        2            2
                                                                                                                                                         F           F            F
                                                                                                                                                                   MON -
                                                                                                                                            ANT IM    OTSEGO      MORENCY      ALPENA
                                            DELIVERED TO COUNTY (40)                                                 LEELANAU
                                                                                                                               2                        F  2       (n             F 2
                                                                                                                              ORAN
                                            PATTERNED MAPS                                                         BENZIE    RAVER          KALKASKA CRAWFORD      OSCOCA       ALCONA
                                                                                                                    2                                    1
                                            LINE & TEXT MAPS                                                     MANISTEE    WEXFORD        HISSAUKEE ROSCC       OGEMAW      10SCO

                                                                                                                                                                      ARENAC
                                            DETAILED FOREST INVENTORY.                                                   (D                          I         I
                                            CURRENT USE DATA IS AVAILA                                       MASON       LAKE        OSCEOLA         CLARE   ADW IN                             Rim
                                            AND IS BEING READIED FOR                            BLE     ER I Ef                                      1         2
                                            DELIVERY TO COUNTIES,                                       k46CE;@@                    MECOSTA     SABELLA     MIDLAND       BAY
                                            CHECK WITH MIRIS REGARDING
                                            STATUS AND COPIES.                                                   I       NEWAYOO                                                   TUSCOL
                                                                                                                                            CN7CALM   GRATIOT                   NESEE                  SANILAC
                                                                                                                                            m                                                2         ST CLAIR

                                                                                                                                                                                             APEER
                                                                                                                                                                                                    MACOMB
                                                                                                                    I AWA        N          IONIA
                                                                                                                                                                I            I            I            I
                         NOTE: DIGITAL COPIES OF                                                                    ALLEGAN           BARRY          -EATON   INGHAM      VING,         OAKLAND
                                    CURRENT USE MAPS                   CAN BE OBTAINED                                                                         I               I             I
                                     FROM MIRIS,SEE PRICE INFORMATION                                           VAN      N KAL AZOO         CALHOUN                       WAS            WAYNE
                                     AT THE BACK OF THIS CATALOG.                                                                                                                      2
                                                                 MARCH 1990                                                 ST JOSEPH       BRANCH        SOAL        ENAVEE      MONRO








                          166       BIOLOGicAL REPoRT W18)


                          EXAMPLE PATTERNED MAP

                                              V, .2                                                                          PATTERNED MAPS ARE PRODUCED BY
                                                                                                                             SELECTIVELY RETRIEVING FROM LINE &
                                                                                                                             TEXT FILES SPECIFIC THEMES.
                                                                                                                             THE EXAMPLE MAP IS A WETLAND THEME
                                                                                                                             MAP PLOTTED ON THE BASE FEATURES.
                                                                                                                             OTHER THEMES INCLUDE URBAN, AGRICULTURE
                                                                                                                             AND OPEN. FORESTLAND, AND EXTRACTIVE.
                                                                     6@

                                                                                                                                        LEGEND
                                                                                                                                         LOWLAND HARDWOOD
                                            FRI                                                                                          (414,611)
                                                                                                                                         SHRUB WETLAND
                                                                                                                                         1612)
                                                                                                                                     EMEMERGENT WETLAND
                                                                                                                                         (622)
                                                                                                                                         AOUATIC BED
                                                                                                                                         (623)


                            EXAMPLE             LINE         &    TEXT MAP


                            113          5 41         m                                                                 LINE & TEXT MAPS REPRODUCE THE
                                                      13 24                                                             ORIGINAL PHOTO INTERPRETATION.
                               7                               3            Iq3                                         THE MAPS CONTAIN THE CLASSIFICATIONS
                             612         414       612  13    414                  146                                  LISTED ON THE LEGEND BELOW.
                             113                      31     146   113      5
                                   32       31  113        126              414      115         113
                                                    31 126                             126
                              nr            113                  412    31  414                                        CURRENT LAND CCIVER/USE LEGEND
                                                      31   113                                        URBAN                                                  NONFORESTED
                                                                                                       11 RESIDENTIAL                                        31 HERBACEOUS
                                     11                                                                     Ill MULTI-FAMILY.HIGH RISE                       32 SHRUB
                            412                414           414          32                                112 MULTI-FAMILY.LOW RISE
                                                                                                            113 SINGLE FAM LY.OUPLEX                         FORESTED
                                                      21                                                    115 MOBILE HOME PARK                             41   DECIDUOUS
                                                                                                                                                                  411 NORTHERN HARDWOOD
                                         14                                                            12   COMMERCIAL. SERVICES. INSTITUTIONAL                   412 CENTRAL HARDWOOD
                                                           32                                               121 PRIMARY/CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT                 413 ASPEN/WHI7E BIRCH
                                                      113                                                   122 SHOPPING CENTER/MALL                              414 LOWLAND HARDWOOD
                                                                                                            124 SECONDARY BUSINESS/STRIP COMMERCIAL          42   CONIFEROUS
                                                           3                                                126 INSTITUTIONAL                                     421 PINE
                                                                                                       13   INDUSTRIAL                                            422 OTHER UPLAND CONIFER
                                                                                                            1318 INDUSTRIAL PARK                                  423 LOWLAND CONIFER
                           EXAMPLES ARE FROM A SMALL PART OF                                           14   TRANSPORTATION, COMMUNICATIONS. UTILITIES             429 CHRISTMAS TREE
                                                                                                            141 AIR TRANSPORTATION                           WATER
                                                                                                            142 RAIL TRANSPORTATION
                                                                                                            1                                                51 STREAM
                                    BANGOR TOWNSHIP,BAY COUNTY                                              43  WATER TRANSPORTATION                         52 LAKE
                                                                                                            144 ROAD TRANSPORTATION                          53 RESERVOIR
                                                        MILES                                               145 COMMUNICATIONS                               54   GREAT LAKES
                                                                                                            146 UTILITIES                                    WETLANDS
                         0               0.5               1                                2          17   EXTRACTIVE                                       61   FORESTED
                                                                                                            171 OPEN PIT                                          611 WOODED
                                                                                                            172 UNDERGROUND                                       612 SHRUB. SCRUB
                                                                                                            173 WELLS                                        62   NONFORESTED
                                                                                                       19   OPEN LANO,OTHIER                                      621 AGUATIC BED
                       SOURCE. 1978-79 1:24,000 COLOR-INFRAR@D                                              193 OUTDOOR RECREATION                                S22 EMERGENT
                                                                                                            194 CEMETERIES                                        Q3 FLATS
                       PHOTOGRAPHY ILIVINGSTON, MACOMB, ST.CLAIRI                                      AGRICULTURE                                           BARREN
                                                                                                       21 CROPLAND                                           72 BEACH. RIVERBANK
                      WASHTENAW AND WAYNE COUNTIES HAVE BEEN                                           22 ORCHARDS                                           73 SAND DUNE
                                                                                                       23 CONFINED    FEEDING                                74   EXPOSED ROCK
                                            UPDATED TO 1985)                                           24   PERMANENT PASTURE
                                                                                                       29   OTHER







                                                                                                             REGioNAL AND F@' DERMSTATE COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS                                                      167


                          Appendix B. Base Map Status by County and Example Base Map
                                                                       for Bangor Township, Bay County



                                                                                            4=1
                                                                          KEWEEMAW



                                                             HOUGHTON




                                        ONTONAGON                     BARAGA                2

                                                                                                                                                LUCE
                                                                                                                                              MACKINAC            CHIPPEWA


                                                                                                                                    CRAFT







                                                                                          MENOMINEE
                                                                                                                                                                  MME
                                                                                                                                                                          CHEBOYGAN     PRESOLIE ISLE
                                                                                                                                0Q                                   IX
                                                                                                                                                          ANTRIM        0 sg          MONT.
                                                                                                                                                                               I      MOREb[C
                                                                                                                                     LEEL0"
                                                                                                                                                2                         2                           2
                                                                                                                                              CRAND
                                            BASE MAP DELIVERED TO COUNTY;                                                          BENZIE   TRA@ERS@     KALKASKA         WFORD       OSCODA         COMA
                                            ALSO AVAILABLE THROUGH MIRIS                                                           2                                       1
                                                                                                                               MANIST E      WEXFORD     MISSkJKEE    ROSCOMM         OrEMAW   I JOSCO
                                             1'=4000- SCALE MAPS                                                                                                     I                   AREMAC
                                             1'=2000' SCALE MAPS                                                            MASON        LAKE        OSCEOLA        L                 W N
                                                                                                                                                                     1           2                                  HLRON
                                            AVAILABLE THROUGH MIRIS                                                        OCEANA                    MECOSTA    ISABELLA        IDLAN        SAY
                                            BASE MAPS COMPLETED AND


                                                                                                                                         NEW TOO
                                                                                                                                                                                                      TUSCOLA
                                                                                                                                                           MONTCALM     GRATIOT       SAGINAW     OEWSEE                   SANILAC
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 2               LAI
                               NOTE;        DIGITAL COPIES OF                                                                        1                                     2                                    LAPEER
                                            BASE MAPS CAN BE OBTAINED                                                             0 TAW         KENT         IONIA       CLINTON      IAWASSEE                            ACOMB
                                            FROM MIRIS, SEE PRICE INFORMATION                                                                                                         2         1              1           1
                                            AT THE BACK OF THIS CATALOG.                                                            ALLEGAN           13ARRY @ EATON                         Ivi  T         OAKLAND
                                                                                                                                                                                      I           I             I

                                                                                                                                    SWUREN KALAMAZOO         CALM"                            VASHTENA       WAY



                                                                                  MARCH 1990                       BERRIEN                      JOSEPH       BRANCH
                                                                                                                                                                                        LE14AWEE      No







                168   BioLoGicAL RFPoRT 90(18)




                                                                                     INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS

                                                                                     U.S. HIGHWAYS

                                                                                     STATE HIGHWAYS

                                                                                     COUNTY ROADS

                                                                                     MINOR AND LOCAL ROADS

                                                                       ------------- TWO-TRACK ROADS
                       19                                                            AIRPORTS

                                                                                     GRASS AIRSTRIPS

                                                                                     RAILROADS
                 t                                                                   ABANDONDED RAILROADS
                                                                                     RIVERS, STREAMS,
                                                                                      AND LAKES
                           30                                                        DRAINS AND INTERMITTENT
                                                                                       STREAMS

                                                                                     TRANSMISSION LINES
                   BEAVERI                                                           OIL AND GAS PIPELINES

                                                                                     POLITICAL BOUNDARIES
                   ?                                                                 SECTION LINES
                                                                           +         SECTION CORNERS
                            31              32
                                     -A5N,R5E                   3
                                        I 80YISCOUT RD.             Z IMMER



                          W,4VLjV
                                                                 4
                                              5
                                                                   m





                                                         WHEELER RD.
                                                                              - ---------




                          7                                      9                   10
                                              8
                                                                                                        It


                                     r-1                                 RDA
                                   _j                                                                -------

                                                        MILES

                                              0,5        1                   2
                               SOURCE: USGS     TOPOGRAPHIC BASE MAP          SERIES









                                                                                 REGIONAL AND FEDERAL-STATE CoopEmnw PRoGRAms                             169



                       Appendix C. Michigan Resource Information System (MIRIS)
                       and Great Lakes Information System (GLIS) Summary Status
                                                               of Digital Map Products


                                                                              CHART I
                                                MICHIGAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM                       RM
                                                GREAT LAKES INFORMATION SYSTEM Ob
                                                SUMMARY STATUS OF DIGITAL MAP PRODUCTS








                                                COUNTY
                                                ALCONA             9000          101                              ALeONA
                                                ALGER                 0.0        1 1          0               0   ALGER
                                                ALLEGAN               0          INIII                00      0   ALLEGAN
                                                ALPENA             9000          101 1                            ALPENA
                                                ANTRIM             goo           I I 1   0         --0        0   ANTRIM
                                                ARENAC             -00,z,        INI 1v            XOOO           ARENAC
                                                BARAGA             goo           I 1 1        K                   BARAGA
                                                BARRY                 0          INI I
                                                BAY                   0 0 C7     INI I'v              000         BAY
                                                                      0
                                                BENZIE                00                              1 101 101   BENZIE
                                                BERRIEN            -0                                         10  BERRIEN
                                                BRANCH             - 2
                                                CALHOUN            -
                                                CASS               29200
                                                CHARLEVOIX         2920             11   10               0   0   CHARLEVOIX
                                                CHEBOYGAN             00                              1 1 1 J-j   CHEBOYGAN
                                                CHIPPEWA           -2 0                                       101 CHIPPEWA
                                                CLARE                 2 0
                                                CLINTON               0000               0
                                                CRAWFORD           -- 0 0 101010
                                                                      0
                                                DELTA              -- 0 0 010101         .0   10,                 DELTA
                                                DICKINSON          9220 101 F            10   0
                                                EATON              -00                   0
                                                EMMET              goo        o                                   EMMET
                                                GENESEE               o U
                                                GLADWIN            9du
                                                GOCEBIC            9-00       1 1 1 1    1                        GOGEBic
                                                GRAND TRAVERSE     92 0 0101 1 101                 1 1 101 1      GRAND TRAVERSE
                                                GRATIOT            -22           IN I
                                                HILLSDALE          X22           1   1
                                                HOUGHTON           moo                        @5                  HOUGHTON
                                                HURON                 @5 -V -IC7    +,v            1XI010101      HURON
                                                INGHAM             -00           IN ..I-oo
                                                IONIA                 0          -REF-1
                                                10SCO              -auvl IN IvI                                   IOSCO
                                                IRON               9 0 0 0 101- 1             10,
                                                ISABELLA           922-INEE-1:
                                                JACKSON            9             INIJ -1
                                                KALAMAZOO             0          INF7 -E
                                                KALKASKA              00         1 1 I-A
                                                KENT '             000 @5 -0,

                                                           0COMPLETE
                                                           PARTIAL OR IN PRODUCTION
                                                                            0
                                                                                 INL I -J-
                                                                            0
                                                                                         too









                                                           14 NOT APPLICABLE
                                                           9MAPS DISTRIBUTED TO COUNTIES

                                                                                                 NOVEMBER 1989








                      170      BiowmcAL REPoyrr W18)


                          Appendix D. Michigan Resource Information System (MIRIS)
                       and Great Lakes Information System (GLIS) Summary Status of
                                                                      Digital Map Products


                                                                                 CHART 2

                                                      MICHIGAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM
                                                      GREAT LAKES INFORMATION SYSTEM                       0&ft
                                                      SUMMARY STATUS OF DIGITAL MAP PRODUCTS,








                                                      COUNTY
                                                      KEWEENAW              10101 1    1 1           0                0 KEWEENAW
                                                      LAKE                  0101 1     INI
                                                      LAPEER             9 0101010INI
                                                      LEELANAU              010i    I I I                                 LEELANAU
                                                      LENAWEE               0 0
                                                      LIVINGSTON         X 010i     I  INI     - - -
                                                      LUCE               -001             1          0            --0     LUCE
                                                      MACKINAC              001           1          0              - 0   MACKINAC
                                                      MACOMB             X00                                    - - - MACOMB
                                                      MANISTEE           X -q 2 @q 2 -                          0         MANISTEE
                                                      MARQUETTE          X000                        0                    MARQUETTE
                                                      MASON              -00                                 10-61 101    MASON
                                                      MECOSTA               22-
                                                      MENOMINEE             0 'z'                    0                    MENOMINEE
                                                      MIDLAND            X 0 01010 N,
                                                      MISSAUKEE             001     1     1
                                                      MONROE             X001       I  NI                    01 1 1 1     MONROE
                                                      MONTCALM              0 1     1  INI
                                                      MONTMORENCY        X 0 01     1  1 1
                                                      MUSKEGON              0 01    1  141     - - -       r      1 101   MUSKEGON
                                                      NEWAYGO               0
                                                      OAKLAND            X00           NI
                                                      OCEANA                00                                  101 101   OCEANA
                                                      OGEMAW                6-@5--u
                                                      ONTONAGON             0 0           1          10,                  ONTONAGON
                                                      OSCEOLA               0,
                                                      OSCODA                001     1
                                                      OTSEGO             900101        0100
                                                      OTTAWA                001     1  INI                                OTTAWA
                                                      PRESQUE    ISLE    -001       1  1 1     - - -                      PRESQUE ISLE
                                                      ROSCOMMON             0 0
                                                      SAGINAW            -001       1  INI
                                                      SANILAC               0 1     1  INI                 I I I T-Tj     SANILAC
                                                      SCHOOLCRAFT           001     1  1 1                                SCHOOLCRAFT
                                                      SHIAWASSEE            001     1  ItAl
                                                      ST. CLAIR          9 0 01':'1    INI                                ST. CLAIR
                                                      ST.JOSEPH          -0      1  1  INI
                                                      TUSCOLA                  0                                          TUSCOLA
                                                      VAN BUREN                2                   0-      F-F0101 10     VAN BUREN
                                                      WASHTENAW          9     0                   0
                                                      WAYNE              9     0                                          WAYNE
                                                                            0
                                                                            0
                                                                            0
                                                                            0
                                                      WEXFORD               -5 -5

                                                            0    COMPLETE
                                                            -v   PARTIAL OR IN PRODUCTION
                                                            N    NOT APPLICABLE
                                                                 MAPS DISTRIBUTED TO COUNTIES

                                                                                                       NOVEMBER 1989








                                                                                                       REGioNAL AND FEDERAL-STATE Coopmmw PRoGRAms                                                 171


                           Appendix E. Example of a Patterned Map and Example of a Line
                                                  and Text Map of Bangor Township, Bay County


                                                                                              MAP 3

                                EXAMPLE PATTERNED MAP


                                                                                                                                    PATTERNED MAPS ARE PRODUCED BY
                                                                                                                                    SELECTIVELY RETRIEVING FROM LINE &
                                                                                                                                    TEXT FILES SPECIFIC THEMES.
                                                                                                                                    THE EXAMPLE MAP IS A WETLAND THEME
                                                                                                                                    MAP PLOTTED ON THE BASE FEATURES.
                                                     "Irk-                        'umm                                              OTHER THEMES INCLUDE URBAN, AGRICULTURE
                                                                                                                                    AND, OPEN, FORESTLAND, AND EXTRACTIVE,



                                                                                                                                               UEGEND
                                                                                                                                             M LOWLAND HARDWOOD
                                                                                                                                                (414,611)
                                                                                                                                             0 SHRUB WETLAND
                                                                                                                                                (612)
                                                                                                                                             MEMERGENT WETLANO
                                                                                                                                                (622)
                                                                                                                                             MAOUATIC BED
                                                                                                                                                (623)


                                   EXAMPLE            LINE         & TEXT MAP


                                   1              41       193
                                                                                                                               LINE & TEXT MAPS REPROOUCE THE
                                                         113 121                                                               ORIGINAL PHOTO INTERPRETATION.
                                                                      32
                                                414                               193                                          THE MAPS CONTAIN THE CLASSIFICATIONS
                                   612                  612          414                  146                                  LISTED ON THE LEGEND BELOW.
                                   113                      31     146   113      5
                                         32           113        12                          115       113
                                                  31     31 126              1 ."
                                                                                              126

                                                                       412        414
                                                  113       31                31                                             CURRENT LAND COVER/USE LEGEND
                                                                113                                          URBAN                                                    NONFORESTED
                                                                                                                It RESIDENTIAL                                        31 HERB C GUS
                                                                                                                    @@t, MULTI-FAMILY.HIOH RISE                       2  S RABE
                                                                                                                            M                                         3  H U
                                                    414             414         32                                          ULTI-FAMILY.LDW RISE                      FORESTED
                                                                                                                    @:3     SINGLE FAMILY.OUPLEX                      41 DECIDUOUS
                                             414          211                                                       5       MOBILE HOME PARK                             411 NORTHERN HARDWOOD
                                                                 32                                             12  COMMERCIAL. SERV ICES, INSTITUTIONAL                 412 CENTRAL HARDWOOD
                                                           113                                                      121 PRIMARY/CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT                413 ASPEN/WHITE BIRCH
                                                                                                                    @22 S"OPPING CENTER/MALL                             414 LOWLAND HARDWOOD
                                                                                                                    24 SECONDARY BUSINESS/STRIP COMMERCIAL            42 CONIFEROUS
                                                               31                                                   126     INSTITUTIONAL                                421 PINE
                                                                                                                13  INDUSTRIAL                                           422 OTHER UPLAND CONIFER
                                                                                                                    138     INDUSTRIAL PARK                              423 LOWLAND CONIFER
                                                                                                                14  TRANSPORTATION. COMMUNICATIONS, UTILITIES            429 CHRISTMAS TREE
                                                                                                                    141     AIR TRANSPORTATION                        WATER
                                                                                                                    @42     RAIL TRANSPORTATION                       51, STREA
                                                                                                                    43      WATER TRANSPORTATION                      5  LA EM
                                                                                                                    144     R AD TRANS ORTATION                             SERVOIR
                                EXAMPLES ARE FROM A SMALL PART OF                                                                                                     54 OR '
                                                                                                                    45      COOMMUN[CATFIGNS                          53 REEAT LAKES
                                                                                                                    146 RUTILITIES                                    WETLANDS
                                                                                                                17  EXT AC  IVE                                       61 FORESTED
                                         BANGOR TOWNSHIP,BAY COUNTY                                                 @721 OPEN PIT                                        611 WOODED
                                                                                                                    7       UNDERGROUND                                  612 SHRUB. SCRUB
                                                              MILES                                                 173     WELLS                                     62 NONFORESTED
                                                                                                                    PEN LAND,OTHER                                       621 AQUATIC BED
                                                                                                                19  0
                              0                0.5               1                                2                 ;q3     OUTDOOR RECREATION                           622 EMERGENT
                                                                                                                    94      CEMETERIES                                   623 FLATS
                                                                                                                AGRICULTURE
                                                                                                                2
                                                                                                                1                                                     BARREt
                                                                                                                    CR OPLAND                                         2 BEACH, RIVERBANK
                                                                                                                    0 C                                               7
                                                                                                                22  CR HARDS                                          73 SAND DUNE
                                                                                                                23  ONFINED FEEDING                                   74 EXPOSED ROCK
                                                                                                                24  PERMANENT PASTURE
                                                                                                                21  OTHER








                         172       BioLa,=AL REPoRT W18)



                                        Appendix F. Michigan Resource Information System
                                                                              (MIRIS) Configuration






                                                                                                       DIAGRAM 3

                                                                                            MIRIS SYSTEM CONFIGURATION





                                                                                              7717-@   68K BW
                                                                                                                                                 I&NTYL COrTY
                                                                                                       68K COLOR                    SON VTAYL S     IVA    W RK
                                                                                                       68K COLOR                                                    4129 USER WORK
                                                                                  MID                                                                              3@ A
                                                                       INTERPRO                        220 120 MG HD
                                                                          340    1:1
                                                                     120   G HD--                      340 120 IAG HD     WILD 32C                                                UCM,GPPU,LIB
                                                                                                                          80 MG HD                                           ZFI
                                   748                                                        ElEl     340 20 MG HD                                                        559MG
                                                                                               MUX                                                                      _f@@ SYSTEM
                                   ETC               VAX 11/785                                            ETHERNET                            INTERGRAPH 250                 ..
                                                                                                                                                16MB MEMORY                               TAPEI
                                                        Y TEM A
                                      965
                                      ETC                                                                                                      SPAN/SPED/DMRS
                                                                                                                                                      IGDS                                TAPE2
                                                                                                       T
                                                                                                       ,@F@l L@E
                                                                                           VT
                                                                                                    "VE
                                                                                                E      @M 0' RIH-D               GPPU
                                                                               MOOT                                              r3
                                                                              PLANNING                                       VT VT VT         v
                                                                                                                                                     GEOLOGICAL    PUBLIC
                                         USER COMMANDS.                                                                      LWM 2ND FLOOR             SURVEY      HEALTH
                                       LIBRARIES.FONTS,ETC                                                                   68K BW

                                                                                                                             REAL ESTATE DIV.
                                                                                                                  990        68K BW
                                                                                                                                G
                                                                                                                             4VT@@









                                                                                                     APPENDix    173



               Appendix. Habitat Loss and Modification
               Working Group


               Co-chairs:           John D. Buffington
                                    Region 8, Research and Development
                                    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
                                    U.S. Department of the Interior
                                    1849 C Street, N.W., Room 3245
                                    Washington, D.C. 20240

                                    Ford A. Cross
                                    Beaufort Laboratory, Southeast Fisheries Center
                                    National Marine Fisheries Service
                                    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                    Beaufort, North Carolina 28516-9722

               Coordinator:         Sari J. Kiraly
                                    National Ocean Pollution Program Office, CSIOP
                                    Office of the Chief Scientist
                                    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                                    Universal Building, Room 625
                                    1825 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
                                    Washington, D.C. 20235

               Franklin S. Baxter
               National Mapping Division
               U.S. Geological Survey
               590 National Center
               Reston, Virginia 22097

               John W. Bellinger
               Office of Environmental Policy, CECW-RE
               U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers
               20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
               Washington, D.C. 20314-1000

               Virginia Carter
               Water Resources Division
               U.S. Geological Service
               430 National Center
               Reston, Virginia 22092


               Don W. Field
               Ocean Assessments Division
               National Ocean Service, N/OMA31
               National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
               6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 305
               Rockville, Maryland 20852







              174    BIOLOGICAL REPORT 90(18)



              Robert Middleton
              Branch of Environmental Operations
              Mineral Management Service
              U.S. Department of the Interior
              Mail Stop 644
              381 Elden Street
              Herndon, Virginia 22070

              Dorene Robb
              Office of Wetlands Protection
              U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
              A-104F
              401 M. Street, S.W.
              Washington, D.C. 20460

              Michael Slimak and Steve Cordle
              Office of Environmental Processes and
                Effects Research
              U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
              RD-682
              West Tower, Room 609
              401 M. Street, S.W.
              Washington D.C. 20460

              John Sutherland
              Office of Oceanic Research Progr s
              National Sea Grant College Program
              Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
              National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
              1335 East West Highway, Room 5226
              Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

              Billy M. Teels
              Soil Conservation Service
              U.S. Department of Agriculture
              South Agriculture Building, Room 6144
              P.O. Box 2890
              Washington D.C. 20013

              Bill 0. Wilen
              National Wetlands Inventory
              U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
              400-ARLSQ
              U.S. Department of the Interior
              18th and C Street, N.W.
              Washington D.C. 20240












                    Kiraly, SariJ., Ford A. Cross, andJohnD. Buffington. 1990. Federal Coastal                                 Kiraly, SariJ., Ford A. Cross, andJohnD. Buffington. 1990. Federal Coastal
                        Wetland Mapping Programs. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., BioL Rep. 90(18).                                        Wetland Mapping Programs. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., MOL Rep. 90(18).
                        174 pp.                                                                                                    174 pp.

                        A workshop was held in December 1989 to examine the Federal effort in                                      A workshop was held in December 1989 to examine the Federal effort in
                    mapping the Nation@s coastal wetlands. The workshop took place at the U                         . S.       mapping the Nation@s coastal wetlands. The workshop took place at the U.S.
                    Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Research Center in Slidell,                                  Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Research Center in Slidell,
                    Louisiana. The papers presented at the workshop and recommendations for                                    Louisiana. The papers presented at the workshop and recommendations for
                    improving the Federal effort are contained in this report.                                                 improving the Federal effort are contained in this report.

                    Key words: Coastal wetlands mapping, mapping programs, wetlands.                                           Key words: Coastal wetlands mapping, mapping programs, wetlands.














                    Kiraly, Sari J., Ford A. Cross, and John D. Buffington. 1990. Federal Coastal Wettand Mapping              Kiraly, Sari J., Ford A. Cross, and John D. Buffington. 1990. Federal Coastal Wetland Mapping
                        Programs. U.S. Fish Wildl. Sem, M. RepL 90(18).174 pp.                                                     Programs. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Biol. Rep. 90(18).174 pp.

                        A workshop was held in December 1989 to examine the Federal effort in mapping the Nation's                 A workshop was held in December 1989 to examine the Federal effort in mapping the Nation's
                    coastal wetlands. Ile workshop took place atthe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands         coastal wetlands. The workshop took place atthe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands
                    Research Centerin Slidell, Louisiana. The papers presented atthe workshop and recommendations              Research Center in S lidell, Louisiana. The papers presented at the workshop and recommendations
                    for improving the Federal effort are contained in this reporL                                              for improving the Federal effort are contained in this report.

                    Key words. Coastal wetlands mappmg, mapping programs, wetlands.                                            Key words: Coastal wetlands mapping, mapping programs, wetlands.





















































































               NOTE: The mention of trade names does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the Federal Government.
























                                                   TAKE PRIDE
                                 rt T o'Fr                  in America
                                                                                                         SFXWCE


                           6                     U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
                                                       FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE



                                  As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has
                               responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources.
                               This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources, protecting
                               our fish and wildlife, and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor
                               recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works
                               to assure that their development-is- in- the -best-interests of all our people. The
                               Departmnet also has a major                                        hdian reservation
                               communities and for people who    , 11111111111               11111 S. administration.
                                                                     3 E668 00001 8103