Optimizing remotely sensed solutions for monitoring, modeling, and managing coastal environments

When faced with developing, testing, and delivering a remote sensing system or product that is "optimal" for a specific coastal environment and monito ring or modeling problem, an objective and replicable framework to guide th ese operations is essential. A framework has been developed for coastal env ironments, combining concepts from remote sensing and landscape ecology to provide remotely sensed data users with an objective basis for selecting "o ptimal" data sets and processing techniques. The framework was applied to c ase studies in: coastal wetlands of southern California; coastal wet-dry tr opical wetlands in Northern Territory, Australia; and a rapidly urbanizing coastal catchment in southeast Queensland, Australia. Results established f or each case study demonstrated that the framework functioned effectively i n different coastal environments and provided more accurate results than ad hoc solutions. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 2000.