Research on the relationship between the fractional coverage of the submerged plant Vallisneria spiralis and observed spectral parameters

The present paper discusses the relationship between the coverage fraction of submerged plants and the observed spectral characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to validate a remote sensing technology to monitor the change in the plant composition of a water body. In the current study, the reflectance spectra of the submerged plant Vallisneria spiralis at different fraction coverages of the wetland in Hangzhou Bay were measured. The relationships between the fraction coverage of V. spiralis and simulated Quickbird normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), red edge, and other spectral characteristic parameters were established. The results showed that the spectral reflectance characteristics of submerged plant V. spiralis were mainly in the visible light (490–650 nm) and near infrared (700–900 nm). The rate of change of the blue band curve and simulated Quickbird NDVI showed a higher correlation with the V. spiralis coverage, so estimation models of the fraction coverage were constructed using these parameters. The estimated fraction coverage of V. spiralis with different models were validated with ground data, and the accuracy of estimation models was assessed. The most suitable estimated fraction coverage of V. spiralis was obtained using the rate of change of the blue band curve and simulated Quickbird NDVI. The present work demonstrated a method to monitor the distribution and dynamical variation of submerged plants at the large scale.