Breadcrumbs

Mapping a future for the region

23 May 2013

Map

Image analysis:Software can now identify indigenous vegetation and wetlands throughout the region.

University of Waikato geographers are pioneering the use of image analysis software to identify indigenous vegetation and wetlands throughout the region.

Dr Lars Brabyn, a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Waikato, is working with the Waikato Regional Council on a project to map the native bush and swamps throughout the region. They are aiming to use image analysis software to do the mapping from high resolution satellite photographs, rather than the painstaking process of a person mapping each image individually.

It would save both time and money to have the images analysed by computer.

Information leading decisions

Dr Brabyn says the work is aimed at providing the best information possible on landcover throughout the region.

"The regional council is working with farmers and they need good information," he says.

"It's about producing quality information so good decisions can be made."

The highly detailed information would also be helpful for landowners, Dr Brabyn says.

"They can work out where the indigenous vegetation is and what should be protected, what areas should be fenced."

More detailed analysis

The regional council collects digital images of the region every five years and Dr Brabyn says improving technology meant more detailed analysis was possible than in the past.

The latest digital images not only capture the visible light bands, red, green and blue, but also non-visible light, which Dr Brabyn says helps to better identify different types of ground cover.

"What makes it more powerful than normal is using the near infra-red band, which can't be seen with the naked eye, which helps us identify vegetation better."

"We're training the computer to identify different types of vegetation."

The images, which are sharp enough to identify individual sheep on farms, can be classified to clearly identify different features of the landscape, including pine plantations, indigenous forests, buildings, pasture and roads.


Latest stories