Utilization of remote sensing in wetland management

Coastal Louisiana is a dynamic environment experiencing constant changes in the temporal and spatial distribution of habitats as a result of natural and man-influenced processes . Management of this wetland environment for selected purposes, or for maintenance of a naturally renewable resource base, requires a knowledge of the relationship between forms and processes, quantification of spatial and temporal changes, and the ability to predict future trends in relation to natural and man-manipulated processes . The first comprehensive data base for the Louisiana deltaic plain to support management efforts was obtained through construction of habitat maps for 1955/56 and 1978 (using 1:24,000 controlled, 7.5 minute, quad-centered black-and-white photo mosaics and 1: 24 ,000 uncontrolled, non-quad- centered color-infrared prints, respectively) and planimetering and tabulation of the habitat areas according to selected geographical units (state, parish, hydrologic unit , 7.5 minute quad sheet, and coastal zone ). The results of this study have been incorporated into wetland management plans for Terrebonne and St. Bernard Parishes and are serving as an impetus for management implementation throughout the Louisiana coastal zone.Conference PaperPublishedProceedings of Pecora VII Symposium; Remote Sensing: An input to geographic information systems in the 1980s, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, October 18-21, 198