Bird habitat mapping in the Kakadu national park, Australia using synthetic aperture radar [NASA/JPL airsar]

The seasonally flooded forest and upland sites in the Kakadu National Park, near Jabiru, Northern Territories, Australia were the site of extensive field measurements, bird community observations and airborne remote sensing during an initial NASA/Jet Propulsion Lab AIRSAR campaign in 1993, a field visit in 1994 and combined remote sensing and field activities during the PACRIM I Project in fall 1996. The overarching purpose of these studies was to use remote sensing technology as a way to extend intensive avian biodiversity and census field observations, as well as structural vegetation measurements from a limited survey area to the regional scale. During these two visits to the Kakadu area, field measurements were made within the dominant forest types in this region, primarily mixed Eucalyptus sp. woodlands, and open- and closed-forest sites dominated by Melaleuca sp. across a range of dry to perennially-flooded sites. Bird community measurements showed vegetation structure is needed to understand habitat relationships. A major vegetation difference between the two years was an increase of 2-3 times in leaf area index at comparison sites from 1994 to 1996. The greatest LAI at any site was 2.52 in the wet Melaleuca site near Munmalary in 1994.