Monitoring and mapping of intertidal macroalgae using low-cost geospatial automated techniques

The global extent of macroalgae is declining with important consequences on marine biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Tracking the status and trends of macroalgal cover is, therefore, an emerging priority for ocean and coastal management. A remote sensing technique combining UAVs surveys with in situ data acquisition was developed to map intertidal macroalgae from rocky shores in a marine protected area, the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park (Illas Cíes, NW Spain). The classifcation by groups (brown and green macroalgae) achieved a good precision. A more precise classifcation would be achieved by focusing on those spectral bands where the highest diferences between species appeared.