Remote Sensing in Vegetation Monitoring: More than Just a Pretty Picture

Monitoring of reclaimed sites is a complex, interdisciplinary undertaking, especially in large, disturbed areas with difficult access. In that context, remote sensing is a unique and valuable tool that provides a synoptic view of an entire reclamation program and its progress over time, extending the more detailed but sparsely distributed in situ monitoring. Using remote sensing data, we are creating reclamation maps that provide easily understood information about a site’s vegetation history, and whether or not it has reached and maintained biomass above the permit threshold for self-sustaining status. These maps are produced at various scales, are Geographic Information Systems (GIS) compatible, and often provide data for remote, inaccessible locations or for locations where historical data are missing. Reclamation maps are designed to help decision-makers focus remediation efforts on specific locations most needing it, rather than making unnecessary and potentially costly wholesale changes to entire sites. The maps are useful, not only in reclamation and multidisciplinary studies, but also in public demonstration of industry’s successful reclamation practices. As climate in the north continues to change, and resource exploration and extraction activities increase, mapping the changing landscape becomes key for the conservation and sustainable management of resources. In this paper, we present two examples of longterm remote sensing monitoring at reclaimed mine sites in British Columbia and one of long-term vegetation changes in the Northwest Territories. Other applications of remote sensing are also discussed, such as the generation of habitat maps for wetland monitoring at reclaimed tailings ponds in support of wildlife habitat or biodiversity studies. Examples of field applications of remote sensing will be presented in a companion poster entitled “Practical field uses of remote sensing.”