Application of region growing segmentation method for mangrove zonation at Pulau Kukup, Johor

Abstract

The anticipated impact of Sea Level Rise (SLR) for the next century has been studied for the past long years. Prolonged submergence and changes in tidal inundation frequency changed the intertidal community landscape including the mangroves zonation pattern. This study aims to identify the mangrove species distribution at Pulau Kukup, Johor using a high resolution, Worldview-2 satellite data. Mangrove extent was extracted from multispectral and panchromatic images using region growing segmentation method. Several thresholds were used to identify the best-fit segmentation parameters. Eleven plots of 100m transects were established in the study area to sample the representative mangrove trees. The type of mangrove species, tree height, Diameter at the Breast Height (DBH), elevation, coordinate location and the sediment sample were collected during the field survey based on Point-Centre-Quadrate Method (PCQM). The general characteristics of mangrove tree were investigated and sampled from 186 mangrove trees. Rhizophoraapiculata and R.mucronata were found dominating the outer part of the mangrove island facing the seaward area. From the field analyses, the relative density of Rhizophoraapiculata and R.mucronataare 41.9% and 16.7% respectively. The mangrove characteristic and coordinate locations were then mapped out and used as a reference point for training processes. The image classification is determined based on Bhattacharyya method and the mangrove zonation pattern was mapped from the result.