Development of Land-Use/Land-Cover Maps Using Landsat-8 and MODIS Data, and Their Integration for Hydro-Ecological Applications
1
Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
2
Environmental Monitoring and Science Division, Alberta Environment and Parks, Calgary, AB T2E 7L7, Canada
3
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sensors 2019, 19(22), 4891; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19224891
Received: 9 October 2019
/
Revised: 4 November 2019
/
Accepted: 6 November 2019
/
Published: 9 November 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite Remote Sensing in Environmental Monitoring)
The Athabasca River watershed plays a dominant role in both the economy and the environment in Alberta, Canada. Natural and anthropogenic factors rapidly changed the landscape of the watershed in recent decades. The dynamic of such changes in the landscape characteristics of the watershed calls for a comprehensive and up-to-date land-use and land-cover (LULC) map, which could serve different user-groups and purposes. The aim of the study herein was to delineate a 2016 LULC map of the Athabasca River watershed using Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-derived enhanced vegetation index (EVI) images, and other ancillary data. In order to achieve this, firstly, a preliminary LULC map was developed through applying the iterative self-organizing data analysis (ISODATA) clustering technique on 24 scenes of Landsat-8 OLI. Secondly, a Terra MODIS-derived 250-m 16-day composite of 30 EVI images over the growing season was employed to enhance the vegetation classes. Thirdly, several geospatial ancillary datasets were used in the post-classification improvement processes to generate a final 2016 LULC map of the study area, exhibiting 14 LULC classes. Fourthly, an accuracy assessment was carried out to ensure the reliability of the generated final LULC classes. The results, with an overall accuracy and Cohen’s kappa of 74.95% and 68.34%, respectively, showed that coniferous forest (47.30%), deciduous forest (16.76%), mixed forest (6.65%), agriculture (6.37%), water (6.10%), and developed land (3.78%) were the major LULC classes of the watershed. Fifthly, to support the data needs of scientists across various disciplines, data fusion techniques into the LULC map were performed using the Alberta merged wetland inventory 2017 data. The results generated two useful maps applicable for hydro-ecological applications. Such maps depicted two specific categories including different types of burned (approximately 6%) and wetland (approximately 30%) classes. In fact, these maps could serve as important decision support tools for policy-makers and local regulatory authorities in the sustainable management of the Athabasca River watershed.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
Land use and land cover; hydrology; ecology; wetland; Athabasca River watershed; ISODATA clustering; post-classification modification
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Afrin, S.; Gupta, A.; Farjad, B.; Ahmed, M.R.; Achari, G.; Hassan, Q.K. Development of Land-Use/Land-Cover Maps Using Landsat-8 and MODIS Data, and Their Integration for Hydro-Ecological Applications. Sensors 2019, 19, 4891. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19224891
AMA Style
Afrin S, Gupta A, Farjad B, Ahmed MR, Achari G, Hassan QK. Development of Land-Use/Land-Cover Maps Using Landsat-8 and MODIS Data, and Their Integration for Hydro-Ecological Applications. Sensors. 2019; 19(22):4891. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19224891
Chicago/Turabian StyleAfrin, Sadia, Anil Gupta, Babak Farjad, M. R. Ahmed, Gopal Achari, and Quazi K. Hassan. 2019. "Development of Land-Use/Land-Cover Maps Using Landsat-8 and MODIS Data, and Their Integration for Hydro-Ecological Applications" Sensors 19, no. 22: 4891. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19224891
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
