Sediment grain size estimation using airborne remote sensing, field sampling, and robust statistic

Environ Monit Assess. 2011 Oct;181(1-4):431-44. doi: 10.1007/s10661-010-1839-z. Epub 2011 Jan 20.

Abstract

Remote sensing has been used since the 1980s to study parameters in relation with coastal zones. It was not until the beginning of the twenty-first century that it started to acquire imagery with good temporal and spectral resolution. This has encouraged the development of reliable imagery acquisition systems that consider remote sensing as a water management tool. Nevertheless, the spatial resolution that it provides is not adapted to carry out coastal studies. This article introduces a new methodology for estimating the most fundamental physical property of intertidal sediment, the grain size, in coastal zones. The study combines hyperspectral information (CASI-2 flight), robust statistic, and simultaneous field work (chemical and radiometric sampling), performed over Santander Bay, Spain. Field data acquisition was used to build a spectral library in order to study different atmospheric correction algorithms for CASI-2 data and to develop algorithms to estimate grain size in an estuary. Two robust estimation techniques (MVE and MCD multivariate M-estimators of location and scale) were applied to CASI-2 imagery, and the results showed that robust adjustments give acceptable and meaningful algorithms. These adjustments have given the following R(2) estimated results: 0.93 in the case of sandy loam contribution, 0.94 for the silty loam, and 0.67 for clay loam. The robust statistic is a powerful tool for large dataset.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants / analysis*
  • Air Pollution / statistics & numerical data*
  • Environmental Monitoring / methods
  • Geologic Sediments / analysis*
  • Particle Size
  • Particulate Matter / analysis*
  • Remote Sensing Technology*
  • Spain
  • Water Pollution / statistics & numerical data

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Particulate Matter