ALPMON FINAL REPORT - ARC systems research

Contract ENV4-CT96-0359 ALPMON
Table 9: Classification results assessed by the customer in the feasibility study
Classification results Categories Comments
(1) Tree species composition and � forest: larch, alder, pure pine, mixed Region Il Fuorn
grassland type classification
conifers
� grassland types: lowland, highland, over
silicate, over carbonate
� water
� rock, gravel, soil
� sealed surface
� no data (snow)
(2) Forest crown cover classification � forest: disperse stand, middle dense Region Il Fuorn
stand, dense stand
and Val Trupchun
� grassland
� water
� rock, gravel, soil
� sealed surface
� no data (snow)
(3) NDVI grassland
(~ phytomass estimation)
� NDVI calculation of grassland Entire SNP
(4) Forest crown cover and � forest: disperse stand, middle dense Entire SNP
grassland type classification
stand, dense stand
� grassland type: disperse coverage (little
phytomass), middle dense coverage,
dense coverage (high phytomass)
� water
� rock, gravel, soil
� sealed surface
� no data (snow)
2.3.5.4 Results
The Swiss National Park has visually checked the classification results (Table 9) delivered to them in
different parts of the park and has responded positively over the use and applicability of classified
remote sensing data. The results have been implemented in the analysis of various mountain ungulate
research projects and diploma theses. The analysis of the integration of these satellite classification
results 1 and 2 (Table 9) has not been completed by our customer, as the work is still ongoing.
Furthermore, the grassland analysis (classification result 3, Table 9) has been compared with research
work based on field observations. This analysis showed that there is a significant correlation between
'short grass' vegetation, surveyed by biologists, and the NDVI values (WP12). The result of these
grassland analyses initiated further investigations to take place. The SNP voiced the need to monitor
the changes of all alpine meadows and grassland areas above the tree line for an entire season and
correlate them with point data from quarterly field surveys carried out by park rangers, who map the
spatial distribution of all mountain ungulates present in the park. Thus, classification result 3 was
further developed to classification result 4.
Classification result 4 consists of different grassland types (according to NDVI computations) and
different forest crown coverages. It was classified in a similar hierarchical manner as classification
result 3. At first, the forested area was discriminated with the Narendra-Goldberg clustering algorithm.
Then in a second step, the resulting classified forest was discriminated further into three crown cover
classes using the Maximum Likelihood method. The third phase consisted of generating a non-forest
mask with the help of the forest class. Then, all non-forest classes (grassland, water, rock, gravel, soil,
sealed surface) were ML-classified. In the following last step, a grassland mask was produced,
JR, RSDE, ALU, LMU, Seibersdorf, WSL 56