Validation of a large area land cover product using purpose-acquired airborne video

Using remotely sensed data to construct and assess forest attribute maps and related spatial products

“…As examples, aerial photography is commonly used because it offers a cost-effective option for covering extensive areas; videography can be used to determine the observed class or quantity (Powell et al, 2004;Wulder et al, 2007); and interpretation of very fine-resolution imagery such as IKONOS and QuickBird offers another, albeit expensive, option. Finally, airborne lidar data have been used to evaluate insect defoliation maps derived from spaceborne optical MODIS data (Eklundh et al, 2009), biomass estimated from spaceborne radar data (Solberg et al, 2010), and canopy height estimated from spaceborne lidar data (Duncanson et al, 2009).…”

Characterizing forest fragmentation: Distinguishing change in composition from configuration

“…The validity of the 2000 land cover dataset created under the EOSD program has been assessed in three separate studies (Remmel et al, 2005;Wulder et al, 2006;Wulder et al, 2007). Over all applicable EOSD classes (e.g., 23 class generalization to cover types) a target accuracy of over 80% was obtained using the mode class of a 3 x 3 spatial neighbourhood of the EOSD data , which contains more detail than was used in this study.…”

The Quality of Detailed Land Cover Maps in Highly Bio-Diverse Areas: Lessons Learned from the Mexican Experience

“…In the United States of America (USA), Laba et al (2002) assessed the accuracy of 29 LULC classes and Wickham et al (2004) the accuracy of 21 classes in maps of year 1992 from, respectively, the Gap Analysis Project (GAP) and the National Land Cover Data (NLCD). As a part of the Earth Observation for Sustainable Development (EOSD) program of Canada, Wulder et al (2006) provide a plan for the future accuracy assessment of the 21 classes in the 2000 Canadian forest cover map, and the accuracy of this program is assessed in the Vancouver Island for 18 classes (Wulder et al, 2007). These studies reveal the presence of numerous confusions between classes, which yield a global accuracy index (percent area of the map with correct information) of between 38 and 70%.…”

“…Only relatively recently have comprehensive accuracy assessments, with estimates for each class, been built and applied to regional or continental LULC maps (e.g. Laba et al, 2002;Stehman et al, 2003;Wickham et al, 2004;Wulder et al, 2007). Because of the high complexity of these products, detailed information on the assessment process itself is needed for the reliability figures to be interpreted properly (Foody, 2002).…”

“…imagery with higher spatial resolution, than the imagery that was employed during the map production process. In these cases the map was produced using Landsat imagery (spatial resolution of 30m), and was assessed using aerial photographs (spatial resolution better than 3m) or aerial videography (Wulder et al, 2007). The map of South and Southeast Asia (Stibig et al, 2007, table 1) was produced using the SPOT-VEGETATION sensor (spatial resolution of 1km) and assessed using Landsat imagery (resolution 30m).…”