Automatic Spectral Rule-Based Preliminiary Mapping of Calibrated Landsat TM and ETM + images

Based on purely spectral-domain prior knowledge taken from remote sensing (RS) literature, an original spectral (fuzzy) rule-based per-pixel classifier is proposed. Requiring no training and supervision to run, the proposed spectral rule-based system is suitable for the preliminary classification (primal sketch, in the Marr sense) of Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ images calibrated into planetary reflectance (albedo) and at-satellite temperature. The classification system consists of a modular hierarchical top-down processing structure, adaptive to image statistics, computationally efficient, and easy to modify, augment, or scale to other sensors’ spectral properties (e.g., ASTER, SPOT-5). As output the proposed system detects a set of meaningful and reliable fuzzy spectral layers (strata) consistent (in terms of one-to-one or many-to-one relationships) with land cover classes found in Levels I and II of the USGS classification scheme. Although kernel spectral categories (e.g., strong vegetation) are detected without requiring any reference sample, their symbolic meaning is intermediate between those (low) of clusters and segments and those (high) of land cover classes (e.g., forest). This means that the application domain of kernel spectral strata is by no means alternative to RS data clustering, image segmentation, and land cover classification. Rather, prior knowledge-based kernel spectral categories are naturally suitable for driving stratified application-specific classification, clustering, or segmentation of RS imagery which could involve training and supervision. The efficacy and robustness of the proposed rule-based system are tested in two operational RS image classification problems.

BARALDI Andrea;  PUZZOLO Virginia;  BLONDA Palma;  BRUZZONE Lorenzo;  TARANTINO Cristina; 

2006-09-25

IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING SOCIETY

JRC32620

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC32620,