EIA mapping

“The clients turned to us to provide maps of fragile habitats because multispectral-imaging satellites can derive this information faster, more accurately and at finer resolution than other mapping methods,” said Proteus CEO David Critchley.

For the four projects, Proteus delivered classification maps of offshore marine habitats along with bathymetric data, all derived from high-resolution commercial satellite imagery. Two of the EIAs also required production of satellite-derived land use/land cover maps for terrestrial ecosystems.

The satellite captures habitat details continuously and consistently across the area of interest, whereas divers can only collect ground truth data at locations often separated by large distances, leaving interpolation to fill in the blanks, explained Critchley. Compared with the common method of dispatching scuba divers on boats, satellite image classification is far less expensive and safer. In addition, imaging satellites require no special permits to access sensitive areas the way dive boats do.

Proteus claims that it is rapidly carving a niche as a worldwide provider of satellite-derived marine habitat classification maps and bathymetric data.

By Jake Frith