- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Theses and Dissertations /
- Landsat temporal discrimination of forest cover types...
Open Collections
UBC Theses and Dissertations
UBC Theses and Dissertations
Landsat temporal discrimination of forest cover types of the Carmanah Valley, British Columbia Yatich, Sammy Kibet
Abstract
The classification of forest cover types in the Pacific Coastal Rainforest is a difficult task. The complexity and variability of species compositions and sites makes various cover types arduous to define and identify. This study utilised multitemporal TM satellite data and a combined classification approach to determine if it is possible to discriminate forest cover types of the Carmanah Valley. Landsat TM data from June and September were used to investigate whether seasonal variability can aid in the discrimination. Due to the huge dataset involved, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to reduce data dimensionality to a level that could be easily handled or processed with available image analysis software and enhance the meaning. Results from PCA were used in visual analysis and supervised classification. Classification accuracies for three temporal data sets, June-early summer, September-late summer and a multitemporal set, were compared. Finally, TM data were assessed for their potential to provide information regarding forest age and stocking classes. Results indicated that the degree of correlation between any two bands was related to the amount of spectral contrast. The higher the correlation, the less the spectral contrast and the lower the correlation, the more the spectral contrast. A trend was observed between stand age and digital values. With an increase in stand age, digital values decreased in all TM bands considered. However, the main funding was that the specific forest cover types of the Carmanah Valley can be identified and that time of the year can significantly affect cove-type classification accuracy. Comparison of the classifications of forest cover type showed that the multitempoal approach was significantly better than the single-date classifications.
Item Metadata
Title |
Landsat temporal discrimination of forest cover types of the Carmanah Valley, British Columbia
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
1997
|
Description |
The classification of forest cover types in the Pacific Coastal Rainforest is a difficult task. The
complexity and variability of species compositions and sites makes various cover types arduous to
define and identify. This study utilised multitemporal TM satellite data and a combined classification
approach to determine if it is possible to discriminate forest cover types of the Carmanah Valley.
Landsat TM data from June and September were used to investigate whether seasonal variability can
aid in the discrimination.
Due to the huge dataset involved, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to reduce
data dimensionality to a level that could be easily handled or processed with available image analysis
software and enhance the meaning. Results from PCA were used in visual analysis and supervised
classification. Classification accuracies for three temporal data sets, June-early summer, September-late
summer and a multitemporal set, were compared. Finally, TM data were assessed for their potential
to provide information regarding forest age and stocking classes.
Results indicated that the degree of correlation between any two bands was related to the
amount of spectral contrast. The higher the correlation, the less the spectral contrast and the lower the
correlation, the more the spectral contrast. A trend was observed between stand age and digital values.
With an increase in stand age, digital values decreased in all TM bands considered. However, the main
funding was that the specific forest cover types of the Carmanah Valley can be identified and that
time of the year can significantly affect cove-type classification accuracy. Comparison of the
classifications of forest cover type showed that the multitempoal approach was significantly better
than the single-date classifications.
|
Extent |
8569057 bytes
|
Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
|
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2009-03-10
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0075263
|
URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
1997-05
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.