Land-Use and Land-Cover Change Detection

Abstract

This chapter describes the major steps used in the change detection procedure and provides a case study showing how to use change detection techniques to solve practical problems. It focuses on the per-pixel-based change detection procedure. For a successful implementation of a change detection analysis using remotely sensed data, careful considerations of the remote sensor system, environmental characteristics, and image processing methods are important. Since classification results are the required data sets for detecting detailed land-use and land-cover “from-to” change trajectories, high classification accuracies are critical for change detection because individual classification accuracy will affect the change detection accuracy. Thus, the use of different sensor data for change detection is required. A monograph titled “Accuracy assessment of remotely sensed-derived change detection,” edited by Siamak Khorram, is specifically focused on the accuracy assessment of land-cover change detection. Accuracy assessment of change detection results is an important part of the change detection procedure for understanding the reliability and confidence in the results.