Detection and classification of muskox habitat on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, using Landsat Thematic Mapper data

Abstract

The feasibility of using Landsat Thematic Mapper data for mapping muskox summer habitat was tested on northern Banks Island, Northwest Territories. Digital image enhancement and classification techniques were examined to determine if summer foraging habitats could be detected and mapped using Thematic Mapper imagery. Interpretations of the satellite data were verified in the field during the summers of 1988 and 1989. The most important summer foraging habitats for muskoxen included the wet sedge meadow, graminoid tundra and graminoid/dwarf shrub tundra cover types. Detection of important foraging habitats on Thematic Mapper imagery is attributable to the spectral distinctiveness of wet graminoid communities and the high spectral sensitivity and spatial resolution of the infrared sensors, which allow detection of differences in surface moisture and vegetation physiognomy. -from Author