![[San Francisco Bay: Landsat TM Satellite Image]](/projects/SFBay/images/84mains.gif) Ecosystems within coastal regions are undergoing dramatic changes and are impacted by human activities from economic, land use, and resource development. Habitats for wildlife and fish species in many coastal areas are being threatened by some of these human activities, as well as possible sea-level rise. In addition, biodiversity and wildlife resources in these coastal areas can be altered by changes in global climate. To understand and map important ecosystem parameters, such as suspended sediment loads and surficial changes in wetlands along coastal areas, vegetation types and density, landforms and their changes, as well as urban growth patterns, we must employ our capabilities to detect and map surface variability temporally, spatially, and spectrally. It is critical to have tools, procedures, and data to not only study ecosystems, but to be able to monitor them over time and space as population expands and/or climate changes occur. Satellite multispectral digital image data are particularly helpful for monitoring and detecting surface variability. In particular, these satellite data allow an area to be studied from a regional perspective over time.
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