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Identification of specific tree species in ancient semi-natural woodland from digital areal sensor imagery

Identification of specific tree species in ancient semi-natural woodland from digital areal sensor imagery
Identification of specific tree species in ancient semi-natural woodland from digital areal sensor imagery
Remote sensing has great potential as a source of information on tree species. The classification approaches used commonly to extract species information from remotely sensed imagery typically aim to optimize the overall accuracy of species identification, a target which need not satisfy the requirements of a particular user. Often users are interested in a specific species or subset of species, and these may not be accurately identified in a conventional classification. Here, a two-phase classification approach was used to map specific species from aerial sensor imagery of an ancient British woodland. Particular attention was focused on the identification of sycamore since this is displacing the native ash and information on its distribution would enhance basic understanding and management activities. The results show that the classification approach can be adapted to focus on a specific species of interest and used to increase classification accuracy significantly. For example, sycamore was classified to a low accuracy when a conventional approach to classification with a neural network was used (46.6–63.6%, depending on perspective), but the adoption of the two-phase approach increased its accuracy significantly (82.3–93.3%). The results demonstrate the ability to map specific class(es) of interest accurately from remotely sensed imagery. The approach used also highlights the ability to tailor an analysis to the specific requirements of the ecological study in hand and is of broad applicability.
accuracy, digital aerial sensor imagery, remote sensing, thematic mapping, tree species classification.
1051-0761
1233-1244
Foody, G.M.
06e50027-603d-4a5b-88f5-af2bb6235a37
Atkinson, P.M.
aaaa51e4-a713-424f-92b0-0568b198f425
Gething, P.W.
82a5722c-21cc-462c-bdaf-7af4d50a6219
Ravenhill, N.A.
3174d927-245a-426d-b088-06b664ac0dc9
Kelly, C.K.
8fde11ef-815e-40db-adde-1c4b2c8d1e35
Foody, G.M.
06e50027-603d-4a5b-88f5-af2bb6235a37
Atkinson, P.M.
aaaa51e4-a713-424f-92b0-0568b198f425
Gething, P.W.
82a5722c-21cc-462c-bdaf-7af4d50a6219
Ravenhill, N.A.
3174d927-245a-426d-b088-06b664ac0dc9
Kelly, C.K.
8fde11ef-815e-40db-adde-1c4b2c8d1e35

Foody, G.M., Atkinson, P.M., Gething, P.W., Ravenhill, N.A. and Kelly, C.K. (2005) Identification of specific tree species in ancient semi-natural woodland from digital areal sensor imagery. Ecological Applications, 15 (4), 1233-1244.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Remote sensing has great potential as a source of information on tree species. The classification approaches used commonly to extract species information from remotely sensed imagery typically aim to optimize the overall accuracy of species identification, a target which need not satisfy the requirements of a particular user. Often users are interested in a specific species or subset of species, and these may not be accurately identified in a conventional classification. Here, a two-phase classification approach was used to map specific species from aerial sensor imagery of an ancient British woodland. Particular attention was focused on the identification of sycamore since this is displacing the native ash and information on its distribution would enhance basic understanding and management activities. The results show that the classification approach can be adapted to focus on a specific species of interest and used to increase classification accuracy significantly. For example, sycamore was classified to a low accuracy when a conventional approach to classification with a neural network was used (46.6–63.6%, depending on perspective), but the adoption of the two-phase approach increased its accuracy significantly (82.3–93.3%). The results demonstrate the ability to map specific class(es) of interest accurately from remotely sensed imagery. The approach used also highlights the ability to tailor an analysis to the specific requirements of the ecological study in hand and is of broad applicability.

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More information

Published date: 2005
Keywords: accuracy, digital aerial sensor imagery, remote sensing, thematic mapping, tree species classification.

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 17401
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/17401
ISSN: 1051-0761
PURE UUID: 4aa71d2a-daa8-4172-b94a-b2cb24112cd8

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 07 Sep 2005
Last modified: 08 Jan 2022 18:49

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Contributors

Author: G.M. Foody
Author: P.M. Atkinson
Author: P.W. Gething
Author: N.A. Ravenhill
Author: C.K. Kelly

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