Model
Digital Document
Description
The shallow low-energy waters of the extensive coastal zone in sub-tropical south Florida permits the
discrimination of seabed features and benthic covers acquired from remotely sensed data. A benthic
environments classification system is devised from digital interpretations of multi-spectral IKONOS satellite
imagery for 1,360 km2 of the carbonate platform and presented in a comprehensive digitized map. The
classification scheme is designed as a 7th order hierarchical structure that integrates 5 Physiographic Realms, 17
Morphodynamic Zones, 11 Geoforms, 38 Landforms, 6 dominant surface sediment types, 9 dominant biological
covers and 3 densities of biological covers for the description of benthic environments. Digital analysis of the
high-resolution (4 m) IKONOS imagery employed ESRI’s ArcMap to manually digitize 412 mapping units at a
scale of 1:6,000. Digital classification of environments is executed by the analyst contingent with the grouping
of relative spectral reflectance, color tone variations, and the texture and pattern of the benthic unit. The
mapping area incorporates a large diversity of geomorphic forms that range from coastal plains in the southern
Florida Peninsula to coral reef formations along the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). The context of each
Morphodynamic Zone is characterized by the content and areal distribution (in km2) of geomorphic forms and
biological covers. Florida Bay is the most widely distributed Realm and is largely characterized by polygonal
lattices of salient sediment banks and sediment flats. Over 58% of the mapping area is occupied by sediment
flats, and seagrasses are colonized in almost 80% of the topologies.
discrimination of seabed features and benthic covers acquired from remotely sensed data. A benthic
environments classification system is devised from digital interpretations of multi-spectral IKONOS satellite
imagery for 1,360 km2 of the carbonate platform and presented in a comprehensive digitized map. The
classification scheme is designed as a 7th order hierarchical structure that integrates 5 Physiographic Realms, 17
Morphodynamic Zones, 11 Geoforms, 38 Landforms, 6 dominant surface sediment types, 9 dominant biological
covers and 3 densities of biological covers for the description of benthic environments. Digital analysis of the
high-resolution (4 m) IKONOS imagery employed ESRI’s ArcMap to manually digitize 412 mapping units at a
scale of 1:6,000. Digital classification of environments is executed by the analyst contingent with the grouping
of relative spectral reflectance, color tone variations, and the texture and pattern of the benthic unit. The
mapping area incorporates a large diversity of geomorphic forms that range from coastal plains in the southern
Florida Peninsula to coral reef formations along the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). The context of each
Morphodynamic Zone is characterized by the content and areal distribution (in km2) of geomorphic forms and
biological covers. Florida Bay is the most widely distributed Realm and is largely characterized by polygonal
lattices of salient sediment banks and sediment flats. Over 58% of the mapping area is occupied by sediment
flats, and seagrasses are colonized in almost 80% of the topologies.
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