GIS DATABASE DEVELOPMENT FOR SOUTH FLORIDA NATIONAL-PARKS AND PRESERVES

The University of Georgia's Center for Remote Sensing and Mapping Scie nce (CRMS) is working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Inter ior's National Park Service (NPS) to construct a geographic informatio n system (Gls) database and associated detailed vegetation maps for th e Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Big Cypress Nation al Preserve, and the Florida Panther Refuge. Preservation of these sou th Florida wetland areas, threatened by urban expansion, nutrient runo ff from agricultural lands, encroachment of exotic plant species, and increased recreational use, is a topic of national concern. Developmen t of the database and maps is made possible by the integration of Glob al Positioning System (GPS), satellite remote sensing, air photo inter pretation, and helicopter-assisted field verification procedures. A di gital satellite image mosaic prepared from eight SPOT panchromatic ima ges of 10-m resolution and geocoded to ground control points in the UT M (NAD 83) coordinate system to an accuracy of +/-1 to +/-1.5 pixels f orms the coordinate reference layer for the GIS database. Vegetation p atterns and, where appropriate, hydrographic and transportation featur es are digitized directly from 4x paper print enlargements of National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP) color infrared aerial photographs r ecorded in 1994 and 1995. These digitized vector files are rectified t o ground control transferred from the rectified SPOT satellite images. Planimetric errors generally are less than +/-10 m. The vegetation la yers in the GIS database are classified according to a prototype Everg lades Vegetation Classification System being developed by NPS, CRMS, a nd South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) personnel. Ground t ruth collection and verification of the thematic accuracy of interpret ed vegetation polygons and boundaries is facilitated through the aid o f the SPOT satellite image mosaic, and a laptop computer interfaced to a GPS receiver mounted in a helicopter. The flight track of the helic opter is displayed in real time on the SPOT image mosaic, and, as requ ired, attribute information is entered into the computer. The digital GIS database and 1:24,000-scale vegetation maps will provide the NPS w ith the detailed, up-to-date spatial information needed to manage the Parks of south Florida.