REMOTE SENSING OF RIVERINE WATER BODIES

Many projects require accurate data on the extent of water bodies. Satellite remotely sensed data are often used to provide this information. However, few researchers have addressed the classification accuracy of these classifications. This project compares the accuracy of Landsat TM, MSS and SPOT HRV for mapping water bodies on the Murrumbidgee River floodplain near Wagga Wagga. These floodplain water bodies range from small natural pools of less than 0.01 ha to larger lagoons over 18 ha in size. A range of processing techniques will be used, including simple density slicing, water specific indices and multispectral classification to determine the accuracy of each technique. The results will be compared to 1:25000 colour aerial photography acquired on the same day as the Landsat data and within three days of the SPOT data.