Ecological Type Mapping Using Object-Oriented Approach

The Gunnison Vegetation Enhancement Project (GVEP) is an update to the Colorado Vegetation Classification Project (CVCP) completed in 2003. The CVCP generated a vegetation dataset of southwestern Colorado using Landsat TM imagery (30 meter ground resolution) intended to support a variety of interagency land management activities. Many of the applications (Sage Grouse habitat mapping, fuels inventory) that need vegetation data however require greater detail and precision than can be captured using Landsat imagery alone. The GVEP is being undertaken to determine if higher resolution remote sensing data can be used to map habitat types important to the Gunnison Sage Grouse on a 30,000 acre study site near Gunnison, Colorado. The ultimate goal would be to apply this mapping protocol over the entire Gunnison Basin. The mapping protocol involves four stages: 1) statistical analysis of ancillary terrain and soil variables, 2) object-oriented image segmentation, 3) supervised, rule-based classification, 4) accuracy assessment.