Land Cover Classification with High Spatial Resolution Using Orthoimage and DSM Based on Fixed-Wing UAV

Abstract

An UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is a flight system that is designed to conduct missions without a pilot. Compared to traditional airborne-based photogrammetry, UAV-based photogrammetry is inexpensive and can obtain high-spatial resolution data quickly. In this study, we aimed to classify the land cover using high-spatial resolution images obtained using a UAV. An RGB camera was used to obtain high-spatial resolution orthoimage. For accurate classification, multispectral image about same areas were obtained using a multispectral sensor. A DSM (Digital Surface Model) and a modified NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) were generated using images obtained using the RGB camera and multispectral sensor. Pixel-based classification was performed for twelve classes by using the RF (Random Forest) method. The classification accuracy was evaluated based on the error matrix, and it was confirmed that the proposed method effectively classified the area compared to supervised classification using only the RGB image.