Wetlands maps can be a valuable tool in finding areas where you can go bird watching or fishing or enjoy water activities like boating and canoeing. Wetlands maps often cover large areas and can give you a vast array of information. There are several methods that are used to find the information that is necessary to develop these intricate maps.
Remote sensing methods are the most common way that is used to map wetlands and this allows for the gathering of up to date digital information to be acquired on an ongoing basis. The land cover and land use as well as the actual wetlands areas can be monitored annually or even seasonally, as required. With digital data, standardized collection procedures can be implemented and integrated with geographic information systems. Large geographic areas can be monitored and then mapped with less costs and it takes less time when satellite images are used. Previously, aerial photographs were used but they need interpreters to be able to extract the necessary information; remote sensing only needs to analyze the spectral characteristics of the data. There are some limitations to getting images though. It is hard to identify smaller wetlands within the landscape and resolutions need to be high in order to see the smaller details. In the future, more recent and better geospatial data is needed to get better details.