Cynthia Berlin

Bio: Cynthia Berlin is a professor in the Department of Geography and Earth Science at UW-La Crosse. Her research focuses on identifying wetland vegetation types at the association level from satellite images and aerial photographs

Automated Feature Extraction of Land Cover for the Upper Mississippi River

An object-oriented, automated feature extraction approach to vegetation cover identification using aerial photographs for Pools 5 and 18 of the Mississippi River was examined. Feature Analyst software on the ArcGIS platform was used to classify vegetation types using true color and color infrared orthophoto mosaics. The photographs were enhanced using either LIDAR or soil survey data and the software assessed for its ability to extract the cover types. For Pool 5, digital elevation models derived from the LIDAR data were used as a base to create a DEM that was then added to the photography. Soil survey data was combined with the photography for Pool 18. The results provide an example of the applicability of the extraction method.

Vegetation identification, automated feature extraction, aerial photographs