Forest stand delineation using Ikonos image and object based image analysis

Abstract

Together with the developments in satellite technology, it is considered that high resolution satellite data may be used as an alternative source of information to aerial photos in delineation of stand types. The study aims to reveal how detailed one could work to generate the map of stand types which form the basis of forest management plans using IKONOS satellite data. For this purpose, object based classification was applied to satellite image. Firstly, image segments which represent target objects were generated applying image segmentation algorithm to the satellite image. The image segments generated at three different levels according to different scale parameters and homogeneity criteria were classified according to standard nearest-neighbor approach. Classification accuracy was determined using both the stand maps of study area and ground control points. Overall accuracy was calculated as 58% (Kappa=0.54). Accordingly, it was understood that it was not possible to generate a stand map with sufficient accuracy from the IKONOS satellite image using automatic classification.