Mapping Areas Invaded by Pinus sp. from Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) Applied on RPAS (Drone) Color Images

Invasive alien species reduce biodiversity. In southern Brazil, the genus Pinus is considered invasive, and its dispersal by humans has resulted in this species reaching ecosystems that are more sensitive and less suitable for cultivation, as is the case for the restingas on the island of Santa Catarina. Invasion control requires persistent efforts to identify and treat each new invasion case as a priority. In this study, areas invaded by Pinus sp. in restingas were mapped using images taken by a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS, or drone) to identify the invasion areas in great detail, enabling management to be planned for the most recently invaded areas, where management is simpler, more effective, and less costly. Geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) was applied on images taken from a conventional RGB camera embedded in an RPAS, which resulted in a global accuracy of 89.56%, a mean kappa index of 0.86, and an F-score of 0.90 for Pinus sp. Processing was conducted with open-source software to reduce operational costs.