All in Spatial analysis
I am working on mapping sites to recognize patterns on the land between plants and stormwater. Object-based analysis is an approach to classification that uses the color of groups of pixels rather than single pixels and adds spatial information to the spectral information. The output of object-based image analysis is accurate categories of fine-scale objects and landscape types along with relationships between them.
One of the ways I am using the data from my fieldwork is to study the way the surrounding landscape influences the plant species found at a site. I found the percent native species at a site is negatively affected by commercial and services land use and transportation and utility areas in the surrounding area but positively affected by wooded wetlands and recreation land nearby. This can help land managers fine tune restoration decisions for different kinds of sites.
