Remote Sensing of Environment 138 (2013) 165–171

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Remote Sensing of Environment

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rse

Mapping flooding regimes in Camargue wetlands using seasonal

multispectral data
Aurélie Davranche a,⁎, Brigitte Poulin b, Gaëtan Lefebvre b
a
University of Angers, LETG Angers-LEESA, UMR CNRS 6554, 2 Boulevard Lavoisier, 49045 Angers Cedex, France
b
Tour du Valat Research Center, Le Sambuc, 13200 Arles, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Reflectance data from multiseasonal SPOT-5 imagery was combined with monthly measures of water levels
Received 24 February 2013 collected in the Rhône river delta (Camargue) in 2005 and 2006. Classification tree and regression models
Received in revised form 17 July 2013 using monthly values of 17 multispectral indices and 4 bands, as well as their seasonal variations, were used
Accepted 19 July 2013
for predicting the presence and levels of water, independently of vegetation type and density in shallow marshes.
Available online 15 August 2013
Accuracy of the classification model was estimated by cross-validation and by calculating the percentage of
Keywords:
correctly classified pixels on the resulting maps using an independent sampling. Goodness-of-fit of the regression
Classification tree model was assessed by calculating the coefficient of correlation between predicted and observed values. Predic-
Camargue tive accuracy of both models was estimated by calculating NRMSE for the independent validation sample. Regres-
Multispectral indices sion model robustness was also tested using Scheffé post-hoc analyses on the residuals. Biophysical parameters
Regression models of Camargue marsh vegetation were used to interpret misclassifications and model deficiency. Both models were
SPOT-5 composed of a single variable consisting of a multispectral index using the mid-infrared band. The resulting
Water levels classification tree provided a cross-validation accuracy of 76% and a map validation accuracy of 83%. With an
Wetland monitoring
R = 0.5, the regression model predicted water level with a 6-cm precision up to 20 cm of water depth. For
both approaches, the predictive power of model was most affected by close canopy. This study highlights the use-
fulness of data mining for long-term monitoring of wetland hydrology based on multispectral indices using the
mid-infrared band.
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In the Camargue (Rhône river delta) water levels and salinity of wet-
lands are closely tied to human activities (Aznar, Dervieux, & Grillas,
2003). Development of rice farming over 60 years ago has translated
into the building of a hydraulic network to introduce large volumes of
freshwater from the Rhône River into the delta for field irrigation. Over-
time, this ‘new’ water resource has become increasingly used for other
human activities such as nature conservation, ecotourism, agriculture,
waterfowl hunting, and fishing, the original unpredictable variations
in water level and salinity being increasingly replaced by predictable
permanent freshwater marshes. As a result, the species composition of
aquatic habitats has changed from diversified Mediterranean to mono-
specific continental-type communities, resulting in biodiversity loss
(Tamisier & Grillas, 1994). Robust monitoring tools are thus necessary
to quantify flooding duration of various types of wetlands with the
multiple objectives of monitoring biodiversity, conducting prospective
and companion modeling related to climate changes (Mathevet et al.,
2007), and elaborating a global delta management framework comply-
ing with European and national policies (Dervieux, 2005).
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 241735049.
E-mail address: aurelie.davranche@univ-angers.fr (A. Davranche).
Multi-spectral data have been used for flood delineation with the
assumption that water has very low reflectance in the near-infrared
portion of the spectra, in contrast to other land features (Smith, 1997).
However, flooded areas are frequently underestimated in the presence
of emergent or submerged vegetation, typical of shallow wetlands
(Smith, 1997). Radar remote sensing associated with multispectral
satellite data has been used for modest classification schemes or to
improve flooded wetland mapping, especially in areas with persistent
cloud cover (Smith, 1997; Taft, Haig, & Kiilsgaard, 2004; Töyrä,
Pietroniro, Martz, & Prowse, 2002). However, performance of active
sensors is reduced by the presence of wind and vegetation (Sandoz,
Chauvelon, Pichaud, & Buckwell, 2003; Smith, 1997), while radar
imagery is affected by heavy rains and speckle, as well as turbidity
changes (Delmeire, 1997). Horritt and Mason (2001) demonstrated
that short wavelength radar SARs cannot detect water under vegetation,
but that L-band and P-band SARs can penetrate vegetation canopy
(Hess, Melack, Novo, Barbosa, & Gastil, 2003). However, long SAR wave-
lengths are not easily available, which represents a major constraint for
repeated surveys (Aduah, Maathuis, & Hussin, 2007). These data are
also more costly to acquire and more restrictive in terms of program-
ming services compared to multispectral satellites that make feasible
regular follow-ups by avoiding days with cloud cover (Davranche,
Poulin, & Lefebvre, 2010; Jensen, Narumalani, Weatherbee, & Mackay,

0034-4257/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2013.07.015
166 A. Davranche et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 138 (2013) 165–171
1993). Water level changes can be measured with InSAR, but the
application works in wetlands covered by woody or herbaceous
emergent vegetation only (Wdowinski et al., 2008). Geostat and
TOPEX/POSEIDON NASA altimeters can be used to determine stage
variations, but for water bodies greater than 1 km in width only
(Al-Khudhairy et al., 2002).
Non-parametric classifiers and generalized regression models using
multispectral data have been successfully used recently for wetland
monitoring based on their vegetation attributes (Davranche, Lefebvre,
& Poulin, 2009; Poulin, Davranche, & Lefebvre, 2010). Extending these
new perspectives to water management requires to take the following
into account: the mid-infrared band is sensitive to soil moisture under
the vegetation canopy (Baret, Guyot, Begue, Maur, & Podaire, 1988);
the photosynthetic production of chlorophyll can be reduced with
water decrease (Pettigrew, 2004; Souza, Machado, Silav, Lagoa, &
Silveira, 2004); a situation of water stress can influence reflectance
(Clay, Kim, Chang, Clay, & Dalsted, 2006); and several multispectral
indices have proved to be useful for studying hydrological (Gao,
1996; Gond, Bartholome, Ouattara, Nonguierma, & Bado, 2004;
Hanqiu, 2006; McFeeters, 1996) and biophysical (Bao, Liu, & Wang,
2008; Poulin et al., 2010; Vescovo & Gianelle, 2008) parameters.
We could then hypothesize that detection of water through the
vegetation might be improved when taking into account free water
under the canopy, water content of the plant and photosynthetic
activity altogether. This study aims at assessing the potential of sea-
sonal series of multispectral data for mapping flooded areas and
water levels in shallow wetlands regardless of vegetation types
and density. For that purpose, we used classification trees and
Fig. 1. Flooding duration in Camargue according to the classification tree model for water presence in March, May, June, July, September and December 2005.
generalized regression models, respectively, applied to a seasonal
series of SPOT-5 scenes covering the Camargue.
2. Method
2.1. Study area
The Camargue is a polderized floodplain of 145 300 ha that rarely
exceeds an altitude of 5 m (Fig. 1). Its origin, both from the river and
the sea, has produced landscapes marked by a horizontal gradient of
water and salinity. With mean annual values of 600 mm of rainfall
and 1400 mm of water evaporation, the Camargue is characterized by
water deficits year round, especially in summer (Chauvelon, Tournoud,
& Sandoz, 2003). These physical characteristics define the biotic compo-
nents of the original ecosystems of Camargue, marked by a spatial and
temporal unpredictable variability in their dynamics. These landscapes
are no longer influenced by the geomorphological and climatic con-
straints only, being largely influenced by management of water levels.
Agricultural activities, originally limited to alluvial deposits, have
increased in areas due to rice farming that is also used in rotation with
other crops to reduce soil salinity. The large private estates, resulting
from loss of crops, are typically in lower areas subject to high salinity
and frequent flooding. Most of these depressions have been embanked
and are currently managed with more or less permanent water for wa-
terfowl hunting (Dervieux, 2005). The Camargue is hence characterized
by numerous fragmented wetlands varying in size, connectivity and hy-
drological regime.
 A. Davranche et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 138 (2013) 165–171 167

2.2. Data acquisition 2.3. Statistical modeling

2.2.1. Space-based data
Seasonal time series of SPOT-5 images (SPOT/Programme ISIS,
Copyright CNES) were acquired in 2004–2005 and 2005–2006 in late
December, March, May, June, July and September (August and October
in 2006). These dates had been selected based on vegetation phenology
and seasonal water management of the targeted wetlands described
below. A single SPOT image covers the whole study area (60 × 60 km).
SPOT-5 scenes have 10-m pixel resolution and four spectral bands: B1
(green: 0.50 to 0.59 μm), B2 (red: 0.61 to 0.68 μm), B3 (near-infrared
NIR: 0.79 to 0.89 μm) and B4 (shortwave-infrared SWIR: 1.58 to
1.75 μm). SPOT scenes were acquired with radiometric correction of the
distortions due to differences in the sensitivity of the elementary detec-
tors of the viewing instrument, that is the preprocessing level called 1A
(SPOT Image, 2008).
For modeling the presence or absence of water in Camargue
marshes, a dichotomous partitioning (Breiman, Friedman, Olshen, &
Stone, 1984) was performed with the Rpart (Recursive PARTitioning,
Therneau & Atkinson, 1997) package in the R software. This method
uses the cost complexity parameter (cp) for pruning. As described
in Davranche et al. (2010), we used the cross-validation procedure
called CV-1SE (Esposito, Malerba, Semeraro, & Tamma, 1999) for prun-
ing with 10 subsets as well as iterative runs of the algorithm (Breiman
et al., 1984) for the selection of the cp and, the prior parameter for
imbalanced samples. Modeling of the water levels was performed
with the Generalized Regression Model method using a forward-
stepwise procedure in Statistica version 8.0 (StatSoft Inc.)
2.4. Image processing for the descriptive variables

2.2.2. Ground data SPOT-5 scenes were radiometrically corrected using the 6S atmo-
Selection of study plots resulted in a compromise between admit- spheric code (Davranche et al., 2009) developed by Vermote, Tanre,
tance, accessibility, and getting a representative sample of the Camargue Deuze, Herman, and Morcrette (1997), and projected to Lambert con-
wetlands based on aerial photographs and videos collected during formal conic projection datum NTF (Nouvelle Triangulation Française)
survey flights. The number of plots sampled was further limited by the using a second-order transformation and nearest-neighbor resampling
relatively short period of optimal plant growth. Field sampling was (RMSE b 1 pixel). The scenes were georeferenced to a topographic
carried out at 108 plots (Fig. 1) located in seasonal or permanent shallow map at 1:25 000 scale. We extracted the mean reflectance value for
marshes either covered with tall (common reed Phragmites australis) or each sampling plot from each band of each scene using the ‘Spatial
mid-size (club-rush Bolboschoenus maritimus) helophytes, or with Analyst’ of ArcGIS version 9.2 (Environmental Systems Research
submerged macrophytes (Potamogeton pectinatus, Potamogeton pusillus, Institute, Meudon, France). Using these data, we further calculated
Ruppia maritima, Myriophillum spicatum, Characea). Each plot was situ- for each plot the most common multispectral indices that we
ated in a different hydrological unit at least 70 m from the marsh edge adapted to SPOT bands (Table 1). The MIFW was inspired by the
(see Davranche et al., 2010 for further details) and geolocated with a IFW index used by Adell and Puech (2003) to spatially analyze hunt-
GPS (Holux GR-230XX). Vegetation sampling design was inspired from ing activity in Camargue marshes. These authors showed that the
previous works on plant and bird ecology from these marshes (Poulin, difference between the near-infrared and the green bands (IFW) of
Lefebvre, & Mathevet, 2005; Poulin, Lefebvre, & Mauchamp, 2002) a LANDSAT TM image covering the Camargue in July 1999, had
adapted to the size and shape of SPOT pixels. For each plot, water levels, negative and low values for open water, but positive and high values
vegetation cover and floristic composition were estimated along two for areas with emergent plants, permitting to classify pixels where
diagonals crossing a 20 × 20 m plot (4 pixels) between May and July,
depending upon vegetation development. Water levels were systemat- Table 1
ically measured using a rule every 4 m along each diagonal and in the Multispectral and multitemporal indices used in this study.
center of the plot (N = 17). Should part of the marsh by dry, level of
Indices Formula References
underground water was estimated by digging a small hole until reaching
the water table (negative value). When dryness was through several soil SR — simple ratio B2 / B3 Pearson and Miller
(1972)
horizons, a value of 0 was attributed. Most of these marshes were
VI — vegetation index B3 / B2 Lillesand and Kiefer
equipped with a piezometer (200-cm PVC tube buried 50 cm under (1987)
the ground surface at the edge of the marsh) or a rule (located in the DVI — differential vegetation B3 − B2 Richardson and Everitt
deepest area of the marsh) monitored twice monthly. The latter index (1992)
were also monitored at the time of the plot survey in order to obtain MSI — moisture stress index B4 / B3 Hunt and Rock (1989)
NDVI — normalized difference (B3 − B2) / Rouse, Haas, Schell, and
a bi-monthly follow-up of the water level at the plot. When the date vegetation index (B3 + B2) Deering (1973)
of image acquisition and of water monitoring differed by several SAVI — soil adjusted 1.5 ∗ (B3 − B2) / Huete (1988)
days, water data were calibrated assuming linear change overtime. vegetation index (B3 + B2 + 0.5)
Common reed was the densest and tallest vegetation found in the OSAVI — optimized SAVI (B3 − B2) / Rondeaux, Steven,
(B3 + B2 + 0.16) and Baret (1996)
marsh. Density of green and dry reed stems, their height and diam-
NDWI — normalized (B3 − B4) / Gao (1996)
eter were measured within four quadrats of 50 × 50 cm per plot difference water index (B3 + B4)
located at 7 m from the center of the plot in each cardinal direction NDWIF — normalized difference (B1 − B3) / McFeeters (1996)
on both years. The ground surface covered by dry reeds (estimated water index of McFeeters (B1 + B3)
by 3.14 × (mean stem diameter / 2)2 multiplied by the number of MNDWI — modified normalized (B1 − B4) / Hanqiu (2006)
difference water index (B1 + B4)
stems), as well as the number of leaves, their length, width and
DVW — difference between NDVI − NDWI Gond et al. (2004)
area were also measured in 2005. In club-rush habitat, height of vegetation and water
stems and cover rate of the emerged and submerged species were IFW — index of free water B3 − B1 Adell and Puech (2003)
estimated in 2005. In aquatic beds, we estimated the percent cover MIFW — modified index B4 − B1 This study
of free water
of the vegetation, the dominant plant species and the proportion of
WII — water impoundment B32 / B2 Caillaud et al. (1991)
submerged plants showing at the water surface in 2005. For all hab- index
itat types, homogeneity of general plant cover was coded semi- MWII — modified water 2
B4 / B2 This study
quantitatively (from 1 to 4), water salinity was measured with a impoundment index
2
conductivity meter, and water transparency was estimated using a WI — water index B3 / B1 This study
MWI — modified water index B42 / B1 This study
Secchi disk.
168 A. Davranche et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 138 (2013) 165–171

the water was dominant. The MIFW associates the mid-infrared Table 2
band (B4) of SPOT 5 with its green band (B1), accentuating their Error matrix for the classification of wet and dry marshes.

difference in reflectance values for water/moist surfaces. The MWII Classification Producer's Error of User's Error of
index is a modified version of the WII index used by Caillaud, data accuracy omission accuracy commission
Guillaumont, and Manaud (1991) to monitor coastal salt marshes Dry Wet Total
in western France. The WII index was based on the lowest reflec-
Reference Dry 42 19 61 69 31 63 37
tance values of water surface in the near-infrared band of SPOT 1. data Wet 25 179 204 88 12 90 10
It was shown to discriminate 5 cm or less of water from moist soil Total 67 198 265
and could classify water depths varying from 1 to 60 cm with 73%
of explained variance and residuals explained by different water
colors. Inspired by this index, the MWII integrates the mid-infrared
band of SPOT 5, which is sensitive to soil moisture under the vegetation 2.7. Interpretation of misclassifications and model power
canopy as shown by Baret et al. (1988). Capitalizing on this knowledge,
we further calculated an index that we called WI and its modified The binary response (0/1) for misclassified and well-classified plots
version, the MWI both using the highest reflectance value of water in in both years was confronted to structural parameters of reed or sub-
the green channel and the lowest values in the infrared bands. The merged macrophytes considered individually, using the likelihood
term “modified” was added to the name of indices originally calculated ratio test (Davranche et al., 2010; Sokal & Rohlf, 1995) for model signif-
with a near-infrared band. icance. For reed beds, a variable “year” was included as a potential
parameter of misclassification. Then, a standardized residual analysis
provided the response thresholds affecting the classification. Parame-
2.5. The dependent variable ters influencing model accuracy from the GRM analysis were consid-
ered individually using a likelihood ratio test on the residuals. The
The minimum and maximum levels among the eight water mea- Holm–Bonferroni multiple testing was applied. Then, NRMSE was
surements taken on each diagonal from the field plot were extracted calculated for each parameter class to highlight the values that affected
and grouped into the following categories: model prediction. We further tested the three water classes used for the
dependent variable (see Section 2.5). Scheffé post-hoc analyses were
– Minimum and maximum ≤ 0 cm: Class 1 for totally dry plots performed on the residuals to test model robustness according to
– Minimum and maximum N 0 cm: Class 2 for totally wet plots water level range. For this test, all negative values were set to zero and
– Minimum b 0 and maximum N 0 cm: Class 3 for partially flooded positive values grouped into 5-cm interval classes. Holm–Bonferroni
plots. corrections for multiple tests were applied when relevant (Holm, 1979).

Both successive years of sampling were grouped (2005 and 2006) in
order to maximize the surveyed months and to take into account inter-
annual variability in weather and/or water management. We further
selected data belonging to classes 1 and 2 to detect dry and flooded
areas, respectively. Although the third class 3 is interesting from an
ecological point of view, it was discarded to reduce misclassification
errors related to mixed pixels. For each habitat type and each scene,
data from classes 1 and 2 were equally split into a training and valida-
tion sample. In the case of odd number, priority was given to the train-
ing sample. The training sample consisted of 72 plots of dry marsh and
215 plots of wet marshes, and the validation sample of 61 plots of dry
marshes and 204 plots of wet marshes. Generalized regression model-
ing was used to predict the mean water level calculated from the
sampling plot data.
3. Results
3.1. Classification tree method
The resulting tree was achieved with a prior parameter adjusted to
0.50 for both classes. It provided a cross-validation accuracy of 76%
with 90% for wet marshes and 74% for dry marshes. The resulting
formula was MIFW ≤ 0.1152. Mapping validation provided an overall
accuracy of 83%, with 88% for wet marshes and 69% for dry marshes
(Table 2). In reed beds, misclassifications were related to high and big
green stems having long leaves, and low dry stem density (Table 3).
None of the parameters collected in the club-rush and aquatic beds
habitat could explain misclassifications.
3.2. Regression model

2.6. Validation The model that best predicted water levels used a single multispec-
tral index, providing an R coefficient of 0.5 (P ≤ 0.001) for both the
The equations issued from the resulting decision tree and regression training and validation samples. Model formula was: 22.3522034–
model were applied to SPOT-5 scenes of 2005 and 2006 for model 36.114709 ∗ MWII. The NRMSE was 18% for the training sample and
validation. The raster calculator (Spatial Analyst) of ArcGIS was used 23% for the validation sample. Mean predicted and observed values of
to create the maps. The application of the classification tree resulted in
binary maps where 1 encoded for wet marshes and 0 for dry marshes.
The regression model produced a map with a gradient of colors
Table 3
(continuous values). Using the zonal statistics tool (Spatial Analyst) of Effects and values of the parameters influencing the classification of flooded areas in
ArcGIS, we extracted values 1 and 0 for water presence and absence, Camargue reed beds.
and water level values for each plot of the validation sampling. An
Parameters Effects on classification Values of parameters P
error matrix was calculated using the validation pixel values (0 and 1)
extracted from each monthly map resulting from the classification Height (cm) − N300 0.01
Length of + 20 b x ≤ 25 0.05
tree method (Table 2). Goodness-of-fit of the regression model was
leaves (cm) − N40 0.05
assessed by calculating the coefficient of correlation (R) and the normal- Diameter of − 6.5 b x ≤ 7 0.01
ized root-mean-square error (NRMSE) between the predicted and green stems
observed values of the training sample. Its predictive accuracy was (mm)
assessed by calculating R and NRMSE between the predicted and Number of − 0 b x ≤ 100 0.01
dry stems
observed values of the validation sample.
 A. Davranche et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 138 (2013) 165–171 169

the validation samples differed significantly (t = 14.4, P ≤ 0.001), Table 4

suggesting that field calibration might improve the result. The model Values of parameters affecting model power for the prediction of water levels.

provided a maximum threshold prediction at about 22 cm of water Habitats Parameters P Parameter Number of NRMSE
level. values observations (%)
The model performance was better in 2006 than 2005. Water All types Year 0 2005 318 9
levels were better predicted in September, in reed beds, and for 2006 244 8
the class of water level coded 2. In contrast to other habitats, water Month 0.05 March 75 12
May 97 14
levels in reed beds was better predicted in 2005 than 2006. Thick
June 100 14
green stems having long leaves and low cover of apparent soil July 94 12
negatively influenced the prediction power of the model (Table 4). August 32 11
For aquatic beds, model accuracy was positively influenced by September 48 9
water transparency (Table 4). Water levels were better predicted October 29 10
December 87 10
in club-rush beds dominated by Bolboschoenus maritimus, a shorter
Habitats 0 Aquatic beds 108 14
plant (30–70 cm tall) than Scirpus littoralis (115–120 cm). Water levels Reed beds 382 6
were also less accurately predicted in sites presenting an important Club-rush beds 62 14
cover rate of submerged species, as well as for sites with 20–40% of Class of water 0.01 1 140 39
levels 2 422 25
apparent soil. Dry marshes were systematically predicted with a 2 cm
3 191 34
precision, and wet sites within a 6-cm range (Sheffé post-hoc test, P = 0). Reed Year 0 2005 197 18
beds 2006 185 19
4. Discussion Green stem 0.001 3 b x ≤ 3.5 22 23
diameter (mm) 3.5 b x ≤ 4 51 20
4 b x ≤ 4.5 93 20
4.1. The selected remote sensing variables
4.5 b x ≤ 5 81 22
5 b x ≤ 5.5 27 23
The use of IFW (Adell & Puech, 2003) was based on a threshold, 5.5 b x ≤ 6 38 32
hence better adapted to categorical variables (e.g. presence/absence), 6bx 17 84
Leave length 0 20 b x ≤ 25 13 26
whereas the WII (Caillaud et al., 1991) performed better with continu-
(cm) 25 b x ≤ 30 52 21
ous environmental variables such as water levels. This might explain 30 b x ≤ 35 93 20
the selection of MIFW in the resulted tree and of MWII in the regression 35 b x ≤ 40 60 23
model analyses of this study. 40 b x ≤ 50 21 35
Although the NDWI (Gao, 1996) was developed to monitor water Cover of apparent 0 x≤0 33 39
soil (%) 0 b x ≤ 20 152 22
content in vegetation, Clay et al. (2006) showed that for an advanced
20 b x ≤ 40 26 22
development stage of corn species, it was not correlated to plant 40 b x 28 24
water stress, suggesting that water detection could be limited by plants Aquatic Water transparency 0 0 b x ≤ 25 27 32
with dense canopies. It could partly explain the selection of an index beds (cm) 25 b x ≤ 50 25 25
50 b x ≤ 75 44 20
combining mid-infrared and green/red bands rather than one based
Club rush Dominant species 0.01 Scirpus littoralis 20 30
on infrared spectra portions only. Indices integrating the mid-infrared beds Bolboschoenus 42 17
band offer an additional advantage highlighted by Hanqiu (2006) maritimus
when using the MNDWI inspired by the NDWIF (NDWI of McFeeters, Height of emergent 0.01 25 b x ≤ 50 13 27
1996): they are less influenced by environmental noises. This character- species (cm) 50 b x ≤ 75 29 9
75 b x ≤ 100 0
istic is particularly interesting for coastal salt marshes that have high
100 b x ≤ 125 8 61
reflectance contrasts because of their contiguous, yet restricted areas 125 b x ≤ 150 12 26
(Caillaud et al., 1991). Cover of submerged 0.01 0 13 27
vegetation (%) 0 b x ≤ 20 44 21
20 b x ≤ 40 0
4.2. Performance of the models
40 b x ≤ 60 5 50
Cover of apparent 0.01 0 20 23
No year effect could explain misclassifications, suggesting that the soil (%) 0 b x ≤ 20 12 26
model from the classification tree was robust. The misclassifications 20 b x ≤ 40 5 50
observed in reed beds with fully grown and vigorous dense reed 40 b x ≤ 60 25 20
stems indicate that our method has still limitations for detecting
water under close canopy, as observed in previous studies (Smith,
1997; Töyrä et al., 2002).
The variable “year” significantly affected the regression model accu-
racy for all types of habitats. However, the NRMSE differed only by 1% better training basis for model building. Also, the model worked better
between both years, suggesting that the robustness of the model in 2005 than 2006, again with only 1% difference of NRMSE. Spring rain-
might not be the reason. Only the 2005 sample included null instead fall differed between both years (664 mm in 2005 vs 411 mm in 2006,
of negative values for some very dry marshes, which could explain the with 72% of this difference being attributed to April–May), potentially
year effect, since a lower correlation is obtained when the 2006 negative affecting the seasonal development of marsh vegetation. There were
values are set to 0 (R2 = 0.27, P = 0). higher reflectance values for reed and club-rush beds in December
September provided the best model accuracy for all habitat types. 2005 than December 2004, while aquatic beds presented similar reflec-
This period is characterized by relatively high water levels, due both tance (Davranche, 2008). Moreover many reeds were still green in
to seasonal rainfall and water control. This resulted in low mid- December 2005, while they are generally dry at that period. The values
infrared values (Davranche, 2008), reinforcing the spectral response of NRMSE of significant parameters affecting model accuracy in reed
characteristic of deeper waters with a MWII tending to 0. beds recalled the correlation between stem diameter and leave size
Water levels in reed beds are significantly better predicted com- mentioned above. Percentage cover of apparent soil suggests that
pared to other habitats (Table 4). The higher overall accuracy could be model power is lowest for extremely dense beds of high helophytes
related to the higher number of observations in reed beds, offering a covering over 80% of dry ground.
170 A. Davranche et al. / Remote Sensing of Environment 138 (2013) 165–171
Very low transparency was linked to the worst model accuracies in
aquatic beds. Hence, the model seemed to be less accurate for very
turbid (b 25 cm) open marshes where reflectance values were increased
in the green and red bands.
Results in club-rush habitats were link to plant species. S. littoralis is
much higher than B. maritimus. Its lower size and cover provides a patchy
habitat favorable to the development of filamentous algae (classed in sub-
merged species) near the water surface. Percent of apparent soil as an
explaining factor is linked to one site where B. maritimus was mixed
with Characea. Calcium carbonate contained in the Characea plants
forms a white layer at the end of the senescence phase (due to phenology
or dry up of the marshes) that increases reflectance values in the green
and red bands. Differences in water and soil temperatures could
also potentially explain the discriminatory power of the mid-IR
band located closer to the thermal waveband spectrum.
4.3. Comparison of model accuracy, robustness and usefulness
To our knowledge, no method has ever been developed to monitor
water levels in wetlands at the pixel scale with such statistical prediction
and robustness through space and time. Monitoring of water manage-
ment using space-based data has actually focused on the detection of
surface water level changes (Munyaneza, Wali, Uhlenbrook, Maskey, &
Mlotha, 2009; Tan, Bi, Hu, & Liu, 2004; Wdowinski et al., 2008) or
flooded areas (Oberstadler, Honsch, & Huth, 1997; Thorley, Clandillon,
& De Fraipont, 1997; Töyrä et al., 2002). While the combination of
SPOT and RADARSAT data remains more accurate for the detection of
water presence through the vegetation (Töyrä et al., 2002), this study
demonstrates that multispectral data can be powerful for fine scale
monitoring of water levels through wetland vegetation.
5. Conclusion
While the international community debates on the necessity to
modify our understanding, behavior and practices relative to the man-
agement of water resources in a global warming context; our results
offer innovant supporting tools to quantify such management and prac-
tices. Combined with previous results obtained for vegetation distribu-
tion (Davranche et al., 2010) and its state assessment (Poulin et al.,
2010), it confirms the usefulness of multispectral data for long-term
and cost-efficient monitoring of wetland resources. The high spatio-
temporal variability in environmental conditions of Camargue marshes
suggests this method could be useful for other wetland types as well, a
hypothesis that is currently being tested in northern Europe. Our
approach is also likely to perform well with other satellite data sources,
should they provide a mid-infrared band.
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