Consistency assessment of multi-date PlanetScope imagery for seagrass percent cover mapping in different seagrass meadows

Abstract

Seagrass percent cover is a crucial and influential component of the biophysical characteristics of seagrass beds and is a key parameter for monitoring seagrass conditions. Therefore, the availability of seagrass percent cover maps greatly assists in sustainable coastal ecosystem management. This research aimed to assess the consistency of PlanetScope imagery for seagrass percent cover mapping using two study areas, namely Parang Island and Labuan Bajo, Indonesia. Assessing the consistency of the PlanetScope imagery performance in seagrass percent cover mapping helps understand the effects of variations in the image quality on its performance in monitoring changes in seagrass cover. Percent cover maps were derived using object-based image analysis (image segmentation and random forest) and pixel-based random forest algorithm. Accuracy assessment and consistency analysis were conducted on the basis of the following three approaches: overall accuracy consistency, agreement percentage and consistent pixel locations. Results show that PlanetScope images can fairly consistently map seagrass percent cover for a specific area across different dates. However, these images produced different levels of accuracy when used for mapping in seagrass meadows with various characteristics and benthic cover complexities. The mapping accuracy (OA–overall accuracy) and consistency (AP–agreement percentage) in patchy seagrass meadows (Parang Island, mean OA 18.4%–38.6%, AP 44.1%–70.3%) are different from those in continuous seagrass meadows (Labuan Bajo, OA 43.0%–56.2%, and AP 41.8%–55.8%). Moreover, PlanetScope images are consistent when used for mapping seagrasses with low and high percent covers but strive to obtain good consistency for medium percent cover due to the combination of seagrass and non-seagrass in a pixel. Furthermore, images with relatively similar image acquisition conditions (i.e., winds, aerosol optical depth, signal-to-noise ratio, and sunglint intensity) produce better consistency. The OA is related to the image acquisition conditions, whilst the AP is related to variation in these conditions. Nevertheless, PlanetScope is still the best high spatial resolution image that provides daily acquisition and is highly beneficial for various applications in tropical areas with persistent cloud coverage.