BioIntertidal Mapper software: A satellite approach for NDVI-based intertidal habitat mapping

BioIntertidal Mapper is a user-friendly tool, with a graphical user interface, that automates the selection and processing of Sentinel-2 imagery, to generate intertidal habitat maps. The software uses Google Earth Engine API and the WorldTides API to select imagery acquired at low tide within a specified timeframe. These images are subsequently processed to calculate a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, which is masked, based on a shapefile defining the area of interest. Maps are exported to a Google Drive folder. The program offers a simple solution for scientific and environmental manager to map intertidal habitats using free and publicly available satellite imagery. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

BioIntertidal Mapper is a user-friendly tool that automates the selection and processing of Sentinel-2 imagery to generate intertidal habitat maps. It utilizes Google Earth Engine API and WorldTides API to select low tide imagery within a specified timeframe and calculates the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index for the processed images. The maps are exported to a Google Drive folder. This software provides a simple solution for scientists and environmental managers to map intertidal habitats using freely available satellite imagery.