Impact of Increased Satellite Observation Frequency on Mapping of Long-Term Tidal Flat Area Changes

Remote sensing of tidal flats and their dynamic changes is essential for understanding and conserving intertidal ecosystems. As a highly dynamic land cover type influenced by tidal variations, tidal flats present challenges for consistent long-term monitoring. The tidal flat area may be inflated in long-term remote sensing datasets due to the increasing observation frequency in recent decades. Although significant progress has been made in time-series mapping of tidal flats using Landsat imagery, the relationship between tidal flat dynamics and satellite observation frequency remains poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to quantify the impact of increased Landsat observations on long-term time series of tidal flat area changes using two widely used global tidal flat products (GTF30 and Murray’s product). Specifically, we first used a regression analysis to investigate the relationship between observation frequency, tide level, and tidal flat area; the result revealed that higher observation frequency is more likely to capture lower tides and thus detect larger tidal flat areas. Next, we developed a weighted statistical regression method to quantify the influence of observation frequency on the mapped tidal flat area at the selected 45 tidal stations. Our analysis indicates that both products exhibit significant inflated increases due to the increased observation frequency during 2000–2022. Specifically, the GTF30 product shows a spurious increase of 12.83 ± 6.51 km² attributable to the increased observation frequency, accounting for 17.57% of the total observed change. Similarly, the Murray product also exhibits a spurious increase of 13.92 ± 7.45 km², which is approximately 1.95 times the mapped change in tidal flat area. Therefore, this study emphasizes the presence of substantial inflation effects in long-term tidal flat remote sensing datasets caused by the increasing observation frequency. Quantifying this bias is essential for accurate interpretation of the long-term tidal flat dynamics and ecological assessments.