Raclot Damien, Colin F., Puech C.. (2005). Updating land cover classification using a rule-based decision system. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 26 (7), p. 1309-1321. ISSN 0143-1161.
Titre du document
Updating land cover classification using a rule-based decision system
International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2005,
26 (7), p. 1309-1321 ISSN 0143-1161
This paper proposes a land cover classification methodology in agricultural contexts that provides satisfactory results with a single satellite image per year acquired during the growing period. Our approach incorporates ancillary data such as cropping history (inter-annual crop rotations), context ( altitude, soil type) and structure ( parcels size and shape) to compensate for the lack of radiometric data resulting from the use of a single image. The originality of the proposed method resides in the three successive steps used: S1: per-pixel classification of a single SPOT XS image with a restricted number of land cover classes (RL) chosen to ensure good accuracy; S2: conversion of RLs into a per-parcel classification system using ancillary parcel boundaries; and S3: parcel allocation using exhaustive land cover classes (EL) and its refinement through the application of decision rules. The method was tested on a 120 km(2) area (Sousson river basin, Gers, France) where exhaustive knowledge of land cover for two successive years allowed complete validation of our method. It allocated 87% of the parcels with a 75% accuracy rate according to the exhaustive list ( EL). This is a satisfactory result obtained with one SPOT XS image in a small agricultural parcel context.
