Classification of mangrove forest using the vegetation index

Abstract

The basic premise of this study is based on the fact that the spectral response of leaf and canopy can provide information about the biophysical properties of vegetation to assist the differentiation and consequently mapping of the forest type. Hence, the canopy spectral response and the capabilities of various vegetation indices for vegetation mapping in Chukai, Terengganu and Pekan, Pahang were examined. Three sites that stretched along the coastal area between Chukai and Pekan that represented a large scale of mangrove areas were studied. Spectral characteristic for dominant vegetation species and the background soil were measured "in-situ" using hand-held radiometer. Fourteen existing vegetation indices which were based on the band ratios, soil-related and atmospherically corrected indices were used for the mapping of the different classes of mangrove vegetation. References data were developed using ground sampling and interpretation of 1:5,000 aerial photographs. The unsupervised classification and accuracy assessment were done based on the number of classes for each site.