Remote sensing of successional changes in wetland vegetation as monitored during a four-year drawdown of a former cooling lake

Abstract

Multiple-season and multiple-year satellite remote sensor data were used to monitor and model wetland successional changes in Par Pond on the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, caused by the 19-ft (approximately 6 m) drawdown of the freshwater reservoir's water. The analysis of seven land-cover maps from March 14, 1992 through October 25, 1994 and ten change-detection maps derived from the remote sensor data quantitatively documented the spatial distribution of the successional changes in land cover. Polynomial equations fit to the successional land cover information may be used to predict the percent (and hectares) of spikerush, old field, and pine/hardwood vegetation present on exposed terrain at specific dates since drawdown. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.