Feasibility of Invasive Grass Detection in a Desertscrub Community Using Hyperspectral Field Measurements and Landsat TM Imagery.docVIP

Remote Sens. 2011, 3, 2283-2304; doi:10.3390/rs3102283 OPEN ACCESS Remote Sensing ISSN 2072-4292 /journal/remotesensing Article Feasibility of Invasive Grass Detection in a Desertscrub Community Using Hyperspectral Field Measurements and Landsat TM Imagery Aaryn D. Olsson 1,2,*, Willem J.D. van Leeuwen 1 and Stuart E. Marsh 1 1 Office of Arid Lands Studies, Arizona Remote Sensing Center, The University of Arizona, 1955 E. Sixth Street, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; E-Mails: leeuw@ (W.J.D.L.); smarsh@ (S.E.M.) 2 College of Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 5694, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: aaryno@; Tel.: +1-928-523-7098; Fax: +1-928-523-7423. Received: 20 August 2011; in revised form: 3 October 2011 / Accepted: 9 October 2011 / Published: 21 October 2011 Abstract: Invasive species’ phenologies often contrast with those of native species, representing opportunities for detection of invasive species with multi-temporal remote sensing. Detection is especially critical for ecosystem-transforming species that facilitate changes in disturbance regimes. The African C4 grass, Pennisetum ciliare, is transforming ecosystems on three continents and a number of neotropical islands by introducing a grass-fire cycle. However, previous attempts at discriminating P. ciliare in North America using multi-spectral imagery have been unsuccessful. In this paper, we integrate field measurements of hyperspectral plant species signatures and canopy cover with multi-temporal spectral analysis to identify opportunities for detection using moderate-resolution multi-spectral imagery. By applying these results to Landsat TM imagery, we show that multi-spectral discrimination of P. ciliare in heterogeneous mixed desert scrub is feasible, but only at high abundance levels th