Object-based Class Modeling for Assessing Habitat Quality in Riparian Forests

This paper discusses conceptual elements and preliminary results of a workflow assessing habitat distribution and quality by means of object-based image analysis in a riparian forest. This follows the design of a ‘site-level’ service within the EC GMES project MS.MONINA to support the implementation of the Habitat Directive in Europe by providing dedicated EO-based services. We developed routines for (semi-) automated forest habitat delineation in the Natura 2000 site Salzach river floodplain using multi-level class modeling. Satellite data for the target level and the finer level -1 was WorldView-2 8-band multi-spectral data. We employed object feature libraries for the level -1 tree stand classification. Level +1 was created using SPOT-5 data, performing a EUNIS-3 visual interpretation. Class models were created for HabDir riparian and alluvial forest classes, by integrating both level -1 and level +1 object information.