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Tidal flats from space
The objective of our research was to classify the different surface types of the tidal flat areas with satellite data in combination with ground truth measurements. Remote sensing has many advantages such as large coverage and the recording of multi-temporal data. Both are useful for monitoring conditions in near real time as well as detecting changes of the environment when analysing historical data. Tidal flats are unique ecosystems because of the water cover, which changes permanently with the tidal phase. They play an important role as a cleansing site for North Sea water, as a nursery for young fish and as a feeding ground for many bird species. They form a transitional zone between land and ocean. Traditional monitoring techniques of larger areas are limited by the factor time. This means that they are time-dependent and time-consuming. Due to the expanse of the tidal flat of nearly 10,000 km2, the variability of water cover and the variability of the sediment, remote sensing has become an indispensable technique. The whole German Wadden Sea can be detected under the same environmental conditions with only two scenes of the Landsat satellite, which has been an operational satellite system since 1972. Remote sensing data support mapping and monitoring programmes. They support the identification of proxi-parameters and indicators and fill the temporal gap between in-situ data and field measurements.
