The rocky intertidal is one of the most heavily studied marine habitats in the world owing to its economic and ecological importance. Traditional monitoring methods, such as quadrats and meter tapes, have historically been employed to collect data on trends and status in this important habitat. However, these approaches come with limitations centred about the spatial and temporal scales across which they can be used. Aerial drones have seen increased use in coastal studies due to their ability to rapidly capture broad-scale data on the distribution and abundance of coastal resources at a relatively low cost. Drones now provide a tool for capturing broad-scale data on intertidal habitat distribution and community composition at scales of a few centimeters up to hundreds of meters. Beyond their capacity to capture high resolution image data, drones come with other advantages that provide scientists with new ways to study coastal habitats across multiple spatial and temporal scales. These include but are not limited to (1) carrying various imaging (e.g., multispectral cameras) payloads; (2) increased frequency in survey intervals; (3) low altitude, autonomous flight that allows sensors to collect fine spatial resolution data; and (4) low operating costs. In this talk I describe approaches for using drones to rapidly collect and then analyze intertidal data via automated image classification. Drones can ultimately help support the emerging needs of 21st century rocky intertidal research.

Primary Presenter: Corey Garza, California State University, Monterey Bay (cogarza@csumb.edu)

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