State Reports - Florida Land cover classification is mostly complete for seven Landsat TM scenes covering all lands south of Orlando. Some areas require a revisit, but there will be little overall change. The next row of TM scenes is expected to be classified within the next couple of months. The Florida GAP Project is experimenting with digital color infrared aerial photography as an alternative to videography. Some advantages of color IR are better resolution and better vegetation discrimination. The digital format copies and is archiveable without image degradation. The images are also easily enhanced and integrated with an ArcView interface for interpretation and field visits. There are problems with developing a batch process for conversion of the proprietary file format to something useful. Accuracy assessment of the south Florida classification began in summer 1997. Habitat descriptions and range maps are complete for all the vertebrates, ants, butterflies, and skippers in Florida and have been reviewed by experts. Habitat-species matrices are complete for all but the reptiles, amphibians, and birds. These groups are being completed in summer 1997. In addition, minimum critical area and dispersal estimates have been compiled for all mammals and most birds. An ARC/INFO AML script has been written and tested to model potential habitat based on the above data themes. |