Mapping Coastal Information across Canada's Northern Regions Based on Low-Altitude Helicopter Videography in Support of Environmental Emergency Preparedness Efforts

Abstract

Wynja, V.; Demers, A.-M.; Laforest, S.; Lacelle, M.; Pasher, J.; Duffe, J.; Chaudhary, B.; Wang, H., and Giles, T., 2015. Mapping coastal information across Canada's northern regions based on low-altitude helicopter videography in support of environmental emergency preparedness efforts. Journal of Coastal Research, 31(2), 276-290. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.In the face of increasing economic opportunities in Canada's northern regions, the need to improve our state of preparedness for oil spill-related emergencies is critical. While significant efforts have been put toward documenting baseline coastal information across Canada's southern regions, there is a large information gap regarding Arctic shorelines. Baseline coastal information, such as shoreline form, substrate, and vegetation type, is required for prioritizing operations, coordinating onsite spill response activities (i.e. Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique [SCAT]), and providing information for wildlife and ecosystem management. Georeferenced high-definition videography was collected during the summers of 2010 to 2012 along coastlines within six study sites across the Canadian Arctic. Detailed information describing the upper intertidal, supratidal, and backshore zones was extracted from the video and entered into a geospatial database using a data collection form. This information was used to delimit and map alongshore segments in the upper intertidal zone. Almost 15,000 km of northern shorelines were mapped, including 25 shoreline types based on the upper intertidal zone. This information will feed into a larger ongoing project focused on Arctic coastal ecosystems and oil spill response planning should the need arise.

Assessing the Potential to Operationalize Shoreline Sensitivity Mapping: Classifying Multiple Wide Fine Quadrature Polarized RADARSAT-2 and Landsat 5 Scenes with a Single Random Forest Model

“…These have been adapted from the 25 land cover types currently used by Environment Canada for shoreline sensitivity mapping [8]. By combining expert knowledge from previous studies [11][12][13] with preliminary classifier results, and class-specific descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, mode, standard deviation, and range), some land covers with similar morphologies, sediments, and or vegetation types were merged to form more general classes (Table 1).…”

“…By combining expert knowledge from previous studies [11][12][13] with preliminary classifier results, and class-specific descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, mode, standard deviation, and range), some land covers with similar morphologies, sediments, and or vegetation types were merged to form more general classes (Table 1). For example, the decision was made not to differentiate between tidal flats and beaches, since analysts often confuse these features in manual shoreline mapping/segmentation [8]. Similarly, sandy materials tend to be misidentified as mud and vice versa [8].…”

“…For example, the decision was made not to differentiate between tidal flats and beaches, since analysts often confuse these features in manual shoreline mapping/segmentation [8]. Similarly, sandy materials tend to be misidentified as mud and vice versa [8]. All areas visible in the intertidal, supratidal, and backshore zones were also classified together, and no attempt was made to differentiate them from one another [13].…”

“…In the event of a marine oil spill, detailed maps of the affected area are required to inform response operations as protection strategies and cleaning techniques differ depending on the shoreline type present. Both the predominant substrate type (e.g., sand vs. pebbles) and physical form (e.g., beach vs. flat) must be indicated as this largely determines the extent to which surface permeability and exposure permit oil to persist within the natural environment, as well as the appropriate treatment strategy [7,8]. Information on the extent and location of sensitive cultural and biological resources is also required to facilitate the use of spill countermeasures, including containment booms, which can prevent further spreading.…”

“…Typically analysts fly parallel along the coast, recording videos and audio commentaries in which they describe the predominant substrate type and physical form of the lower, middle, and upper intertidal zones (land exposed at low tide and covered by water at high tide), the supratidal zone (affected only by wave action and spray), and the backshore (not affected by marine processes, but used for access and staging purposes) [9]. This information is then transferred to a Geographic Information System through the manual segmentation of a vector file (representing the land-water interface) into homogeneous units [8]. In the event of a spill this information can then be used to make real-time decisions regarding the allocation of resources and personnel; improving response efficiency, and reducing long-term impacts on the environment [10].…”