LAUSR

Acquiring detailed information on wetland plant species is critical for monitoring wetland ecosystem restoration and management. The emerging technique of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) photogrammetry has immense potential for such applications. In this study, we assessed the capacity of UAS photogrammetric products for classifying and mapping a large number of wetland plant species using contemporary Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) and machine learning methods. Our testing results in a heterogeneous coastal wetland demonstrated the benefit of centimeter-level orthoimagery and vertical products from UAS photogrammetry for mapping 17 species compared with standard aerial photography products. We achieved an overall accuracy (OA) of 71.3% and 84.8% for mapping 17 species and 10 major species, respectively. Our study suggests that UAS photogrammetry is a valuable tool for mapping wetland species composition and distribution.