Mapping of shore area wetlands in Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve, Northwest Ethiopia using Sentinel-1A SAR and multi-source data

Shore area wetlands (lacustrine fringe) play a critical role as ecotones that support biodiversity, provide habitats for spawning and refuge, and exhibit high levels of primary productivity. They facilitate significant exchanges of materials between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. To effectively manage and preserve these important resources, it is essential to understand their distribution, size, and dynamic changes. This study aimed to create an accurate map of shoreline wetlands using multi-temporal and multi-source data, wetland indicators such as wetland hydrology (WH), hydrophytic vegetation (HV), hydric soil (HS), and radar imagery from Sentinel-1A, employing Geomatica software. Additionally, ArcGIS software was used to map the topographic position (TP), Lake Bathymetry (LB), and HS indicators for wetlands. The analytical hierarchy process and weighted overlay methods were also applied in the mapping process for integrating all the indicators to obtain the final extent of shoreline wetlands. The TP wetland indicator map covered about 55,364 ha, while HS covered around 55,151 ha within a 3 km buffer from Lake Tana. The map of WH indicator for wetlands revealed that permanently inundated areas accounted for roughly 591,312 ha, and when temporarily inundated areas were included, the total coverage increased to 607,053 ha. HV, including invasive water hyacinth, covered over 74,772 ha. Overall, shoreline wetlands were predominantly located within three kilometers of the terrestrial area from Lake Tana, totaling 26,664 ha. The overall accuracy of land use and cover classification was recorded at 79%, with a Kappa statistic of 0.70, indicating that the resulting map is of acceptable quality. The integration of multi-temporal and multi-source data, along with wetland indicators and radar imagery from Sentinel-1A using Geomatica software, has provided valuable insights into the spatial distribution of shoreline wetlands in Lake Tana. The findings from this study will serve as an important reference for future research aimed at effectively managing and conserving these vital resources.