Detection of Potential Vernal Pools on the Canadian Shield (Ontario) Using Object-Based Image Analysis in Combination with Machine Learning

Vernal pools are small, temporary, forested wetlands of ecological importance with a high sensitivity to changing climate and land-use patterns. These ecosystems are under considerable development pressure in southeastern Georgian Bay, where mapping techniques are required to inform wise land-use decisions. Our mapping approach combines common machine learning techniques [random forest, support vector machines (SVMs)] with object-based image analysis. Using multispectral image segmentation on high-resolution orthoimagery, we first created objects and assigned classes based on field collected data. We then supplied machine learning algorithms with data from freely available sources (Ontario orthoimagery and Sentinel 2) and tested accuracy on a reserved dataset. We achieved producer’s accuracies of 85 and 79% and user’s accuracies of 78 and 84% for random forest and SVMs models, respectively. Difficulty differentiating between small, dark shadows and small, obscured pools accounted for many of the omission and commission errors. Our automated approach of vernal pool classification provides a relatively accurate, consistent, and fast mapping strategy compared to manual photointerpretation. Our models can be applied on a regional basis to help verify the locations of pools in an area of Ontario that is in critical need of more detailed ecological information.