Patterns in tidal environments: Salt-marsh channel networks and vegetation

Salt marshes in tidal environments are characterised by complex patterns both in their geomorphic and ecological features. Such patterns arise through the elaboration of a network structure driven by the tidal forcing and through the interaction between hydrodynamical, geophysical and ecological components (e.g. microphytobenthos and vegetation). This contribution introduces observations of tidal environments from remote sensing and ancillary data collected in the field. In particular, CASI airborne data and Quick-Bird satellite data collected on the lagoon of Venice (Italy) have been acquired within the European RTD project TIDE. The remotely sensed data are used to map salt marsh vegetation and channel morphology and to study their spatial structure.