Intelligent Aquatic Vegetation Extraction Utilizing a Multi-Spatial Resolution Feature Extractor Based on High-Spatial-Resolution Remote Sensing Images

Aquatic vegetation serves as a critical environmental indicator in Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) aquaculture systems, with its distinctive distribution patterns enabling differentiation of crab farming zones from other aquatic environments. However, extracting vegetation from small-scale, fragmented aquaculture areas presents significant challenges due to limited specialized datasets, heterogeneous vegetation distribution, and complex spectral interactions between water and vegetation. This study addresses these limitations by developing a comprehensive dataset and proposing a novel Multi-scale Resolution Interaction Network (MRINet) for automated aquatic vegetation extraction using high-resolution satellite imagery. MRINet integrates several innovative components: bottleneck and dense connection modules for efficient feature propagation, a proprietary multi-scale feature interaction extractor for enhanced global feature sampling, and a multi-scale loss fusion strategy for precise vegetation identification across varying geographic scales. Experimental validation on GaoJing (GJ) and GaoFen-2 (GF-2) datasets demonstrates MRINet's superior performance, achieving 84.43% precision and 98.48% accuracy on GJ imagery, and 79.97% precision and 94.37% accuracy on GF-2 imagery, while maintaining computational efficiency compared to mainstream segmentation methods. Large-scale application across Yixing, Xinghua, and Gaochun regions reveals strong spatial correlation between extracted vegetation distribution and crab aquaculture areas. Notably, Gaochun exhibited 21,958,871 m² vegetation coverage, representing 65.88% of the official 33,330,000 m² aquaculture zone, aligning closely with industry standards of 60-70% vegetation coverage in crab ponds. This research establishes a robust methodology for automated identification and quantitative assessment of aquatic vegetation in Chinese mitten crab aquaculture regions, providing essential support for precision aquaculture management and sustainable industry development.