Hello and welcome to this week in Remote Sensing. This week introduces Land Use and Land Cover classification. These topics build on last weeks introduction to classification of elements in an image. Last week we looked at elements such as size, shape, pattern, texture, association. Here in this week we are taking these elements a step further in how they apply to classification, breakdown and identification of different land use and land cover through visual interpretation of an image. the image itself was provided by UWF with the overall objective of exploring and applying Land Use and Land Cover concepts in conjunction with the different elements of identification. Lets briefly define Land Use Vs Land Cover before exploring the map below.
Land Cover is the actual biophysical description of the Earths surface. Examples include, is the ground forested, is it desert, water, built up urban area etc? Land Use specifically documents how we humans have interacted with the landscape and changed or developed it. The two of these elements combined become a Land Use / Land Cover layer when an image is classified into appropriate categories. An example of this is seen in the map below.
One other thing to note before we get to the map. Land Use / Land Cover Classification is divided into 4 levels, the key determining factor in deciding how effectively you can categories elements of an image into these different levels is spatial resolution of the image. Poor resolution only lets you identify elements to a certain degree whereas high resolution can give you much more certainty of an elements purpose, especially when taking into account the size, shape, pattern, texture and association differences you'll see at higher or lower resolution.
Examples of level two land use and land cover are seen in the map above. An image of Pascagoula Mississippi has been heads up digitized with a polygon feature class showing similar compositions of land features and development. The code descriptions are all two digit to signify second level classification. Many items could easily be broken down into 3rd level classification, However that was not necessary for the intent of the assignment. What you can start to break down is that there are different patterned areas around different features. Note there is much higher likelihood of having commercial or industrial areas along the main road feature, and forested areas interspersed with the residential areas. Looking at the different items at this resolution and scale you can start to recognize like features by size, shape, pattern, texture and association and see why they logically are grouped together and represented as they are by the polygons. Overall this was a good intro to Land Use and Land Cover that we get to expound upon in the coming week, so stay tuned! Thank you.
Land Cover is the actual biophysical description of the Earths surface. Examples include, is the ground forested, is it desert, water, built up urban area etc? Land Use specifically documents how we humans have interacted with the landscape and changed or developed it. The two of these elements combined become a Land Use / Land Cover layer when an image is classified into appropriate categories. An example of this is seen in the map below.
One other thing to note before we get to the map. Land Use / Land Cover Classification is divided into 4 levels, the key determining factor in deciding how effectively you can categories elements of an image into these different levels is spatial resolution of the image. Poor resolution only lets you identify elements to a certain degree whereas high resolution can give you much more certainty of an elements purpose, especially when taking into account the size, shape, pattern, texture and association differences you'll see at higher or lower resolution.
Examples of level two land use and land cover are seen in the map above. An image of Pascagoula Mississippi has been heads up digitized with a polygon feature class showing similar compositions of land features and development. The code descriptions are all two digit to signify second level classification. Many items could easily be broken down into 3rd level classification, However that was not necessary for the intent of the assignment. What you can start to break down is that there are different patterned areas around different features. Note there is much higher likelihood of having commercial or industrial areas along the main road feature, and forested areas interspersed with the residential areas. Looking at the different items at this resolution and scale you can start to recognize like features by size, shape, pattern, texture and association and see why they logically are grouped together and represented as they are by the polygons. Overall this was a good intro to Land Use and Land Cover that we get to expound upon in the coming week, so stay tuned! Thank you.
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