Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #108296
Title: UTILITY OF AIRBORNE MULTISPECTRAL VIDEO IMAGERY TO IDENTIFY COVER TYPES USED BY OCELOTS

Author
item TEWES, MICHAEL - TX A&M UNIV.-KINGSVILLE
item REDEKER, ERIC - TX A&M UNIV.-KINGSVILLE
item COOK, NATHAN - TX A&M UNIV.-KINGSVILLE
item Everitt, James
item Escobar, David
item Davis, Michael

Submitted to: Workshop Color Aerial Photography & Videography in Plant Science Proceeding
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/29/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The ocelot is an endangered cat with probably less than 100 individuals remaining in the United States. The northern limit of the ocelot range is southern Texas with the only confirmed resident population in the United States occurring in this region. A study was conducted on the use of airborne multispectral video imagery for classifying and quantifying the thornshrub cover types used by ocelots in southern Texas. Study results showed that aerial videographic imagery performed well as a remote sensing technique for identifying and quantifying the extent of this cover type using computer-supervised classification images.

Technical Abstract: Research studies toward developing remote sensing techniques designed to examine the relationship of ocelot and their habitat have been initiated in the last few years. The objective of this study was to determine the utility of airborne multispectral video imagery for classifying and quantifying the thornshurb cover types used by ocelots in southern Texas. The primary cover type selected by the ocelots were mixed thornshrub communities that had better than 95% horizontal cover in the shrub layer. Aerial videographic imagery performed well in identifying and quantifying the extent of this cover type using supervised classification. However, signature files generated in one location produced unpredictive models for identifying similar ocelot cover types in other areas. Some of the incongruency was probably attributable to the difference in verifying the shrub layer from a ground position by humans compared to aerial incorporation of spectral characteristics of the tree layer with the shrub layer. Minimization of the error contribution by these factors will enable resource managers to apply this technology with enhanced efficiency.