An automatic approach for urban land-cover classification from Landsat-8 OLI data

Due to the lack of clear shape, texture characteristics, and abundant spectral or spatial information of urban objects, traditional per-/sub-pixel analysis and interpretation for moderate-resolution-remote sensing data are always confused by such shortcomings as dependence on special skills, requirements to a priori knowledge and training samples, complex process, time-consuming and subjective operations, etc.. In order to alleviate such disadvantages, an automatic approach is proposed to classify vegetation, water, impervious surface areas (dark and bright), and bare land from the Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor data of Landsat-8 in urban areas, which can be employed by common users to automatically obtain land-cover maps for urban applications. In detail, a preliminary classification result is achieved based on a new vegetation and water masking index (VWMI), the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and a new normalized difference bare land index (NDBLI), which are acquired automatically from the remote-sensing images based on available knowledge of spectral properties. VWMI is designed to extract vegetation and water information together with a simpler threshold, while NDBLI is developed to identify dark impervious surfaces and bare land in this work. A modification strategy is further proposed to improve preliminary classification results by a linear model. For this purpose, a stable sample selection method based on the histogram is developed to select training samples from the preliminary classification result and to build a non-linear support vector machine (SVM) model to reclassify the classes. For validation and comparison purposes, the proposed approach is evaluated via experiments with real OLI data of two study areas, Nanjing and Ordos. The results demonstrate that the approach is effective in automatically obtaining urban land-cover classification maps from OLI data for thematic analysis.     

A comparison of pixel-based decision tree and object-based Support Vector Machine methods for land-cover classification based on aerial images and airborne lidar data

Precisely monitoring land cover/use is crucial for urban environmental assessment and management. Various classification techniques such as pixel-based and object-based approaches have advantages and disadvantages. In this article, based on our experiment data from an unmanned platform carried lidar scanner system and camera, we explored and compared classi?cation accuracies of pixel-based decision tree (DT) and object-based Support Vector Machine (SVM) approaches. Lidar height information can improve classification accuracy based on either object-based SVM or pixel-based DT. From total classification accuracy, object-based SVM was higher than that of pixel-based DT classification, and total accuracy and kappa coefficient of the former were 92.71% and 0.899, respectively. However, pixel-based DT outperformed object-based SVM when classifying small ‘scatter’ tree along roads. Additionally, in order to evaluate the accuracy of pixel-based DT and object-based SVM, we added benchmark data of ISPRS to compare the classification results of two methods. Object-based SVM classification methods by combining aerial imagery with lidar height information can achieve higher classification accuracy. And, accurately extracting tree class of different landscape pattern should select appropriate machine-learning algorithms. Comparison of the results on two methods will provide a reference for selecting a particular classification approaches according to local conditions.     

A simple measure of confidence for fuzzy land-cover classification from remote-sensing data

Representing the quality of thematic maps derived from remote-sensing image classification is important in assessing its fitness for use. Conventional approaches to represent the quality in terms of accuracy need information from the reference data at the same scale. Error-prone or dubious reference data may have an impact on the assessment of quality. Therefore, measures that complement the conventional accuracy measures are required to represent the quality. Uncertainty and confidence are such measures that do not require reference data. Few studies have been attempted to derive pixel-level confidence. However, these measures are not widely adopted by the remote-sensing community due to their limitations. In this article, a simple measure of confidence is derived to represent the quality of fuzzy classification. To derive the confidence value for a pixel, two values, viz. first highest class membership value as evidence and an associated degree of certainty, are required. When the difference between first and second highest membership values is used as degree of certainty in the proposed approach, the confidence measure derived is equal to the complement of existing measure of uncertainty, viz. confusion index in difference form.     

Partially supervised hierarchical classification for urban features from lidar data with aerial imagery

Although spatial and spectral resolutions of remotely sensed data have been improved, the usage of multispectral imagery is not sufficient for urban feature classification. This article addresses the problem of automated classification by integrating airborne lidar range data and aerial imagery. In this study, the classification procedure is divided into three phases. We first use the lidar range data to obtain the coarse lidar-based classification results, by which a lidar-driven labelled image and a lidar-driven high-rise object mask are acquired in this phase. Then, at the image-based classification level, we train samples based on the lidar-driven labelled image and conduct maximum likelihood classification experience with the lidar-driven normalized digital surface model as a high-rise object mask. Finally, we propose a knowledge-based cross-validation (KBCV) for misclassification between the lidar-based classification results and the image-based classification results. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the benefits of the training sample selection of the lidar-driven labelled image, using the lidar-driven high-rise object mask, and the greater classification accuracy of the KBCV.     

Estimating structural properties of riparian forests with airborne lidar data

Riparian forest zones adjacent to surface water such as streams, lakes, reservoirs and wetlands maintain significant forest ecosystem functions including nutrient cycling, vegetative communities, water quality, fish and wildlife habitat and landscape aesthetics. In order to support the sustainable management of riparian forests, riparian zones should first be carefully delineated and then structural properties of riparian vegetation, especially forest trees, should be accurately measured. Geographical information system (GIS) techniques have been previously implemented to determine riparian zones quickly and reliably. However, basic measurements of forest structures in riparian areas have relied heavily on field-based surveys, which can be extremely time consuming in large areas. In this study, riparian forest zones were initially located using GIS techniques and then airborne lidar (light detection and ranging) data were used to determine and analyse structural properties (i.e. tree height, crown diameter, canopy closure and vegetation density) of a sample riparian forest. Lidar-derived tree height and crown diameter measurements of sample trees were compared with field-based measurements. Results indicated that 77.92% of the riparian area in the study area was covered by forest. Based on lidar-derived data, the average tree height, total crown width, canopy closure (above 3 m) and vegetation density (3–15 m) were found to be 74.72 m, 16.82 m, 71.15% and 26.05%, respectively. Although we found differences between measurement methods, lidar-derived riparian tree measurements were highly correlated with field measurements for tree height (R ²?=?88%) and crown width (R ²?=?92%). Differences between measurement methods were likely a result of difficulties associated with field measurements in the dense vegetation that is often associated with forested riparian areas.     

An effective parallel approach for genetic-fuzzy data mining

Data mining is most commonly used in attempts to induce association rules from transaction data. In the past, we used the fuzzy and GA concepts to discover both useful fuzzy association rules and suitable membership functions from quantitative values. The evaluation for fitness values was, however, quite time-consuming. Due to dramatic increases in available computing power and concomitant decreases in computing costs over the last decade, learning or mining by applying parallel processing techniques has become a feasible way to overcome the slow-learning problem. In this paper, we thus propose a parallel genetic-fuzzy mining algorithm based on the master–slave architecture to extract both association rules and membership functions from quantitative transactions. The master processor uses a single population as a simple genetic algorithm does, and distributes the tasks of fitness evaluation to slave processors. The evolutionary processes, such as crossover, mutation and production are performed by the master processor. It is very natural and efficient to run the proposed algorithm on the master–slave architecture. The time complexities for both sequential and parallel genetic-fuzzy mining algorithms have also been analyzed, with results showing the good effect of the proposed one. When the number of generations is large, the speed-up can be nearly linear. The experimental results also show this point. Applying the master–slave parallel architecture to speed up the genetic-fuzzy data mining algorithm is thus a feasible way to overcome the low-speed fitness evaluation problem of the original algorithm.     

A graphical approach for the evaluation of land-cover classification procedures

Abstract

A method for evaluating the effectiveness of different feature combinations and training strategies is described. Preliminary tests have been made using two groups of feature combinations derived from SPOT High Resolution Visible (HRV) data and two sets of training samples. The method is objective, and needs no ground confirmation or interaction from the image analyst. It is recommended as a surrogate for detailed accuracy assessment when attempting to find an optimum set of training pixels or feature combinations for image classification.     

An approach to classification of airborne laser scanning point cloud data in an urban environment

Digital topographic data, including detailed maps required for urban planning, are still unavailable in many parts of the world. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) has the unique ability to provide geo-referenced three-dimensional data useful for the mapping of urban features. This article examines the performance of decision tree classifiers on two ALS data sets, collected in different seasons from different flying heights with different scanners using laser beams at different wavelengths – 1550 and 1064 nm – for the same study area. Classification was undertaken on the point clouds based on attributes derived from the triangulated irregular network (TIN) triangles attached to a point, as well as attributes of the individual points. Classification accuracies of 0.68 and 0.92 (kappa coefficient) could be achieved for the two data sets. Decision tree seems to be a classification method that is particularly suitable for geographic information system (GIS), as it can be converted to ‘if–then’ rules that can be implemented fully within a GIS environment. Grass and paved areas could be distinguished better using intensity from one data set than the other, which could be related to the wavelengths of the lasers, and need to be explored further.     

An assessment of landsat MSS and TM data for urban and near-urban land-cover digital classification

The information content of Landsat TM and MSS data was examined to assess the ability to digitally differentiate urban and near-urban land covers around Miami, FL. This examination included comparisons of unsupervised signature extractions for various cover types, training site statistics for intraclass and interclass separability, and band and band combination selection from an 11-band multisensor data set. The principal analytical tool used in this study was transformed divergence calculations. The TM digital data are typically more useful than the MSS data in the homogeneous near-urban land-covers and less useful in the heterogeneous urban areas.     

An effective double-bounded tree-connected Isomap algorithm for microarray data classification

Isometric mapping (Isomap) is a popular nonlinear dimensionality reduction technique which has shown high potential in visualization and classification. However, it appears sensitive to noise or scarcity of observations. This inadequacy may hinder its application for the classification of microarray data, in which the expression levels of thousands of genes in a few normal and tumor sample tissues are measured. In this paper we propose a double-bounded tree-connected variant of Isomap, aimed at being more robust to noise and outliers when used for classification and also computationally more efficient. It differs from the original Isomap in the way the neighborhood graph is generated: in the first stage we apply a double-bounding rule that confines the search to at most k nearest neighbors contained within an ε-radius hypersphere; the resulting subgraphs are then joined by computing a minimum spanning tree among the connected components. We therefore achieve a connected graph without unnaturally inflating the values of k and ε. The computational experiences show that the new method performs significantly better in terms of accuracy with respect to Isomap, k-edge-connected Isomap and the direct application of support vector machines to data in the input space, consistently across seven microarray datasets considered in our tests.     

Estimation of tree crown volume from airborne lidar data using computational geometry

Although simple geometrical shapes are commonly used to describe tree crowns, computational geometry enables calculation of the individual crown properties directly from airborne lidar point clouds. Our objective was to calculate crown volumes (CVs) using this technique and validate the results by comparing them with field-measured values and modelled ellipsoidal crowns. The CVs of standing trees were obtained by measuring the crown radii at different heights, integrating the obtained crown profiles as solids of revolution, and finally averaging the volumes obtained from the four separate profiles. With the lidar data, the CVs were extracted using 3D alpha shape and 3D convex hull techniques. Crown base heights (CBHs) were also estimated from the lidar data and used to exclude echoes from the understory, which was also done using field-based CBHs to exclude this error source. The results show that the field-measured CVs had a high correlation with lidar-based estimates (best R ² = 0.83), but the lidar-based estimates were generally smaller than the field values. The best correspondence (root mean square difference (RMSD) = 45.0%, average difference = –24.7%) was obtained using the convex hull of the point data and field-measured CBH. The CBHs were consistently overestimated (RMSD = 37.3%; average difference = –20.0%), especially in spruces with long crowns. Thus using lidar-based CBH also increased the inaccuracy of the CV estimates. While the underestimation of CV is mainly explained by the inadequate number of echoes from the lower regions of the crowns, the CVs obtained from the lidar were better than those obtained with ellipsoids fitted by using general models for crown dimensions. The utility of the estimated CVs in the prediction of stem diameter is also demonstrated.     

An effective hybrid approach to remote-sensing image classification

This article presents a hybrid fuzzy classifier for effective land-use/land-cover (LULC) mapping. It discusses a Bayesian method of incorporating spatial contextual information into the fuzzy noise classifier (FNC). The FNC was chosen as it detects noise using spectral information more efficiently than its fuzzy counterparts. The spatial information at the level of the second-order pixel neighbourhood was modelled using Markov random fields (MRFs). Spatial contextual information was added to the MRF using different adaptive interaction functions. These help to avoid over-smoothing at the class boundaries. The hybrid classifier was applied to advanced wide-field sensor (AWiFS) and linear imaging self-scanning sensor-III (LISS-III) images from a rural area in India. Validation was done with a LISS-IV image from the same area. The highest increase in accuracy among the adaptive functions was 4.1% and 2.1% for AWiFS and LISS-III images, respectively. The paper concludes that incorporation of spatial contextual information into the fuzzy noise classifier helps in achieving a more realistic and accurate classification of satellite images.     

ICESat waveform-based land-cover classification using a curve matching approach

Light detection and ranging waveforms record the entire one-dimensional backscattered signal as a function of time within a footprint, which can potentially reflect the vertical structure information of the above-ground objects. This study aimed to explore the potential of the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System sensor on board the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite to perform land-cover classification by using only the profile curve of the full waveform. For this purpose, a curve matching method based on Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) distance was developed to measure the curve similarity between an unknown waveform and a reference waveform. A set of reference waveforms were first extracted from the training data set based on a principal component analysis (PCA). The unknown waveform was then compared with individual reference waveforms derived using KS distance and assigned to the class with the closest similarity. The results demonstrated that the KS distance-based land-cover classification using the waveform curve was able to achieve an overall accuracy of 87.2% and a kappa coefficient of 0.80. It outperformed the widely adopted rule-based method using Gaussian decomposition parameters by 3.5%. The research also indicated that the PCA- selected reference waveforms achieved substantially better results than randomly selected reference waveforms.     

Extracting buildings from and regularizing boundaries in airborne lidar data using connected operators

The location of building boundary is a crucial prerequisite for geographical condition monitoring, urban management, and building reconstruction. This paper presents a framework that employs a series of algorithms to automatically extract building footprints from airborne (light detection and ranging (lidar)) data and image. Connected operators are utilized to extract building regions from lidar data, which would not produce new contours nor change their position and have very good contour-preservation properties. First, the building candidate regions are separated from lidar-derived digital surface model (DSM) based on a new method proposed within this paper using connected operators, and trees are removed based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) value of image. Then, building boundaries are identified and building boundary lines are traced by ‘sleeve’ line simplification method. Finally, the principal directions of buildings are used to regularize the directions of building boundary lines. International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) data sets in Vaihingen whose point spacing is about 0.4 m from urbanized areas were employed to test the proposed framework, and three test areas were selected. A quantitative analysis showed that the method proposed within this paper was effective and the average offset values of simple and complex building boundaries were 0.2–0.4 m and 0.3–0.6 m, respectively.     

XRules: An effective algorithm for structural classification of XML data

XML documents have recently become ubiquitous because of their varied applicability in a number of applications. Classification is an important problem in the data mining domain, but current classification methods for XML documents use IR-based methods in which each document is treated as a bag of words. Such techniques ignore a significant amount of information hidden inside the documents. In this paper we discuss the problem of rule based classification of XML data by using frequent discriminatory substructures within XML documents. Such a technique is more capable of finding the classification characteristics of documents. In addition, the technique can also be extended to cost sensitive classification. We show the effectiveness of the method with respect to other classifiers. We note that the methodology discussed in this paper is applicable to any kind of semi-structured data. Editors: Hendrik Blockeel, David Jensen and Stefan Kramer An erratum to this article is available at .     

An effective method for classification with missing values

Classification is one of the most important tasks in machine learning with a huge number of real-life applications. In many practical classification problems, the available information for making object classification is partial or incomplete because some attribute values can be missing due to various reasons. These missing values can significantly affect the efficacy of the classification model. So it is crucial to develop effective techniques to impute these missing values. A number of methods have been introduced for solving classification problem with missing values. However they have various problems. So, we introduce an effective method for imputing missing values using the correlation among the attributes. Other methods which consider correlation for imputing missing values works better either for categorical or numeric data, or designed for a particular application only. Moreover they will not work if all the records have at least one missing attribute. Our method, Model based Missing value Imputation using Correlation (MMIC), can effectively impute both categorical and numeric data. It uses an effective model based technique for filling the missing values attribute wise and reusing then effectively using the model. Extensive performance analyzes show that our proposed approach achieves high performance in imputing missing values and thus increases the efficacy of the classifier. The experimental results also show that our method outperforms various existing methods for handling missing data in classification.     

Quality of TOPSAR topographic data for volcanology studies at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii: An assessment using airborne lidar data

We use airborne lidar data for the summit area of Kilauea Caldera, Hawaii, to explore the utility of topographic data collected by the TOPSAR airborne interferometric radar for volcanology studies. The lidar data are processed to a spatial resolution of 1 m/pixel, compared to TOPSAR with a spatial resolution of 5 m. Over a variety of fresh volcanic surfaces (pahoehoe and aa lava flows, ash falls and fluvial fans), TOPSAR data are shown to have a typical vertical offset compared to the lidar data of no more than ∼2-3 m. Larger differences between the two data sets and TOPSAR data drop-outs are found to be concentrated around steep scarps such as the walls of pit craters and ground cracks associated with the Southwest Rift Zone. A comparison of these two data sets is used to explore the utility of TOPSAR to interpret the topography of volcanic features close to the spatial resolution of TOPSAR, such as spatter ramparts, fractures, a perched lava flow, and eroded ash deposits. Comparison of the TOPSAR elevation and the lidar first-return minus the return from the ground surface (the so-called “bald Earth” data) for vegetated areas reveals TOPSAR penetration into the tree canopy is typically at least 10% and no more than ∼50%, although a wide range of penetration values from 0% to 90% has been identified. Our results are significant because they show that TOPSAR data for volcanoes can reliably be used to measure regional slopes and the thickness of lava flows, and have value for the validation of coarser spatial resolution digital elevation data (such as SRTM) in areas where lidar data have not been collected.     

An all-pair quantum SVM approach for big data multiclass classification

In this paper, we discuss a quantum approach for the all-pair multiclass classification problem. In an all-pair approach, there is one binary classification problem for each pair of classes, and so there are k(k???1)/2 classifiers for a k-class classification problem. As compared to the classical multiclass support vector machine that can be implemented with polynomial run time complexity, our approach exhibits exponential speedup due to quantum computing. The quantum all-pair algorithm can also be used with other classification algorithms, and a speedup gain can be achieved as compared to their classical counterparts.