Image interpretation and Classification of Land Cover Change in Lake Clark and Kenai Fjords National Parks between 1954 and 2009
Project ID: P12AC15013
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
Fiscal Year: 2012
Initial Funding: $49,318
Total Funding: $49,318
Project Type: Technical Assistance
Project Disciplines: Biological
National Park: Alaska Region
Principal Investigator: Robertson, Andy
Agreement Technical Representative: Miller, Amy
Abstract: A variety of environmental drivers (e.g., climate change, human activities, successional processes) have the potential to visibly alter land cover in parks of the Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN). In Lake Clark (LACL) and Kenai Fjords (KEFJ), changes due to shallow lake drying, modification of historic wildfire regimes, increased flooding and erosion, vegetation establishment enhanced by increased disturbance and/or warming, and changes in the extent of ice and snow have already occurred, or are expected to occur over the next several decades. In addition, there are a variety of natural geomorphic processes that are creating changes in land cover within these parks and likewise could have serious management implications. These processes include subsidence, uplift, erosion and deposition, landslides, volcanic ash deposition, fire, and stream channel migration. This project is a collaborative effort between the SWAN and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota (SMUMN) to build a geographic information system (GIS) dataset using image interpretation techniques and a hierarchical land cover classification across three time periods, circa 1954, 1984, and 2009. Primary deliverables from the first phase of work will be an attributed GIS layer showing areas of change in designated areas of interest (AOIs) in LACL and KEFJ, and a technical report outlining the classification approach. The input data sources for image interpretation will be a series of digitally converted, orthorectified black and white photography for the 1950’s and color infrared photography from the 1984 Alaska High Altitude Aerial Photography program. The 2000-era interpretation will be completed from GeoEye IKONOS satellite imagery. Substantial involvement will be required by NPS in order to develop a hierarchical classification, identify land cover types that will be interpreted, validate the interpretation process, and compile a list of change analysis objectives for assessment. Pending successful completion of the scope of work described here, additional funding may be added to extend the interpretation of change to additional AOIs and/or to an entire landscape.
Deliverables: