Citation:

LUNETTA, R. S., J. F. KNIGHT, AND J. EDIRIWICKREMA. LAND-COVER CHARACTERIZATION AND CHANGE DETECTION USING MULTI-TEMPORAL MODIS NDIV DATA. Presented at MultiTemp 2005, 3rd International Workshop on the Analysis of Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing Imagery, Biloxi, MS, May 16 - 18, 2005.

Impact/Purpose:

Our research objectives are to: (a) develop new methods using satellite remote sensor data for the rapid characterization of LC condition and change at regional to national scales; (b) evaluate the utility of the new NASA-EOS MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) leaf area index (LAI) measurements for regional scale application with landscape process models (e.g., biogenic emissions and atmospheric deposition); (c) provide remote sensor derived measurement data to advance the development of the next generation of distributed landscape process-based models to provide a predictive modeling capability for important ecosystem processes (e.g., nutrients, sedimentation, pathogens, etc.); and (d) integrate in situ monitoring measurement networks with UAV and satellite based remote sensor data to provide a continuous environmental monitoring capability.

Description:

Land-cover (LC) composition and conversions are important factors that affect ecosystem condition and function. These data are frequently used as a primary data source to generate landscape-based metrics to assess landscape condition at multiple assessment scales. The use of satellite-based remote sensor data has been widely applied to provide a cost-effective means to develop LC coverages over large geographic regions. Past and ongoing efforts for generating LC data for the United States have been implemented using an interagency consortium to share the substantial costs associated satellite data acquisition, processing and analysis. The first moderate resolution National Land-Cover Data (NLCD) set was developed for the conterminous United States using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery collected between1991-1992 (Vogelmann et al., 1998). Currently, the 2001 NLCD is under development for all 50 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Homer et al., 2004). The 2001 effort, building on the lessons learned from the 1991 NLCD, promises to provide a relatively high quality baseline LC product.

Although the 2001 NLCD is expected to provide the most accurate and current LC database ever developed, the required development time will result in five-to-nine year offset between data collection and product availability .Ideally, an NLCD product updated on an annual basis would provide the user community with an optimal product to support ongoing environmental assessment and policy decisions. To best achieve this goal in a cost-effective manner, one possible approach would be to identify areas of LC change occurring subsequent to 2001 and update the 2001 NLCD only for those areas that have undergone change. The updated NLCD would not only provide the user with a current LC coverage, but could also be used to identify both the location and nature of changes that had occurred between dates of interest. Other advantages associated with the editing update approach would include (a) substantial cost savings, (b ) no additional introduction of classification errors for non-change areas, and ( c ) the minimization of registration errors that typically limit the overlay of multiple date coverages (post-classification) to support change detection analysis.

Record Details: