Identifying a hanging swamp from aerial imagery

[Tyreless]

I'm trying to find a hanging swamp. I've been given a very general area for my search but I want to narrow it down.

Is there any way to identify a likely location for a hanging swamp from aerial imagery that is publicly available? The site is in NSW.

[Mark F]

The look of hanging swamps depends on the degree of wetness and duration of wetness. They grade from the permanently saturated lower sections to the only saturated occasionally when full upper rim. The vegetation will be treeless and in the more regularly wet areas may appear grassy through to low shrubs in the less frequently inundated areas.

One way to get your eye in is to use Six maps or Toms and switch between aerial and topographic views. Use an area like Narrow Neck which has a number of good hanging swamps and is easy to locate.

[tom_brennan]

As Mark F says, swamps are generally easy to identify from the aerial photos, particularly if the photos were taken outside drought periods. The lack of trees and usually brighter green colour stand out from the dull green of the eucalypts. Heath can be similarly lacking trees, but is usually a more similar colour to the surrounding bush.

They generally sit in the headwaters of many of the creeks, so use the topo map to check the general terrain.

http://maps.ozultimate.com/

Probably depends a bit on what info you have been given as to how easy it will be to spot.

[crollsurf]

There is one on North Head at Manly in Sydney appropriately named "Hanging Swamp". Maybe have a look at that to get an idea

[johnw]

There are many in the Blueys. They are often easy to identify from the aerial imagery view in Tom's maps or native SIX Maps.
Below shows general locations but have a look at the imagery around the north of Katoomba airfield as a starting point.
The Braeside swamp areas at Blackheath are also pretty clear, as is the one just north of Mt Victoria cemetery.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Hanging_Swamps_located_within_the_Blue_Mountains.jpg

[Tyreless]

Thanks all for the tips. I'm still searching for my missing swamp - it's not in the area shown in johnw's diagram. I have attached an aerial photo of the broad area. The landscape is different on the ground from what I had planned when looking at aerial photographs (understandably).

I was wondering if there was any other aerial imagery that would help, other than photographs. I recall seeing some imagery on the forums during the bushfires earlier this year - was it infra-red? Can any of those types of images assist in identifying hanging swamps?

Thanks in advance.

[crollsurf]

Using sixmaps, I'm seeing a possibility E of that EW hairpin. Looks like the Grassy Hill Trail runs along side it

[michael_p]

I recall seeing some imagery on the forums during the bushfires earlier this year - was it infra-red? Can any of those types of images assist in identifying hanging swamps?

Thanks in advance.

Tyreless,

The EU Sentinel Playground is what you may be referring to. Here is a link for the Grassy Hill area from 13/06: https://apps.sentinel-hub.com/sentinel- ... ates=false

Type of satellite image is selected on the left. You can change the date using the calendar at the top. Circled dates are when an image has been taken and if you hover over a circled date it will give the cloud cover percentage for that date.

Michael.

[Tyreless]

Thanks Michael. Yes, that is the imagery I was thinking of. I'll have a play around with it.

[Bron]

Why dont you drive out to Grassy Hill FT and have a look?
It should be easy to look for it once you are in the ficinity.
Ive walked down to the Colo River on many occasions from the Grassy Hill Fire Trail and I dont remember any Hanging Swamps.
The gully below this point is rainforest but I havent seen it since the January fires.
There are extensive swamps not far to the North of this but they drain to Tinda Ck and Mellong Ck.

Bron

[FatCanyoner]

Hanging swamps are pretty easy to spot in the upper Blue Mountains. They are generally larger, tree-less areas that stand out on aerial photos. Heath can look similar, but usually darker in colour. Actual swamps in the headwaters of creeks are generally greener again. Using a website like Tom's or SIX can help. Start by looking at places you've been and know the vegetation type.

As for your target area, I think you'll have trouble regardless of the imagery used. The sandstone in the Colo area is very different to the upper mountains. It seems a lot more porous. There are some solid swamps around, in the headwaters of some of the creeks (particularly those running east to west from Putty Rd towards the Colo). I've certainly endured some slow going when trying to move through those swamps. I've never come across the classic, upper mountains style hanging swamp in that area. The rock type just doesn't seem right. You do get small sections of hanging swamp vegetation, but it's not the large, treeless type. In fact, most of it seems to be hidden under the canopy. So while it will feel like hanging swamp if you try to move through it, it won't look like it on the aerial imagery.

I am curious, given your target area, if this effort is an attempt to follow clues to track down Indigenous art. Your target areas is in the broad vicinity of some significant sites.

[rcaffin]

Chuckle. It's not like the Blueys.

There's a wee morsel of scrub in that area, plus a few little bits of cliffs. (Understatements) On the other hand, I don't remember seeing too many 'hanging swamps' there.
Well, none in fact, and we (my wife & I) HAVE crawled over that area in some detail.

Cheers
Roger

[Hughmac]

Didn't read all the posts, but Google Earth shows them up pretty clearly. There's a good example at 34deg 38' 23" x 150deg 24' 07" in Meryla State Forest.