A review of remote sensing of invasive weeds and example of the early detection of spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) and babysbreath (Gypsophila paniculata) with a hyperspectral sensor

Abstract

Remote sensing technology is a tool for detecting invasive species affecting forest, rangeland, and pasture environments. This article provides a review of the technology, and algorithms used to process remotely sensed data when detecting weeds and a working example of the detection of spotted knapweed and babysbreath with a hyperspectral sensor. Spotted knapweed and babysbreath frequently invade semiarid rangeland and irrigated pastures of the western United States. Ground surveys to identify the extent of invasive species infestations should be more efficient with the use of classified images from remotely sensed data because dispersal of an invasive plant may have occurred before the discovery or treatment of an infestation. Remote sensing data were classified to determine if infestations of spotted knapweed and babysbreath were detectable in Swan Valley near Idaho Falls, ID. Hyperspectral images at 2-m spatial resolution and 400- to 953-nm spectral resolution with 12-nm increments were used to identify locations of spotted knapweed and babysbreath. Images were classified using the spectral angle mapper (SAM) algorithm at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10° angles. Ground validation of the classified images established that 57% of known spotted knapweed infestations and 97% of known babysbreath infestations were identified through the use of hyperspectral imagery and the SAM algorithm.

Remote Distinction of A Noxious Weed (Musk Thistle: CarduusNutans) Using Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery and the Support Vector Machine Classifier

“…A wide range of sensor systems, including aerial photographs, airborne and satellite multispectral and hyperspectral images have been successfully utilized for mapping the distribution of certain species [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. A large number of investigators [37][38][39][40][41][42] have discussed the superiority of hyperspectral imaging sensors (also known imaging spectrometry), such as Airborne Imaging Spectroradiometer for Applications (AISA; Specim Inc., Oulu, Finland) over multispectral instruments, such as the Landsat Thematic Mapper.…”

“…[33,52,58,59], leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) [51,56,57], spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa Sam.) [32,48,53] and yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) [50,54,55]. Recently, a mixture of Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense L.…”

Remote sensing of ecosystem services: An opportunity for spatially explicit assessment

“…For plant species, individual species and species assemblages can be directly identified by high resolution spatial and spectral satellite sensors using land cover mapping methods (Turner et al, 2003;Lass et al, 2005). The basic method for land cover mapping is criticized because it does not directly resolve the biochemical or structural properties of vegetation, which are closely linked with taxonomic diversity.…”

Evaluating Airborne Multispectral Digital Video to Differentiate Giant Salvinia from Other Features in Northeast Texas

“…Sensors onboard airborne and satellite-borne platforms have provided remotely-sensed imagery that natural resource managers can use to detect, map, and monitor invasive plant infestations [3][4][5]. The imagery shows "a bird's eye view" of the area of interest, aiding the analyst in evaluating the infested area.…”