1 1.10 Application of estuarine and coastal classifications in marine ...

During the last 50 years, development has increased dramatically along Barnegat Bay, a
shallow, lagoon-type estuary located on the coast of central New Jersey. The bay and its 42 miles
of shoreline offer many recreational activities such as boating, fishing, and swimming. In
addition, the estuary is ecologically important as a breeding ground for oysters, clams, blue
crabs, and many other commercially important fish. Increased nutrient loading due to surface
water runoff in the watershed has occurred as a consequence of dramatic landuse alteration and
has impacted the coastal ecosystem structure and function (Kennish et al. 2007). Change
detection applied to a satellite derived land cover classification from 1972 and 1995 (Figure 17)
and from 1995 to 2006 quantified the recent rapid conversion of forested and wetland habitats to
urban land cover ‘developed land’, with riparian zones altered by an average of 16% (min 4%
and max. 50%) by 2006 (Figure 17) (Lathrop and Bognar 2001). Landsat Thematic Mapper data
were classified using an adaptation of the NOAA C-CAP protocol (Dobson et al. 1995). The
classification incorporated 38 different land cover classes which were integrated with U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory maps, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)
maps, and bathymetry derived from the NOAA nautical chart of Barnegat Bay to produce a
seamless land-sea habitat map. The resulting comprehensive synthesis map combined upland,
wetland, and the benthic habitats of the Barnegat Bay watershed (Lathrop et al. 1999).
1.10.7.3 Tracking Coastal Habitat Change in Louisiana, USA
Change detection for the Louisiana coast using Landsat TM data was conducted for the
Louisiana Coastal Area Comprehensive Coastwide Ecosystem Restoration Study (Barras et al.
2003). Each Landsat TM scene covered approximately 185 km by 180 km and had a minimum
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