California Drone Kelp Canopy Maps for Validation of Planet Dove Products

This dataset contains millimeter-scale drone classifications of kelp canopy presence/absence collected along the California coastline. Surveys were conducted during the fall months (August-October) and were designed for use as validation for the Planet Dove kelp canopy maps presented in Cavanaugh et al., “High-resolution Planet Dove data identify local drivers of kelp canopy persistence.” Users should cite this publication when using these data. Each drone image was classified using spectral-based methods described in Cavanaugh et al. (2021), An automated method for mapping giant kelp canopy dynamics from UAVs, or using Kelp-O-Matic, an open-source deep learning tool for kelp canopy extraction (https://kelp-o-matic.readthedocs.io/en/stable/). The classification method varied by site and year depending on image quality and sensor configuration, but both approaches generated binary presence/absence outputs suitable for validating satellite-derived kelp canopy products. Values of 0 represent “no data,” 1 represent “no kelp,” and 3 represent “kelp.”