eSPACE: Emergency spatial pre-SCAT for Arctic Coastal Ecosystem

The eSPACE project (emergency Spatial Pre-SCAT for Arctic Coastal Ecosystems; SCAT: Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique) is focused on developing capacity to enhance our state of preparedness for emergencies in the event of an oil spill in Canada's North. Baseline coastal information is required for operational prioritization, coordination of on-site spill response activities and wildlife management. Earth Observation data from satellites such as RADARSAT-2 can potentially be used to identify and map shoreline characteristics, coastal habitats and resources at risk. The commonly used shoreline mapping method consists of manual interpretation of oblique videos to segment and classify existing shoreline vectors (based on 1:50k maps). In the summers of 2010, 2011 and 2012, geotagged video imagery was collected along the coastline for six selected pilot sites in the Arctic. RADARSAT-2 data was simultaneously acquired over these sites. An object-based classification scheme was developed using RADARST-2 data, SPOT-4/-5 optical data as well as ancillary data such as a digital elevation model. This paper presents the general methods used for all eSPACE sites, however only the results for the Richards Island pilot site are presented and discussed. Using ground observation data for validation, the classification reached an overall accuracy of 75% for Richards Island. Although the vectors produced from the standard method carry more information on the substrate types and on-site accessibility, the object-based classification allows for a spatial representation (area) of the shoreline classes as opposed to a line (vector), and the representation of all the shoreline types, not only the ones covered by the helicopter surveys. As well, given the vastness of Canada's Arctic region, manual interpretation of the shorelines won't be feasible.