Analyzing the Uncertainties of Ground Validation for Remote Sensing Land Cover Mapping in the Era of Big Geographic Data

Bo Sun*, Xi Chen, Qiming Zhou

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Ground validation and accuracy assessment on remote sensing land cover classification is a vital process before the product may be used by the end-user. The common approach towards the validation is based on field investigation and manual or automatic image interpretation using the original or higher-resolution images. The ground reference, which is often regarded as “ground truth”, however, contains errors, especially when a large amount of such ground references is expected with the speculation of coming era of big geographic data. In this study, we aim to analyze the uncertainties in the process of ground validation. By taking accuracy assessment of land cover mapping in Central Asia as an example, a two-tier sampling scheme with a collection of more than 27 thousand samples was adopted. Ground references were sampled by manual image interpretation as well as by field investigation. The reference data were then cross-validated. Misclassification and scale issues are highlighted in the analysis. Result indicates that misclassification of ground reference data by image interpretation is common and the errors in the reference data would make misleading accuracy assessment on remote sensing classification. A new evaluation system of data quality is therefore required.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSpatial Data Handling in Big Data Era
Subtitle of host publicationSelect Papers from the 17th IGU Spatial Data Handling Symposium 2016
EditorsChenghu Zhou, Fenzhen Su, Francis Harvey, Jun Xu
PublisherSpringer Singapore
Pages31-38
Number of pages8
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)978-981-10-4424-3
ISBN (Print)978-981-10-4423-6, 978-981-13-5133-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2017
Event17th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, SDH 2016 - Beijing, China
Duration: 18 Aug 201620 Aug 2016

Publication series

NameAdvances in Geographic Information Science
ISSN (Print)1867-2434
ISSN (Electronic)1867-2442

Conference

Conference17th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, SDH 2016
Country/TerritoryChina
CityBeijing
Period18/08/1620/08/16

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Information Systems
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Geography, Planning and Development

User-Defined Keywords

  • Accuracy assessment
  • Central Asia
  • Error propagation
  • Ground reference data
  • Remote sensing

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