Landscape indicators for monitoring aquatic ecosystem health in urban systems

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Metro Vancouver delivers core utility services such as drinking water and wastewater treatment to localgovernments as well as planning for growth and regional parks. The diversity of land cover types and scales inthe urban mosaic results in relatively high rates of mapping errors among urban and other land cover classes,which can be a problem for urban planning. Our original ENGAGE project involved a detailed investigation ofadvanced remote sensing technologies, specifically high spatial resolution RAPIDEYE as well as LightDetection and Ranging (LIDAR) to map urban land cover at extremely high spatial resolution (<5m), at a levelnever before available to MetroVancouver. Building on this, we wish to extend the research via ENGAGE Plusto investigates the use of RapidEye and LiDAR for monitoring aquatic systems in urban areas. Land use andland cover (LULC) changes in urban areas have fundamental impacts on stormwater runoff, contaminant flow,and urban stream health. Increasing impervious (paved) surfaces can result in "flashier" runoff and contributesediments and contaminants to aquatic systems. Landscape elements such as riparian vegetation can mitigateflooding and filter runoff, yet when converted to impervious surfaces, can exacerbate such problems. Here, wewill build on the urban land cover we produced to create approaches for monitoring urban streams usinglandscape indicators. We use the high spatial resolution imagery from our first ENGAGE to fill urban aquaticmonitoring needs in Vancouver. These techniques will provide transferable tools for other Canadian cities formonitoring ecological health.