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Use of landsat for managing coastal ecosystems of the USVI

Batish, Sapna

Abstract Details

2006, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Environmental Science.
Over the past several decades, benthic and terrestrial ecosystems of the United States Virgin Islands have been impacted by changes in land use. The increased amounts of road and home construction have contributed to soil erosion, resulting in significant land based runoff during heavy rains. While it is well documented that excessive levels of land based sediments impact coral reefs and seagrasses negatively, the challenge remains for policy makes to enact legislation that strictly regulates land use activities throughout the watershed. The objective of this study is to determine whether Landsat may be used to demonstrate a correlation between terrestrial change and benthic habitat change for the USVI. Based on this, Landsat may provide a planning tool in management and policy decisions regarding the protection, regulation, monitoring, or in-situ data analysis of coastal regions. Five Landsat satellite images of the USVI that spanned a total of 16 years were atmospherically corrected, orthorectified and coregistered. Unsupervised classification, accuracy assessment, and change detection techniques were applied to the terrestrial and benthic habitats of each image. The changes in habitats were evaluated to determine whether a correlation could be found between the types of change observed on land and those in the benthic habitats. The data indicated a shift from live coral to dead, algae-covered coral in watersheds where development had occurred. The data were more conclusive for St. Croix than for St. Thomas and St. John, which were smaller in size and had a greater amount of cloud cover than St. Croix. It was concluded that Landsat satellite data may be used as a tool by coastal policymakers and managers in making decisions, such as identifying watersheds where financial resources should be expended for further analysis or where expenditure on strict enforcement of land use regulations may be most effective for benthic habitat protection or restoration.
Carolyn Merry (Advisor)
193 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Batish, S. (2006). Use of landsat for managing coastal ecosystems of the USVI [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1150502522

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Batish, Sapna. Use of landsat for managing coastal ecosystems of the USVI. 2006. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1150502522.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Batish, Sapna. "Use of landsat for managing coastal ecosystems of the USVI." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1150502522

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)