Investigating the accuracy of photointerpreted unvegetated channel widths in a braided river system: a Platte River case study

The central Platte River in Nebraska, USA, has undergone substantial channel narrowing since basin settlement in the mid-nineteenth century. Many researchers have studied the causes of channel narrowing and its implications for endangered species that use wide, shallow channel segments with barren sandbars. As a result, changes in metrics such as unvegetated channel width have been studied. With few exceptions, these measures are estimated from aerial imagery without mention of error in relation to actual channel conditions and/or investigator bias. This issue is not unique to central Platte River studies, as a general lack of commentary is apparent regarding the direct comparison of channel planform characteristics interpreted from aerial imagery relative to those measured in the field. Here we present a case study where data collected by the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program was used to make multiple comparisons using three years of field-measured unvegetated channel widths and those photointerpreted from aerial imagery. Widths were interpreted by three investigators, who identified similar widths in almost all cases. Photointerpretation from imagery collected during the fall resulted in unvegetated width estimates that were more consistent with field measurments than estimates derived using imagery collected in June. Differences were attributed to three main factors: (1) influences of discharge on photointerpretation of unvegetated channel width; (2) increases in vegetative cover throughout the growing season; and (3) resolution of imagery. Most importantly, we concluded that photointerpretation of unvegetated widths from imagery collected during high flows can result in significant over estimation of unvegetated channel width.