TY  - JOUR
A1  - Luft, Laura
A1  - Neumann, Carsten
A1  - Freude, Matthias
A1  - Blaum, Niels
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
T1  - Hyperspectral modeling of ecological indicators - A new approach for monitoring former military training areas
JF  - Ecological indicators : integrating monitoring, assessment and management
N2  - Military areas are valuable habitats and refuges for rare and endangered plants and animals. We developed a new approach applying innovative methods of hyperspectral remote sensing to bridge the existing gap between remote sensing technology and the demands of the nature conservation community. Remote sensing has already proven to be a valuable monitoring instrument. However, the approaches lack the consideration of the demands of applied nature conservation which includes the legal demands of the EU Habitat Directive. Following the idea of the Vital Signs Monitoring in the USA, we identified a subset of the highest priority monitoring indicators for our study area. We analyzed continuous spectral response curves and tested the measurability of N=19 indicators on the basis of complexity levels aggregated from extensive vegetation assemblages. The spectral differentiability for the floristic as well as faunistic indicators revealed values up to 100% accuracy. We point out difficulties when it comes to distinguishing faunistic habitat requirements of several species adapted to dry open landscapes, which in this case results in OVERALL ACCURACY of 67, 87-95, and 35% in the error matrix. In summary, we provide an applicable and feasible method to facilitating monitoring military areas by hyperspectral remote sensing in the following. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW  - Ecological health
KW  - Fauna
KW  - Flora
KW  - Hyperspectral remote sensing
KW  - Military conversion
KW  - Natura 2000 monitoring
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.06.025
SN  - 1470-160X
SN  - 1872-7034
VL  - 46
SP  - 264
EP  - 285
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -