Validation of Land Cover Products Using Reliability Evaluation Methods

Wenzhong Shi,Xiaokang Zhang,Xuzhe Lyu,Pan Shao,Ming Hao,Liping Cai

doi:10.3390/rs70607846

Abstract

Validation of land cover products is a fundamental task prior to data applications. Current validation schemes and methods are, however, suited only for assessing classification accuracy and disregard the reliability of land cover products. The reliability evaluation of land cover products should be undertaken to provide reliable land cover information. In addition, the lack of high-quality reference data often constrains validation and affects the reliability results of land cover products. This study proposes a validation schema to evaluate the reliability of land cover products, including two methods, namely, result reliability evaluation and process reliability evaluation. Result reliability evaluation computes the reliability of land cover products using seven reliability indicators. Process reliability evaluation analyzes the reliability propagation in the data production process to obtain the reliability of land cover products. Fuzzy fault tree analysis is introduced and improved in the reliability analysis of a data production process. Research results show that the proposed reliability evaluation scheme is reasonable and can be applied to validate land cover products. Through the analysis of the seven indicators of result reliability evaluation, more information on land cover can be obtained for strategic decision-making and planning, compared with traditional accuracy assessment methods. Process reliability evaluation without the need for reference data can facilitate the validation and reflect the change trends of reliabilities to some extent.

Highlights

Land cover is one of the most critical variables of the earth system and affects various parts of the human and physical environments
Process reliability evaluation with no need for reference data can save costs, facilitate the validation and solve the problem that the validation is often constrained by the lack of high-quality ground reference data to some extent
Result reliability evaluation computes the reliability of land cover data by using seven reliability indicators

Summary

Introduction

Land cover is one of the most critical variables of the earth system and affects various parts of the human and physical environments. It has a major role in the exchanges of energy, heat, and momentum between continents and the atmosphere [1]. Information on the state of land cover and land cover dynamics is much needed on a regular basis to support major scientific and policy applications. To provide reliable and accurate land cover information, validating land cover data should be a fundamental task prior to data application. Efforts to improve the validation methods and schemes of land cover products were realized by focusing on sampling design, response design, and analysis [2].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion