Spectral Discrimination of Vegetation Classes in Ice-Free Areas of Antarctica

Detailed monitoring of vegetation changes in ice-free areas of Antarctica is crucial to determine the effects of climate warming and increasing human presence in this vulnerable ecosystem. Remote sensing techniques are especially suitable in this distant and rough environment, with high spectral and spatial resolutions needed owing to the patchiness and similarity between vegetation elements. We analyze the reflectance spectra of the most representative vegetation elements in ice-free areas of Antarctica to assess the potential for discrimination. This research is aimed as a basis for future aircraft/satellite research for long-term vegetation monitoring. The study was conducted in the Barton Peninsula, King George Island. The reflectance of ground patches of different types of vegetation or bare ground (c. 0.25 ${\mathrm{m}}^2$ , $n=30$ patches per class) was recorded with a spectrophotometer measuring between 340 $\mathrm{nm}$ to 1025 $\mathrm{nm}$ at a resolution of 0.38 $\mathrm{n}\mathrm{m}$ . We used Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) to classify the cover classes according to reflectance spectra, after reduction of the number of bands using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The first five principal components explained an accumulated 99.4% of the total variance and were added to the discriminant function. The LDA classification resulted in c. 92% of cases correctly classified (a hit ratio 11.9 times greater than chance). The most important region for discrimination was the visible and near ultraviolet (UV), with the relative importance of spectral bands steeply decreasing in the Near Infra-Red (NIR) region. Our study shows the feasibility of discriminating among representative taxa of Antarctic vegetation using their spectral patterns in the near UV, visible and NIR. The results are encouraging for hyperspectral vegetation mapping in Antarctica, which could greatly facilitate monitoring vegetation changes in response to a changing environment, reducing the costs and environmental impacts of field surveys.