Comparison of simulated HyspIRI with two multispectral sensors for invasive species mapping

This paper assesses the potential of a single HYSPIRI scene to estimate cover of the non-native invasive buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) in a heterogeneous Sonoran Desert scrub ecosystem. We simulated HYSPIRI (60 m) along with two multispectral sensors, Thematic Mapper (TM; 30 m) and Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Spectrometer (ASTER; 15 m), from high-resolution Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS; 3.2 m) imagery in an area infested by buffelgrass near Tucson, Arizona. We compared classification accuracies of all simulated sensors at spatial resolutions of 15 m, 30 m, and 60 m to evaluate tradeoffs of spectral and spatial resolution across the sensors. Although spectroscopically superior to Landsat TM and ASTER, ASTER easily outperformed HYSPIRI for small infestations (225 m²) on account of its spatial resolution. Shortwave-infrared bands near 2.2 µm were key indicators for both HYSPIRI and ASTER, highlighting the benefit of narrow-wave SWIR for mapping invasive species in arid ecosystems.