Wetland Type Maps for Canadian Deltas Using Multi-Sensor Data

NASA's ABoVE dataset provides 12.5-meter resolution ecosystem-type maps for the Slave River and Peace-Athabasca Deltas in Canada, circa 2007 and 2017. It employs an 18-class Enhanced Wetland Classification scheme derived from a Random Forest model trained on multi-seasonal optical, SAR, and topographic indices. The dataset includes source imagery and error matrices for assessing classification accuracy.

Use Cases

• Analyzing land cover change between 2007 and 2017 using the time-series classification maps.
• Validating wetland extent models with provided classification error matrices.
• Studying the relationship between topographic indices (HAND, TPI) and wetland distribution.
• Testing remote sensing classification algorithms against a benchmark dataset with multi-sensor source imagery (Landsat, PALSAR, Sentinel-1).
• Mapping specific wetland, peatland, and upland classes across the delta ecosystems.

Strengths

• Classification uses a multi-sensor approach combining optical (Landsat), SAR (PALSAR, Sentinel-1), and topographic (HAND, TPI) data from 2006-2010 and 2017-2019.
• Provides explicit error matrices for each map and time period to quantify accuracy.
• Offers high spatial detail with a 12.5 m resolution and a 0.2-hectare minimum mapping unit.
• Includes the source imagery used for classification, enabling methodological transparency and reuse.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates exist between sources (2019-05-28 on NASA Earthdata and 2026-03-13 on Data.gov).
• Specific row/column counts, dataset size, and detailed license terms are not provided across platforms.
• Temporal coverage is limited to two snapshots (circa 2007 and 2017) rather than a continuous series.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Random Forest classification trained on multi-seasonal satellite imagery, SAR data, field data, and calculated topographic indices (HAND, TPI).

Time Range

2006 to 2019

Freshness

2026-03-13 17:31:17.563560

Geography

Slave River Delta (SRD) and Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD), Canada