Estimation of Mangrove Canopy Cover Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in Indramayu Regency, West Java

Abstract

Mangrove forests are an essential natural resource in coastal environments and have three main functions: physical, biological, and economic. Indramayu regency is one of the areas on the north coast of Java with a coastline length of 147 km. The decrease of mangrove canopy in Indramayu regency cannot be separated from the land clearing for a fish pond. Therefore, monitoring activity is important to see the mangroves sustainability management. An alternative way to monitor mangrove conditions is using an unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to overcome the budget constraint and difficulties of doing field surveys. The study aims to estimate the mangrove canopy cover based on the NDVI derived from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The research was conducted in Indramayu in March 2021. Data collection was conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with multispectral sensors. The study shows that the best canopy cover estimator model is exponential regression with the equation of CC = 0.1535e1.9458NDVI and R2 = 0.636. The model can be used for monitoring mangroves periodically. Accurate monitoring data will be very useful in preparing policies and management strategies to maintain and improve the functions and services of the mangrove ecosystem.