Improving detailed rule-based feature extraction of urban areas from WorldView-2 image and lidar data

Urbanization is commonly accepted as an important contributor to the growth of man-made structures and as a rapid convertor of natural environments to impervious surfaces. Roofs are one class of impervious surface whose materials can highly influence the quality of urban surface water. In this study, two data sources, WorldView-2 (WV-2) imagery and a combination of WV-2 and lidar data, were utilized to map intra-urban targets, with 13 classes. Images were classified using object-based image analysis. Pixel-based classifications using the support vector machine (SVM) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods were also tested for their abilities to use both lidar data and WV-2 imagery. ML and SVM classifications yielded overall accuracies of 72.46% and 75.69%, respectively. The results of these classifiers exhibited mixed pixels and salt-and-pepper effects. Spectral, spatial, and textural attributes as well as various spectral indices were employed in the object-based classification of WV-2 imagery. Feature classification of WV-2 imagery resulted in 85% overall accuracy. Lidar data were added to WV-2 imagery to assist in the spatial and spectral diversities of urban infrastructures. Classified image made from WV-2 imagery and lidar data achieved 92.84% overall accuracy. Rule-sets of these fused datasets effectively reduced the spectral variation and spatial heterogeneities of intra-urban classes, causing finer boundaries among land-cover classes. Therefore, object-based classification of WV-2 imagery and lidar data efficiently improved detailed characterization of roof types and other urban surface materials.     

A method for obtaining and applying classification parameters in object-based urban rooftop extraction from VHR multispectral images

Object-based methods of urban feature extraction from high spatial resolution remotely sensed data rely on semantic inference of spatial and contextual classification parameters in scenes of regular spatial or material composition. In this study, a supervised statistics-based method of determining and applying discretive parameters of rooftops in urban scenes of irregular composition is presented. After preprocessing to pansharpen IKONOS image data, the method includes the following steps: (1) image segmentation; (2) supervised object-based classification into broad spectral classes including impervious surfaces; (3) spectral, spatial, textural and contextual parameters are developed from statistical comparison of the sample rooftop and other impervious surface objects and (4) these parameters are implemented in a fuzzy logic rule base to separate rooftops from other impervious surfaces. Classification of a test scene results in 93% accuracy of rooftop identification, demonstrating the applicability of the method to the discrimination of spectrally similar but semantically variable classes.     

基于不透水地表比例的城市扩展研究

不透水地表比例是衡量城市化水平的一个重要指标,采用不透水地表比例可以研究城市的空间变化和扩展并定量化城市空间变化和扩展的强度。使用多端元光谱混合分析方法可以从TM影像中提取亚像元尺度的不透水地表比例,用该方法从两个时相的TM影像中提取南京都市发展区不透水地表比例,在此基础上定性和定量地分析该区域的空间变化和扩展。     

Mapping impervious surface expansion using medium-resolution satellite image time series: a case study in the Yangtze River Delta,China

Cities have been expanding rapidly worldwide, especially over the past few decades. Mapping the dynamic expansion of impervious surface in both space and time is essential for an improved understanding of the urbanization process, land-cover and land-use change, and their impacts on the environment. Landsat and other medium-resolution satellites provide the necessary spatial details and temporal frequency for mapping impervious surface expansion over the past four decades. Since the US Geological Survey opened the historical record of the Landsat image archive for free access in 2008, the decades-old bottleneck of data limitation has gone. Remote-sensing scientists are now rich with data, and the challenge is how to make best use of this precious resource. In this article, we develop an efficient algorithm to map the continuous expansion of impervious surface using a time series of four decades of medium-resolution satellite images. The algorithm is based on a supervised classification of the time-series image stack using a decision tree. Each imerpervious class represents urbanization starting in a different image. The algorithm also allows us to remove inconsistent training samples because impervious expansion is not reversible during the study period. The objective is to extract a time series of complete and consistent impervious surface maps from a corresponding times series of images collected from multiple sensors, and with a minimal amount of image preprocessing effort. The approach was tested in the lower Yangtze River Delta region, one of the fastest urban growth areas in China. Results from nearly four decades of medium-resolution satellite data from the Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) and China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) show a consistent urbanization process that is consistent with economic development plans and policies. The time-series impervious spatial extent maps derived from this study agree well with an existing urban extent polygon data set that was previously developed independently. The overall mapping accuracy was estimated at about 92.5% with 3% commission error and 12% omission error for the impervious type from all images regardless of image quality and initial spatial resolution.     

Extracting impervious surfaces from medium spatial resolution multispectral and hyperspectral imagery: a comparison

Remote sensing estimation of impervious surfaces is significant in monitoring urban development and determining the overall environmental health of a watershed, and has therefore recently attracted increasing interest. The main objective of this study was to develop a general approach to estimating and mapping impervious surfaces by using medium spatial resolution satellite imagery. We have applied spectral mixture analysis (SMA) to Earth Observing 1 (EO‐1) Advanced Land Imager (ALI) (multispectral) and Hyperion (hyperspectral) imagery in Marion County, Indiana, USA, to calculate the fraction images of vegetation, soil, high albedo and low albedo. The effectiveness of the two images was compared according to three criteria: (1) high‐quality fraction images for the urban landscape, (2) relatively low error, and (3) the distinction among typical land use and land cover (LULC) types in the study area. The fraction images were further used to estimate and map impervious surfaces. The accuracy of the estimated impervious surface was checked against Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangle (DOQQ) images. The results indicate that both ALI and Hyperion sensors were effective in deriving the fraction images with SMA and in computing impervious surfaces. The SMA results for both ALI and Hyperion images using four endmembers were excellent, with a mean root mean square error (RMSE) less than 0.04 in both cases. The ALI‐derived impervious surface image yielded an RMSE of 15.3%, and the Hyperion‐derived impervious surface image yielded an RMSE of 17.5%. However, the Hyperion image was more powerful in discerning low‐albedo surface materials, which has been a major obstacle for impervious surface estimation with medium resolution multispectral images. A sensitivity analysis of the mapping of impervious surfaces using different scenarios of Hyperion band combinations suggests that the improvement in mapping accuracy in general and the better ability in discriminating low‐albedo surfaces came mainly from additional bands in the mid‐infrared region.     

基于线性光谱混合分析的乌鲁木齐不透水层提取及其时空变化分析

利用Landsat TM、OLI多光谱卫星遥感数据,采用VIS（植被－不透水层－土壤）模型和线性光谱混合分析法对丝绸之路经济带核心区乌鲁木齐建城区及其周边进行丰度估算,并针对红色彩钢板屋顶在不透水层丰度图像上低亮度特点,进行改进处理,提高了不透水层丰度估算精度。研究结果表明：1994~2018年的24年间乌鲁木齐市不透水层呈现出显著扩展的特点,其面积从140.41 km²扩大到462.62 km²;扩展速率在1994~2005年间缓慢上升,2005年之后迅速上升;扩展强度先上升,2010~2015年达到最大,之后出现下降;同时,城市不透水层的空间扩展具有明显差异,向西和东北方向扩展最为显著。综合分析指出：乌鲁木齐城市不透水层的空间扩展受到周边山体地形和煤矿开采等因素的限制,而“乌昌一体化”政策是城市扩展的主要助力因素。     

Analyzing Temporal-spatial Change of Urumqi Impervious Surface using Linear Spectral Mixture Analysis

The method of linear spectral mixture analysis combined with V-I-S model(Vegetation-Imperious surface-Soil) is used to estimate the impervious surface abundance of Urumqi city, which is in the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, using Landsat OLI and TM multi-spectral data. Because the red color steel shed has low brightness on the impervious surface brightness image, an improvement was proposed, and then verify the accuracy through the interpretation of high-resolution satellite imagery. The results show that: the impervious surface area in Urumqi displayed a significant expansion from 140.41 km² to 462.62 km² during past 24 years (1994 to 2018). It expanded slowly during 1994 to 2005, and increased rapidly since 2005. The expansion intensity increased during 1994~2015 and decreased after 2015; and the spatial expansion of urban impervious surface is significantly different, with the largest expansion area in the west and northeast direction. The comprehensive analyses suggested that the expansion of the impervious surface of Urumqi city is limited by the surrounding mountain topography and coal mining, and the “Urumqi-Changji integration” policy is the major driving factor for urban expansion in the past 24 years.     

Estimating impervious surfaces from medium spatial resolution imagery using the self-organizing map and multi-layer perceptron neural networks

The studies of impervious surfaces are important because they are related to many environmental problems, such as water quality, stream health, and the urban heat island effect. Previous studies have discussed that the self-organizing map (SOM) can provide a promising alternative to the multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural networks for image classification at both per-pixel and sub-pixel level. However, the performances of SOM and MLP have not been compared in the estimation and mapping of urban impervious surfaces. In mid-latitude areas, plant phenology has a significant influence on remote sensing of the environment. When the neural networks approaches are applied, how satellite images acquired in different seasons impact impervious surface estimation of various urban surfaces (such as commercial, residential, and suburban/rural areas) remains to be answered. In this paper, an SOM and an MLP neural network were applied to three ASTER images acquired on April 5, 2004, June 16, 2001, and October 3, 2000, respectively, which covered Marion County, Indiana, United States. Six impervious surface maps were yielded, and an accuracy assessment was performed. The root mean square error (RMSE), the mean average error (MAE), and the coefficient of determination (R²) were calculated to indicate the accuracy of impervious surface maps. The results indicated that the SOM can generate a slightly better estimation of impervious surfaces than the MLP. Moreover, the results from three test areas showed that, in the residential areas, more accurate results were yielded by the SOM, which indicates that the SOM was more effective in coping with the mixed pixels than the MLP, because the residential area prevailed with mixed pixels. Results obtained from the commercial area possessed very high RMSE values due to the prevalence of shade, which indicates that both algorithms cannot handle the shade problem well. The lowest RMSE value was obtained from the rural area due to containing of less mixed pixels and shade. This research supports previous observations that the SOM can provide a promising alternative to the MLP neural network. This study also found that the impact of different map sizes on the impervious surface estimation is significant.     

Estimating impervious surfaces using linear spectral mixture analysis with multitemporal ASTER images

Impervious surface is a key indicator of urban environmental quality and degree of urbanization. Therefore, estimation and mapping of impervious surfaces by using remote sensing digital images has attracted increasing attention recently. For mid-latitude cities, seasonal vegetation phenology has a significant effect on the spectral response of terrestrial features, and image analysis must take into account this environmental characteristic. In this paper, three Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images, acquired on 3 October 2000, 16 June 2001 and 5 April 2004, respectively, were used to test the seasonal sensitivity of impervious surface estimation. The study area was the city of Indianapolis (Marion County), Indiana, USA. Linear spectral mixture analysis (LSMA) was applied to generate high-albedo, low-albedo, vegetation and soil fraction images (endmembers), and impervious surfaces were then estimated by adding high- and low-albedo fraction images. In addition, land use/land cover (LULC) and land surface temperature (LST) maps were generated and used to create image masks to remove non-impervious pixels. The accuracy of the impervious surface maps was checked against Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangle (DOQQ) images. Three accuracy indicators, the root mean square error (RMSE), mean average error (MAE) and correlation coefficient (R ²), were calculated and compared to analyse the seasonal sensitivity of impervious surface estimation. Our results indicate that vegetation phenology has a fundamental impact on impervious surface estimation. The summer (June) image was better for impervious surface estimation than the spring (April) and autumn (October) images. The LULC and LST image masks can significantly increase the accuracy of impervious surface estimation. The mean LST was found appropriate to be set as the threshold for the various image masks. A summer image was most appropriate because there was full growth of vegetation, and mapping of impervious surfaces was more effective with a contrasting spectral response from green vegetation. The mixing space, based on the four endmembers, was perfectly three-dimensional. By contrast, there was significant amount of bare soil and ground and non-photosynthetic vegetation in the spring and autumn images. Plant phenology caused changes in the variance partitioning and impacted the mixing space characterization, leading to a less accurate estimation of the impervious surfaces.     

Annual dynamics of impervious surfaces at city level of Pearl River Delta metropolitan

Human activities have transformed natural land surface to artificial constructions, which causes the urban regions increasingly expanding. Urban development can be reflected by the dynamic changes of impervious surfaces, which can be assessed using time-series satellite data. The Pearl River Delta (PRD) metropolitan has witnessed fast urban development over past decades. Even though many studied have focused on monitoring the urbanization of megacities, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding about the long-term annual dynamics of urban impervious surfaces at city level in PRD. In this study, MOD09A1 (MODIS Surface Reflectance 8 Day L3 Global 500 m) products were chosen to assess the annual dynamics of impervious surface at city level in PRD. Temporal filtering was utilized to improve the accuracy of the impervious surface estimation. Moreover, a new index, normalized difference urban development index (NDUDI) was proposed to investigate relative development of impervious surface in PRD. Additionally, the economy factor, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was introduced to reveal the correlation with the impervious surfaces. Results demonstrated that the overall accuracy for impervious surface extraction was about 91.00–94.00%. The impervious surfaces area in PRD dramatically increased from 6000 km² to 115,840 km² in the past 16 years. Guangzhou and Foshan have the fastest developing speed, while Dongguan, Shenzhen and Foshan sacrificed much more lands to the construction of PRD than other cities. Besides, areas of impervious surface per city show very good correlations with GDP in city of Guangzhou, Huizhou, Foshan, Zhongshan, Hong Kong and Zhuhai-Macau. The scatter plot between NDUDI and GDP data display different clustering pattern between different cities.     

Classification of impervious land-use features using object-based image analysis and data fusion

The proportion of impervious area within a watershed is a key indicator of the impacts of urbanization on water quality and stream health. Research has shown that object-based image analysis (OBIA) techniques are more effective for urban land-cover classification than pixel-based classifiers and are better suited to the increased complexity of high-resolution imagery. Focusing on five 2-km² study areas within the Black Creek sub-watershed of the Humber River, this research uses eCognition® software to develop a rule-based OBIA workflow for semi-automatic classification of impervious land-use features (e.g., roads, buildings, Parking Lots, driveways). The overall classification accuracy ranges from 88.7 to 94.3%, indicating the effectiveness of using an OBIA approach and developing a sequential system for data fusion and automated impervious feature extraction. Similar accuracy results between the calibrating and validating sites demonstrates the strong potential for the transferability of the rule-set from pilot study sites to a larger area.     

A performance evaluation of a burned area object-based classification model when applied to topographically and non-topographically corrected TM imagery

Operational use of remote sensing as a tool for post-fire Mediterranean forest management has been limited by problems of classification accuracy arising from confusion between burned and non-burned land, especially within shaded areas. Object-oriented image analysis has been developed to overcome the limitations and weaknesses of traditional image processing methods for feature extraction from high spatial resolution images. The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of an object-based classification model developed for burned area mapping, when applied to topographically and non-topographically corrected Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery for a site on the Greek island of Thasos. The image was atmospherically and geometrically corrected before object-based classification. The results were compared with the forest perimeter map generated by the Forest Service. The accuracy assessment using an error matrix indicated that the removal of topographic effects from the image before applying the object-based classification model resulted in only slightly more accurate mapping of the burned area (1.16% increase in accuracy). It was concluded that topographic correction is not essential prior to object-based classification of a burned Mediterranean landscape using TM data.     

Knowledge-based region labeling for remote sensing image interpretation

The increasing availability of High Spatial Resolution (HSR) satellite images is an opportunity to characterize and identify urban objects. Thus, the augmentation of the precision led to a need of new image analysis methods using region-based (or object-based) approaches. In this field, an important challenge is the use of domain knowledge for automatic urban objects identification, and a major issue is the formalization and exploitation of this knowledge. In this paper, we present the building steps of a knowledge-base of urban objects allowing to perform the interpretation of HSR images in order to help urban planners to automatically map the territory. The knowledge-base is used to assign segmented regions (i.e. extracted from the images) into semantic objects (i.e. concepts of the knowledge-base). A matching process between the regions and the concepts of the knowledge-base is proposed, allowing to bridge the semantic gap between the images content and the interpretation. The method is validated on Quickbird images of the urban areas of Strasbourg and Marseille (France). The results highlight the capacity of the method to automatically identify urban objects using the domain knowledge.     

A Random Forests classification method for urban land-use mapping integrating spatial metrics and texture analysis

Rapid urban growth in developing countries is causing a great number of urban planning problems. To control and analyse this growth, new and better methods for urban land use mapping are needed. This article proposes a new method for urban land-use mapping, which integrates spatial metrics and texture analysis in an object-based image analysis classification. A high-resolution satellite image was used to generate spatial and texture metrics from the machine learning algorithm of Random Forests land-cover classification. The most meaningful spatial indices were selected by visual inspection and then combined with the image and texture values to generate the classification. The proposed method for land-use mapping was tested using a 10-fold cross-validation scheme, achieving an overall accuracy of 92.3% and a kappa coefficient of 0.896. These steps produced an accurate model of urban land use, without the use of any census or ancillary data, and suggest that the combined use of spatial metrics and texture is promising for urban land-use mapping in developing countries. The maps produced can provide the land-use data needed by urban planners for effective planning in developing countries.     

成都市地表温度对不透水面的响应研究

根据成都三环路内的Landsat 7/ETM+影像,利用单窗算法和不透水面与植被覆盖度在城市建成区呈负相关关系两种反演方法,通过空间建模建立反演模型,获取地表温度与不透水面信息。通过随机样点分析、相关性分析以及等温线与等透水面线叠加分析等方法,研究了城市地表温度对不透水面的响应效果。结果表明:地表温度随距市中心区距离增大而降低,同时不透水能力也降低;成都市地表温度与不透水面之间存在着正相关关系,相关度为0.7253;等透水面线的空间分布对等温线具有显著的响应规律。研究成果对于改善城市生态环境、提升土地利用水平和加强科学规划等都具有参考价值。     

Object-based satellite image analysis applied for crop residue estimating using Landsat OLI imagery

ABSTRACT

The main objective of this study is to apply an object-based image analysis (OBIA) approach to satellite image processing and determining crop residue cover (CRC) and tillage intensity. To achieve this goal, we collected ground truth data using line-transect method from 35 plots of farmlands with an area of 528 ha. Accordingly, Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI) satellite image together with global positioning system (GPS)-based survey data set were considered for applying the OBIA methods and deriving CRC. To process the data, object-based image processing steps including segmentation and classification were applied to develop intelligent objects and establish classification using spectral and spatial characteristics of CRC. We developed three categories of rule sets including mean indices, tillage indices, and grey-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture features using the OBIA algorithms and assign class method. Results were validated against of ground control data set and were collected by GPS in field survey. Results of this study indicated that the brightness, normalised difference tillage index, and GLCM texture feature mean performed out as effective techniques. Overall accuracy and kappa coefficient (κ) were computed to be about 0.91 and 0.86; 0.93 and 0.90; 0.60 and 0.35, respectively, for the above-mentioned indices. The foregoing discussion has attempted to demonstrate that the remotely sensed data can be effective approach and substitute for ground methods, especially in large areas.     

基于高分辨率遥感影像的不透水面信息提取方法研究

不透水面是城市地区的典型特征,它与城市总用地面积的比值--不透水率作为一个重要的城市生态指数常出现于城市水文、水质、面源污染以及城市植被制图等研究中。利用高分辨率遥感影像提取不透水面不仅可获得较高精度的不透水面信息,而且可为中低分辨率遥感影像的不透水面提取提供样本训练区并检验其提取精度。本文利用南京IKONOS影像,采用面向对象分类方法提取不透水面信息,初步解决了阴影归类和遮盖不透水面的植被剔除等问题,提高了不透水面信息提取精度。     

Assessing tropical cyclone impacts using object-based moderate spatial resolution image analysis: a case study in Bangladesh

The environmental and societal impacts of tropical cyclones could be reduced using a range of management initiatives. Remote sensing can be a cost effective, accurate, and potential tool for mapping the multiple impacts caused by tropical cyclones using high-to-moderate spatial resolution (5–30 m) satellite imagery to provide data on the following essential parameters – evacuation, relief, and management of natural resources. This study developed and evaluated an approach for assessing the impacts of tropical cyclones through object-based image analysis and moderate spatial resolution imagery. Pre- and post-cyclone maps of artificial and natural features are required for assessing the overall impacts in the landscape that could be acquired by mapping specific land cover types. We used the object-based approach to map land-cover types in pre- and post-cyclone Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) 5 image data and the post-classification comparison technique to identify changes in the particular features in the landscape. Cyclone Sidr (2007) was used to test the applicability of this approach in Sarankhola Upazila in Bangladesh. The object-based approach provided accurate results for classifying features from pre- and post-cyclone satellite images with an overall accuracy of 95.43% and 93.27%, respectively. Mapped changes identified the extent, type, and form of cyclone induced impacts. Our results indicate that 63.15% of the study area was significantly affected by cyclone Sidr. The majority of mapped damage was found in vegetation, cropped lands, settlements, and infrastructure. The damage results were verified through the high spatial resolution satellite imagery, reports and pictures that were taken after the cyclone. The methods developed may be used in future to assess the multiple impacts caused by tropical cyclones in Bangladesh and other similar environments for the purposes of tropical cyclone disaster management.     

Large-area assessment of impervious surface based on integrated analysis of single-date Landsat-7 images and geospatial vector data

Driven by a constantly accelerating increase of urban population in recent decades urban sprawl has become one of the most dynamic processes in the context of global land use transformations. The expansion of urban agglomerations is closely associated with a substantial increase of impervious surface. In Europe, methods for an accurate, fast and cost-effective mapping and assessment of impervious surface on a state-wide or national scale have not been established so far. This study presents an approach for estimating the impervious surface based on a combined analysis of single-date Landsat images and road network and railway vector data using Support Vector Machines and functionalities of geographic information processing. The modeling aims at the provision of data on the impervious surface for the total of residential, industrial and transportation-related areas. The derived information is provided for the administrative units of communities. The output of the procedure is a vector data file providing the ‘percent impervious surface of built-up areas’ (PIS_B) and the ‘percent impervious surface of the total of built-up and transportation-related areas’ (PIS_BT) for the administrative units of communities. The developed method is tested for a study area covering almost one third of the German territory. The results prove the suitability of the approach for a widely automated and area-wide mapping of impervious surfaces. Using reference data sets of three cities (Leipzig, Ludwigshafen, Passau) we realized a mean absolute error of 19.8% and an average error of 6.4% for the percent impervious surface modeled on the basis of the Landsat images. The final product resulting from a combination of the imperviousness raster derived from the satellite images with the transportation-related vector information showed a mean difference of 1% to 4% compared to corresponding reference data and results of previous studies. For the year 2000 our research shows that 45.3% of the area occupied by settlements and transport infrastructure in the German federal state of Bavaria, 44.6% in the state of Baden-Württemberg and 42.6% in the state of Saxony was covered by impervious surface.     

Object-based road extraction from satellite images using ant colony optimization

Increasing demands for up-to-date road network and the availability of very-high-resolution (VHR) satellite images as well as the popularity of high-speed computers provide motivation and preliminary materials for researchers to propose more advanced approaches in order to increase the automation and robustness of road extraction strategies. In this article, road characteristics are modelled via object-based image analysis (OBIA). Object-based information is embedded as heuristic information in the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm for handling the road network extraction problem. A new neighbourhood definition in object space is introduced, which affects the transition rule in order to decrease the road gaps. Furthermore, an innovative desirability function for ACO is designed, which extracts the road objects, competently. The experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm for road extraction from VHR images. Moreover, the results of two state-of-the-art methods are compared with the proposed algorithm.