Extraction of mangrove forests using a satellite image and a digital elevation model

A method has been developed for mapping mangrove forests using two unique features of mangroves. (1) Reflected radiance of mangrove forests in short-wave-infrared bands is lower than that of ordinary vegetation. (2) Mangroves can form forests only in the intertidal zones between the mean and the highest sea levels. A Landsat/ETM+ image and a digital elevation model were used to extract mangrove forests in Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan. The extracted results agreed well with ground truth data.