Assessment of Riverine Morphology and Habitat Regime Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in a Mediterranean Environment

The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for monitoring environmental parameters presents an increasing trend in the last few years since it comprises a low cost, rapid and high spatial resolution alternative to classic remote sensing monitoring techniques. One of the most common applications of U...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pure and applied geophysics 2018-09, Vol.175 (9), p.3247-3261
Main Authors: Dimitriou, Elias, Stavroulaki, Eleni
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic ecosystems
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Ecological monitoring
Ecosystem management
Ecosystems
Environmental factors
Environmental monitoring
Environmental parameters
Erosion
Fish
Fluvial sediments
Geomorphology
Geophysics/Geodesy
Habitat availability
Habitats
Mapping
Morphology
Photogrammetry
Remote monitoring
Remote sensing
Resolution
River beds
Riverbeds
Rivers
Sediment
Sedimentation
Soil
Soil management
Soil water
Spatial resolution
Terrain models
Unmanned aerial vehicles
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Summary:The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for monitoring environmental parameters presents an increasing trend in the last few years since it comprises a low cost, rapid and high spatial resolution alternative to classic remote sensing monitoring techniques. One of the most common applications of UAVs today is the development of Digital Terrain Models through photogrammetric processes which can then be used for geomorphological and habitat mapping. Monitoring the sedimentation regime in a riverine ecosystem, focusing on the fluvial habitat availability and changes is a necessary approach to assess water and soil management practices. The aim of the particular study is to assess the spatiotemporal erosion and deposition regime in a Mediterranean river using UAV photogrammetric riverbed measurements and apply habitat mapping, to quantify the suitability of the ecohydrologic conditions for a typical fish species. The output of this effort illustrated the highly dynamic sediment transfer conditions of the examined river which, however, maintained suitable fish habitats during the study period (06/2016 and 08/2017). Moreover, the results indicated that using UAVs to acquire spatial ecohydrologic and sediment relevant information in a very detailed resolution can be an efficient and accurate approach for managing vulnerable aquatic ecosystems.
ISSN:0033-4553
1420-9136
DOI:10.1007/s00024-018-1929-3