Comparative analysis of methods applied in vegetation cover delimitation using Landsat 8 images

Abstract

There is a wide availability of methods and techniques for classification of data from remote sensing images. However, one of the biggest challenges is to identify whether the applied method is really effective for the thematic mapping the terrain features. Thus, the aim of this work was to provide a comparative analysis involving data classification methods for mapping forest cover using orbital images from the Landsat 8 satellite. The applied method consisted of pre-processing the images, calculating the NDVI image, performing the infrared image composition and principal component analysis (PCA). The maximum likelihood classification method (MAXVER) was used to delimit the vegetation cover applied to the three types of databases. To validate the classification results, field data, Kappa analysis and pixel-by-pixel analysis were applied. The results pointed out that the NDVI method showed the least general similarity regarding to the reference data used for validation from the MAPBIOMAS project. It was possible to identify similar results in relation to the delimitation of forest cover. The results allowed identifying that the several methodologies available for classification of vegetation are of great value for the thematic mapping of forest resources. In addition, we conclude that the PCA showed the best capacity for delimiting the vegetation cover in the study region, closely followed by infrared composition, and the NDVI was the least accurate.