GIS NOTE 2009

INTRODUCTION

GIS Data Structure (Vector data & Raster data)

Information for these features can for this feature can be divided in three parts:

1. Information about the geographical objects X, Y and Z coordinates

2. Attribute data
3. Additional information, Accuracy, Scale, Producer, Production year, etc
 In vector GIS, geographical data are points,, lines and polygons
 Features are separated from each other by defined borderlines
 Examples are rainfall station, streams in watershed, agricultural plots in a given piece of land

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Geoprocessing and modeling tools

 Geoprocessing encompasses any operation that creates new data from existing GIS data.
 A model is a collection of geoprocessing operations that allows you to visualize an automate
an analysis workflow.
 Geoprocessing tools are used at any stage of the analytical process.
 Models are used to plan and manage complex analyses.

Working with geoprocessing tools

 Geoprocessing refers to any GIS operation of which new
data is derived from existing data.
 When you manage and analyze your GIS data, you will
typically ‖geoprocessing‖ it at some point.
 Copying data from one database to another or importing adata set is geoprocessing.

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 When used for analysis, a geoprocessing usually involves combining two or more
datasets to produce a new data set that includes some or all of the features and attributes
from the inputs.
 Clip, merge, buffer, dissolve, unions, intersect…..Geoprocessing for analysis
 Geoprocessing tools used for analysis fall into 3 categories:
Data extraction Overlay Proximity

Clip
 Creates a new subset of features in one feature class based on the geographic extent of
another feature class.
 Clip reduces the size of your dataset and therefor reduces processing time down the road.
 Use Clip when you want to cut out a piece of one feature class using one or more of the
features in another feature class as a ―cookie cutter‖.

Buffer
 Creates buffer polygons around input features to a specified distance.
 If the buffer distance is equal to zero there will not be buffer distance.
 If a negative buffer distance is used, the buffer will be inside the polygon

Intersect
 Computes a geometric intersection of the input features.
 Features or portions of features which overlap in all layers and/or feature classes will be
written to the output feature class.

Merge
 Combines multiple input datasets of the same data type into a single, new output dataset.

 This tool can combine point, line, or polygon feature classes or tables.

Dissolve
Aggregates features based on specified attributes

Eg. Clip the land use of Awi zone from Amhara region and dissolve the land cover types of the
Awi zone.

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The geoprocessing process

 The output of one geo processing tool is often used as the input for another geoprocessing
tool.
 A dataset that is produced as an output of one tool and then used as an input for another tool
is called intermediate data.
 A geoprocessing tool requires certain parameters in order to perform its operation.
 Tool parameters consist of:
 The name & location of the input dataset
 Values specific to the geoprocessing operation (eg. A buffer distance)
 The name and location of the output dataset

Modeling in GIS

 A model is a collection of geoprocessing operations that allows you to visualize and

automate an analysis workflow.

 Geoprocessing tools are used at any stage of the analytical process. Models are used to plan
and manage complex analyses.

Creating & using models

 A model is a collection of geoprocessing operations that automatically execute in sequence

when the model is run to produce a final output dataset.

 Models automate your geoprocessing work and allow performing GIS more efficiently.

 Models support ‗what if‘ scenarios-change a parameter and re-run

 Models are built using the Model builder

Modeler

 Remember, workflow diagrams to organize and plan a GIS analysis.

• Workflow diagrams often show geoprocessing operations.

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Model builder

 Model builder is the graphical environment in which you create and interact with models.

 The building block of a model is a process which consists of a reprocessing tool.

 A tool requires an input dataset and produces an output dataset using specified
parameters.

 A model reflects a geoprocessing workflow

 The output of one process would be used as the input for another.

 Models can be mirror simple (previous slide) or complicated geoprocessing workflows

(below).

 The connecting arrows show how elements and processes are related to each other.

 In a model, how elements are symbolized tells you something.

 White elements are not ready to run—most likely, a tool parameter needs to be entered.

 Colored elements are ready to be run.

 When tools and outputs display with a drop shadow that means the process has run
successfully.

Why use models

 Models provide a big picture view of a project
 Models are reusable
 Processes run seamlessly, faster
 Processes can be run individually
 Models make manage intermediate data easy
 Models can be shared

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Interpolation
Spatial interpolation

 Process of estimating unknown geographic values on the basis of known values

 Is what makes it possible to create realistic surfaces from a limited number of sample Points
 The distance from the cell with unknown value to the sample cells contributes to its final
value estimation
 The unknown value of the cell is based on the values of the sample points as well as the cell's
relative distance from those sample points
 Sample size is to be decided by the user by Number or Search radius

Among d/t types of spatial interpolation

1. Thiessen Polygon
2. Inverse Distance Weighted
3. Kriging
4. Spline are commonly used ones

1. Thiessen polygon

 Have the unique property that each polygon contains only one input point, and any location
within a polygon is closer to its associated point than to the point of any other polygon
 Connect all points by a line in such a way that the rule of Delaunay triangle is maintained
 Draw a perpendicular line that bisects the lines connecting the points.
 The point in the polygons represents the value for that polygon.

2. Inverse Distance Weighted

―One size fits all" assumption

 Works best for dense, evenly-spaced sample point sets

 Does not consider any trends in the data
 Sample points closer to the cell have a greater influence on the cell's estimated value than
sample points that are further away
 Can‘t make estimates above the maximum or below the minimum sample values

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 Has the effect of flattening peaks and valleys

 Estimated values are averages; the resulting surface will not pass through the sample points.

 Interpolates a raster surface from points using an inverse distance weighted (IDW) technique.

 Input point features the input point features containing the z-values to be interpolated
into a surface raster.

 Z value field the field that holds a height or magnitude value for each point.

 Output raster the output interpolated surface raster.

 Output cell size (optional)The cell size at which the output raster will be created. This
will be the value in the environment if it is explicitly set; otherwise, it is the shorter of the
width or the height of the extent of the input point features, in the input spatial reference,
divided by 250.

Kriging

 Kriging involves the mysterious world of probability and prediction

 In Kriging, the distance and direction of every point pair is quantified to provide information
on the spatial autocorrelation of the sample point set

 A surface created with Kriging can exceed the value range of the sample points but will not
pass through the points

 Two general and widely used Kriging methods: Ordinary and Universal Kriging

 Universal Kriging assumes that there is an overriding trend in the data

 Input point features  The input point features containing the z-values to be interpolated
into a surface raster

 Z value field The field that holds a height or magnitude value for each point. This can be a
numeric field or the Shape field if the input point features contain z-values

 Output surface raster The output interpolated surface raster

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Output cell size (optional)The cell size at which the output raster will be created. This will be
the value in the environment if it is explicitly set; otherwise, it is the shorter of the width or the
height of the extent of the input point features, in the input spatial reference, divided by 250

4. Spline

 Interpolates a raster surface from points using a two-dimensional minimum curvature spline
technique.

 The resulting smooth surface passes exactly through the input points.

 Fits a flexible surface, as if it were stretching a rubber sheet across all the known point values

 Useful quality to estimate values below the minimum or above the maximum values found in
the sample data

 When the sample points are close together and have extreme differences in value, Spline

Watershed Delineation &Flow Computation

 Watershed delineation is the process of identifying the drainage area of a point or set of
points.
 The maps are in (UTM) coordinates and in 1:50,000 scale.
 Water flows in the direction of the terrain steepest downhill slope
 Streamlines are orthogonal to the elevation contour lines.
 Streamlines do not flow towards drainage divides, and do not intersect them
 Drainage divides are found along the highest points of the terrain

Digital Elevation Models

 DEMs)are grids of elevation & store the same type of information contour lines do, but with
a different data structure
 Watershed delineation can be based on DEMs rather than contour lines

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Watershed delineation steps

Load DEM Fill Sink Compute Flow Direction

Compute Flow Accumulation Define a pour point Generate watershed

Fill
 DEM creation results in artificial sinks in the landscape

 A sink is a set of one or more cells which has no downstream cells around it

 Unless these sinks are filled they will isolate portions of the watershed

 Filling sinks is the first step for processing a DEM for surface water systems
 Fill sinks operation will 'remove' the following from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM):

 Depressions that consist of a single pixel, i.e. any pixel with a smaller height
value than all of its 8 neighboring pixels,

 Depressions that consist of multiple pixels, i.e. any group of adjacent pixels where
the pixels that have smaller height values than all pixels that surround such a
depression

Flow Direction
 The eight-direction pour point algorithm (D-8) assigns a flow direction code to each
cell, based on the steepest downhill slope as defined by the DEM

 The flow direction code indicates the cell – out of the eight neighbor cells – towards
which the water flows

 Flow direction cannot be defined for cells within a terrain depression. DEMs have to be
filled before determining flow directions

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Flow direction
 Water flows to one of its neighbor cells according to the direction of the steepest descent

 Flow direction takes one out eight possible values

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Compute the Flow Direction GIS D-8 algorithm codes for the following given Elevation map

Flow accumulation
 Number of Cells Contributing Flow

 Flow accumulation is a measure of the drainage area in units of grid cells

 The cell itself is not included

 The Function is Flow accumulation & The Input is the Flow direction map

 From a flow direction map, a flow accumulation map can be derived.

 The accumulated flow for each cell is the number of cells that flow into this particular cell.

 Cells with a value 0 have no other cells flowing into them, and represent higher areas.

 Cells with a high accumulated flow count represent streams

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Compute the Flow Accumulation for the following given Elevation

Stream delineation
 All grid cells draining more than a user-defined threshold value (blue streams) are part of
the stream network

 The function in ArcGIS is Stream delineation

 The Argument/input is Flow accumulation

Stream links
 Stream links are assigned an identification number at random

 The function in ArcGIS is Stream links

 The Argument is Delineated streams

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Outlets
 The most downstream cells of the stream segments (yellow/brown cells) are watershed
outlets

 Watershed outlets can also be User-defined points

 Outlets are assigned the identification number of their link

 The Function or the Process is Outlets

 The Argument: Stream links

Watershed delineation
 Watersheds are assigned the identification number of their outlet

 The drainage area of each watershed outlet is delineated

 The function in ArcGIS is Watershed

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 The Argument is Flow direction and Outlets

 The drainage area of each watershed outlet is delineated

 The grids of stream links and watersheds are vectorized to obtain stream line and watershed
polygon datasets
 Since the ID number of the streams and their corresponding watershed is the same, the
attribute tables can be related

Hydro-parameterization

 Catchment area (look at the raster histogram)

 Catchment slope (filter your DEM to create DX and DY and calculate slope then look at
the histogram of the resulting raster)

 Length of longest flow path (LFP) (look at the attribute table of the LFP)

 Average slope of LFP (extract elevation points along the LFP and look at the histogram
of the resulting raster)

Estimation of Soil loss and Sediment Yield Using RUSLE

The Purpose of this GIS lab Exercise it to Estimate the Soil loss and sediment yield form the
selected watershed Using the RUSLE.

A R * K * L * S *C * P
Where A = annual soil loss (ton/ha/yr), R = rainfall erosivity factor (MJ·mm·ha−1·yr−1), K = soil
erodibility factor (MghMJ−1 mm−1), L = slope length factor (dimensionless), S = slope steepness

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factor (dimensionless), C = cover factor (dimensionless), P = land management factor

(dimensionless)

Data and Methodology flowchart

Rainfall erosivity factor (R)

 It is the energy of the erosive agent water (precipitation) to dismantle the soil from its parent
material and represented by the rainfall erosivity factor R
 Hurni (1985) for Ethiopian condition by which the erosivity factor of the watershed was
calculated
R   8.12  0.562P
Where P is the mean annual rainfall (mm)

Soil erodibility factor (K)

 It indicates the resistance of soil to detach from parent material and transport from its original
position.

 Depends or reflects the effect of soil properties: texture, infiltration, and organic and
chemical content.

Slope Length Factor (L)

 It indicates the distance from the point of the origin of overland flow to the point where
either the slope decrease enough that deposition begins or the runoff water enters a well-
defined channel

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 The L factor of the watershed was calculated based the model developed from regression
analysis using the result of Hurni (1985)
L
L  0.7987  0.0101* Lo Lo 
1 D d
2D A
Where L is the slope length factor, Lo is the over land flow length (m), D is the drainage density
(km-1), Ld is the total drainage length (km) and A is the watershed area (km2).

Slope Steepness Factor (S)

 Slope length increases, soil erosion increases due to an increase in velocity of runoff in the
down slope direction.
 Derivation of slope factor S for the watershed involved generation of slope map.
 The steepness factor of the watershed was also calculated based the model developed
equation below by Hurni (1985)

S  0.3441  0.0798 * Where ѳ is the slope steepness (%)

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Slope length and Steepness factor (LS)

 As an alternative the Slope length and slope steepness factor can be estimated as lumped
parameter i.e. Slope length and steepness factor/LS/ using equation described as

Power(flow accumulation * cell resolution / 22.1, 0.6) * Power(Sin(slope)* 0.01745) /

0.09, 1.4)

Land cover factor(C)

 Cover factor represents the ratio of soil loss under a given cover to that of bare soil.

 Surface cover affects erosion by reducing transport capacity of runoff water and by
decreasing the surface area susceptible to raindrop impact (McCool, 1995).

 Increasing surface roughness decreases transport capacity and detachment of runoff by

reducing flow velocity.

 The typical values of C factor range from 0 to 1.00

The Land management factor(P)

 The management practice factor is the ratio of soil loss with a specific practice to the
corresponding loss of up and downslope tillage and describes the effectiveness of erosion
control practices.

 The P factor could be estimate using the method developed by Wischmeier and Smith
(1978).

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Sediment yield
 The suspended sediment loads in the stream are the result of processes of soil erosion and
transport within the watershed.

 As deposition occurs in intermediate locations, the amount of sediment reaching the

watershed outlet point is generally less than the amount of erosion in the watershed.

 The estimation of suspended sediment yield is a great help to engineers and managers,
leading to the proper design of hydraulic structures and investments.

 The gross erosion result was multiplied by the SDR as equation described below to estimate
sediment yield of the watershed

S y  E * SDR
Where Sy is the sediment yield (t/year), E is the soil erosion (ton/year) and SDR is the sediment
delivery ratio (ranges from 46-52% based on the soil characteristics in the watershed)

GIS analysis

 Develop the raster Map for each of the factors for the RUSLE parameters and Use the
equation in Raster calculator in ArcMap 10.1 Spatial analyst.

Note: Before the analysis check that

All the 6 raster layers should have similar projection type

All the 6 raster layers should have similar cell size

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Sédiment volume/accumulation in distribution in réservoirs.

Procedure for Sediment reservoir accumulation

Suitability analysis for Irrigation land areas

Identifying potential parcel land areas suitable for surface irrigation using a GIS based on the
following factors

1. Climate Suitability/Rainfall Defecite

2. Land characteristics suitability. Slope, Land use, Soil

3. Town Proximity/Market Accesses/

4. River proximity

5. Road Proximity

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1. Climate suitability
 Suitability class assigning is based on the estimated annual irrigation water requirement
 Determine the long-term average annual deficit in rainfall (areal rainfall deficient using
Thiessen Polygon method) as rainfall minus evapotranspiration on a pixel basis
 Divide the average rainfall deficit values into four classes using equal interval classes and
assign suitability range of climate
 Pixels with small deficits were classified in the S1 group meaning land without significant
limitations for surface irrigation and pixels with the largest deficits were classified in the S4
class.
Note that the deficits are theoretically equal to the irrigation water requirements at the site.
2. Land-characteristic suitability

Land characteristics suitability rank assignment is based on slope, soil and land use type

2.1 Slope type

Compute the slope map from the DEM (30 meter resolution) and classify in to suitable ranks
as based on FAO, (1999).

 Slope from 0 to 2% as S1
 Slope from 2 to 4% as S2

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 Slope from 4 to 8% as S3 and

 Slope above 8% as S4

2.2. Land use

Classify the suitability of land use based on FAO and assign the suitability rank

 Agricultural land as S1
 Grass land as S2
 Shrub land as S3 and
 Forest area as S4.

2.3 Soil type

Classify the soil map using FAO soil definition as described

 Soils with natural fertility and the suitability for a wide range of agricultural uses
(Luvisols) and very productive soils (Nitisols) were classified as S1;
 Vertisols, Fluvisols and Cambisols with good natural fertility and considerable agricultural
potential were classified as S2;
 Regosols and Alisols with low moisture holding capacity and poor fertility were
considered to be S3;
 Leptosols which are extremely gravely and stony are classified as S4.

3. Market proximity
 The suitability class of a land parcel with respect to market access/market proximity is
determined by its distance in relation to town
Categorizing the distance map in to four classes of equal ranges
Closer distances were classified as S1
The farthest distances are in class S4

4. Road Proximity

 Is the suitability class of a land parcel/pixels with respect to road as determined by its d/s in
relation to nearby roads.
 Categorizing the distance map in to four classes of equal ranges

Closer distances to the river will be assigned as class S1

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Farthest distances to the river will be assigned as class S4

5. River Proximity

 Is the suitability class of a land parcel/pixels with respect to river proximity is determined by
its distance in relation perennial rivers.

 Categorizing the distance map in to four classes of equal ranges

Closer distances to the river will be assigned as class S1

Farthest distances to the river will be assigned as class S4

Weights and Rankings

Pair Rank
No Factors wise ranking weighting
1 Soil 12 15
2 land use 3 7
3 River proximity 32 20
4 Urban proximity 4 9
5 Road proximity 22 18
7 Rainfall deficite 8 14
8 Slope 19 17
Pair Wise Comparison and Definition

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Remote Sensing
 Remote sensing is the technique of deriving information about an objects, areas or
phenomenon on the surface of the earth without physically coming into contact with them.

 Involves making observations using sensors (cameras, scanners, radiometer, radar etc.)
mounted on platforms (aircraft and satellites), which are at a considerable height from the
earth surface and recording the observations on a suitable medium

 Remote Sensing is a technology for sampling electromagnetic radiation to acquire and

interpret non-immediate geospatial data from which to extract information about features,
objects, and classes on the Earth's land surface, oceans, and atmosphere.

 Remote sensor is a device that detects EM radiation, quantifies it and, usually records it in an
analogue or digital form

 Remote sensor may also transmit recorded data to a receiving station on the ground

Active and Passive sensors

 Active sensors are instruments that emit EM radiation and then detect the radiation returning
from the target object or surface. E.g of active sensor:A camera with a flash unit, Laser,
Radar
 Passive sensors measure reflected solar or terrestrial radiation.E.g of passive sensor:A
camera without a flash unit, Landsat TM, AVHRR, Spot, MODIS, IKONOS, Quickbird

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 A passive remote sensors measures reflected or emitted radiation

 An active sensor has its own source of radiation.

Satellite Characteristics

The path followed by a satellite is referred to as its orbit

Polar orbiting satellite

 Polar orbit has an inclination of 90 degree they run North to South

 Considered Low Earth Orbiteers (LEO), which orbit the Earth at an altitude of
approximately 600 km and 1000 km.
 Many of these satellite orbits are also sun-synchronous such that they cover each area of the
world at a constant local time.

Geostationary Satellite

 Satellites at very high altitudes (36,000km), which view the same portion of the Earth's
surface at all times have geostationary orbits
 Geostationary satellite turns with the Earth and remains over the same fixed point of
the planet at all times.
 Allows the satellites a full-disc view at a stationary position.
 Weather and communications satellites commonly have these types of orbits.

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Elements involved in remote sensing

 Light is Electromagnetic (EM) radiation

 Can be modeled in 2 ways: by waves &by photons (energy bearing particles)

 Electromagnetic radiation (ER) travels as waves

 Waves are characterized by 2 fields: Electric and Magnetic The 2 fields oscillate in
time .The 2 fields oscillate in space perpendicularly to each other and to the direction
of travel

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COMBINATION OF MODELS

λ and 𝑄 have inverse relationship (since ℎ and 𝑐 are constant)

THE EM SPECTRUM

 The total range of wavelengths of EM radiation

 Each of the named portions shown in figure below represents a range of wavelengths, not one
specific wavelength

 Different portions of spectrum have differing relevance for Earth Observation, both in type of
observation that we can gather and the volume of geospatial data acquisition.

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 The majority of geospatial data acquisition is accomplished by sensing in the visible and
infrared range.

SOURCES OF EM RADIATION

 All matter above T = 0o K radiates energy 0 K= -2730 C & 00C= 273o K

 Earth‘s surface ~ 27 0C = 270C +273 =300K
 Sun‘s surface ~ 6000K = 6000K -273 =57630C
PLANCK’S RADIATION LAW
 A black body (BB) is an ideal radiator that absorbs all incoming radiation
 A black body absorbs 100% of incident EM radiation; it does not reflect anything and thus
appears perfectly black.
 Because of its perfect absorptivity, a black body emits EM radiation at every wavelength.
Planck‘s law for a black body

Where 𝐼 = Spectral radiance [W sr−1 m−2 μm−1] , 𝑘 = Constant of Boltzmann  k = 1.38 ⋅ 10−23
[J K−1], 𝑇 = Absolute temperature in Kelvin [K]

Wien’s Displacement Law

The figure in the above slide shows that

 For very hot surface (e.g. the sun), spectral emittance of a black body peaks at
short wavelengths

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 For colder surfaces, such as the Earth, spectral emittance peaks at longer
wavelengths.

 This behavior is described by Wien‘s displacement law:

 Wien‘s displacement law predicts that the peak of the radiation distribution will
shift to longer wavelengths as the object gets colder.

Wien’s Displacement Law

Stefan-Boltzmann Law

 The figure in the above slide also shows the total energy (integrated area under the curve) is
considerably higher for the Sun than for the cooler Earth‘s surface.

 The relation between surface temperature and total amount of radiation is described by
Stefan-Boltzmann law.

 The Stefan-Boltzmann law states that colder objects emit only small amounts of EM
radiation

Where M is the total radiant emittance (W m-2), T is temperature in K and σ= Stefan-Boltzmann

constant

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REAL OBJECTS

EMISSIVITY
 Emissivity of black body = 1

 Emissivity of real objects: always less than 1

 Radiation measured by a sensor is a sum of radiation reflected and emitted by the Earth .Not
possible to separate directly

 Reflected radiation:

 spectrum depends on incident radiation (from the Sun) and reflectance properties

 Emitted radiation: spectrum depends only on 𝑇 and 𝜖

INTERACTION OF ATMOSPHERE AND EM RADIATION

 Before the Sun‘s radiation reaches the Earth‘s surface, three RS-relevant interactions in the
atmosphere have occurred: 1.Absorption 2.Transmission 3.Scattering

EMR INTERACTION WITH ATMOSPHERE

Absorption and Transmission
 EM radiation is partly absorbed by various molecules when it moves through Atmosphere
 The most efficient absorbers of solar radiation in the atmosphere are: ozone (O3),
water vapor (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2)

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 The above figure shows that:

 Many of the wavelengths are not useful for remote sensing of the Earth‘s surface,
simply because the corresponding radiation cannot penetrate the atmosphere.
 The useful ranges of the wavelengths are referred to as atmospheric transmission window
and include:
 The window from 0.4 to 2µm (visible, NIR, SWIR)
 Three window in the TIR range (two narrow windows around 3 and 5µm, and from
approximately 8 to 14µm)

THE SOLAR SPECTRUM

(ABSORPTION)

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ATMOSPHERE (ABSORPTION)

ATMOSPHERIC SCATTERING

 Occurs when particles or gaseous molecules present in the atmosphere cause EM radiation to
be redirected from its original path.

 The amount of scattering depends on:

 The wavelength of the radiation in relation to the size of particles and gas molecules

 The amount of particles and gases

 The distance the radiation travels through the atmosphere

 Three types of scattering according to the size of the particles in the atmosphere causing it

 Rayleigh Scattering

 Mie Scattering

 Non-selective Scattering

SELECTIVE (RAYLEIGH) SCATTERING

 Dominates where electromagnetic radiation interacts with particles that are smaller than the
wavelengths of light (example: tiny specks of dust and molecules of nitrogen (NO2) and
oxygen (O2).

 Light of shorter wavelengths (blue) is scattered more than light of longer wavelengths (red)

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 In the absence of particles and scattering, the sky would appear black

 During the day, solar radiation travels the shortest distance through the atmosphere; Rayleigh
scattering causes a clear sky to be observed as blue

 At sunrise and sunset, the sunlight travels a longer distance through the earths atmosphere
before reaching the surface.

• All the radiation of shorter wavelength is scattered after some distance and only the
longer wavelengths reach the Earth‘s surface. As a result we do not see a blue but an
orange or red sky

SELECTIVE (MIE) SCATTERING

 When the wavelength of EM radiation is similar in size to particles in the atmosphere

 Presence of aerosols (mixture of gases, water vapor‘ dust and smoke)

 Is generally restricted to lower atmosphere (larger particles are more abundant)

 Influences the spectral range from the near-UV up to mid-IR

 Has greater effect on radiation of longer wavelengths than Rayleigh scattering

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NON - SELECTIVE SCATTERING

 When particle sizes are much larger than the radiation wavelength

 Water droplets and larger dust particles

 Independent of the wavelength within the optical range

E.g. we see clouds as white bodies (a cloud consists of water droplets; since they scatter light of
every wavelength equally, a cloud appears white)

• A remote sensor cannot see through clouds.

INTERACTION OF EM RADIATION WITH THE EARTH’S SURFACE

SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE CURVES

 Energy reaching the surface: Irradiance [W m-2]

 Energy reflected by the surface: Radiance [W m-2]

 Reflectance curve: fraction of irradiance that is reflected as a function of wavelength

 Reflectance curves are material specific: spectral signature

 The reflectance characteristics of vegetation depend on the properties of the leaves

(orientation and structure of leaf canopy)

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 Spectral reflectance curves of five mineral soils: (a) organic dominated, (b) minimally
altered, (c) iron altered, (d) organic affected and (e) iron dominated

 The main factors affecting reflectance are soil color, moisture content, the presence of
carbonates, and iron oxide content

 Typical effects of chlorophyll and sediments on water reflectance: (a) ocean water, (b) turbid
water, (c) water with chlorophyll

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IMAGE DISPLAY: NATURAL COLOR COMPOSITES

 True color composite is made, where the RGB channels relate to the red, green and blue
wavelength bands of a camera or multispectral scanner
 Natural color composite of OLI bands of Landsat 8 image of path 170 and row 52.
 Color composite (RGB):
 Red = band 4 (0.64 to 0.67 µm)
 Green = band 3 (0.53 to 0.59 µm)
 Blue = band 2 (0.45 to 0.51 µm )

FALSE COLOR COMPOSITES

 False color composite of OLI bands of Landsat 8 image of path 170 and row 52.
 Color composite (RGB):
 Red = band 6 (1.57 to 1.65 µm)
 Green = band 5 ( 0.85 to 0.88 µm )
 Blue = band 4 (0.64 to 0.67 µm )
 False color composite of OLI bands of Landsat 8 image of path 170 and row 52.
 Color composite (RGB):
 Red = band 7 (2.11 to 2.29 µm)
 Green = band 6 (1.57 to 1.65 µm )
 Blue = band 4 (0.64 to 0.67 µm )

Visualization of Main Cover Types

 Identify types of objects
 Find signatures
 Find sensor characteristics
 Translate signature into relative brightness for display

Resolution
1. Spatial resolution
2. Temporal resolution
3. Spectral resolution

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4. Radiometric resolution

Spatial resolution

 Is the size of an image pixel

 Resolution-Ability to separate closely spaced objects on an image or photograph

 Resolution is commonly expressed as the most closely spaced line-pairs per unit distance
that can be distinguished

Temporal resolution

 Refers to the frequency of data collection

 Useful to compare images of different times and thus to undertake change analysis studies

Spectral resolution

 The size and number of wavelengths, intervals, or divisions of spectrum that a system is
able to detectA
 Fine spectral resolution=large number of similarly sized wavelengths can be resolved

Radiometric resolution

 Is a detector‘s ability to distinguish differences in the strength of emitted or reflected

electromagnetic radiation

 High radiometric resolution allows for the distinction between subtle differences in signal
strength

Image classification concepts and procedures

Image classification techniques
1. Supervised classification: is a method of land cover type classification using the sample
polygons from the known land cover types.

2. Unsupervised classification: is the type of land cover/use classification from the satellite
image data when the user doesn't know how many land cover types are present in the field.

The computer uses each spectral pixel to determine which class is each pixel.

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Supervised and unsupervised Classification

 Before any type of image classification it should be known that there is a must to check and
perform the image pre processing
 Atmospheric correction
 Georatification
 Cropping of the image to limit the study area

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Supervised classification

Procedure for land covers classification in ArcMap 10.1 Supervised classification

1. Import the true color Landsat image after downloading
2. Prepare sample training polygons from known land cover type
3.Extract the spectral statistics based on the remotely sensed image within each polygon
In Arc Map for the signature file is created using training samples through the Image
Classification toolbar or Partial analyst tools in Multivariate analysis
4. Predict the land cover type in your remote sensing image based on the spectral statistics
5. Use the maximum likelihood classifier to classify the cover type based on the spectral
statistics

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Methods and Concepts in Land cover accuracy assessment

 Accuracy assessment is necessary for image classification process

 Classification accuracy could be affected by lack of fine details such as resolutions of

images used, due the need to make generalizations and errors are always expected
accordingly

 To assure wise use of land cover maps and accompanying statistics derived from remote
sensing analysis, the errors must be quantitatively explained (Sherefa 2006)

Confusion/error matrix
 Confusion or error matrix is the base for accuracy assessment.

 The most common and typical method used by researchers to assess classification
accuracy is the use of an error matrix

 The matrix give a cross tabulation of the class label predicted against the ground truth
GPS data .

 The confusion matrix give a vital information on image classification and also relatively
easy to use and interpret to both map user and producer community.

 The Total/Overall accuracy is total number of correctly classified pixels divided by the
sum of ground truth pixel

 Users and producer accuracy measure the correctness of each category with respect to
errors of commission and omission.

 Users’ accuracy the probability that a reference has been correctly classified.

 Producer accuracy is defined as the map represents that class on the ground
Problem with total accuracy
 Summary value is an average
Does not reveal if error was evenly distributed between classes or if some classes were
really bad and some really good

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 Therefore, include other forms:

User‘s accuracy
Producer‘s accuracy

Kappa statics
 Kappa statics is a type of technique used in accuracy assessment.

 It expresses the agreement between two categorical data sets.

 Kappa value lies between -1 and 1, where -1represents no agreement at all meanwhile 1
indicates a perfect agreement.

 Reflects the difference between actual agreement and the agreement expected by chance

 Kappa of 0.85 means there is 85% better agreement than by chance alone
po  pc
K 
1  pc
 Where Po is observed accuracy and Pc chance by agreement

Procedures Accuracy Assessment

Accuracy Assessment Overview is based on 2 main assumptions

1. Collect reference data: ―ground truth‖

Determination of class types at specific locations

2. Compare reference to classified map

Does class type on classified map = class type determined from reference data

Reference data possible sources

 Aerial photo interpretation

 Ground truth with GPS
 GIS layer

Step-1: Choosing reference source

 Make sure you can actually extract from the reference source the information that you
need for the classification scheme

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 I.e. Aerial photos may not be good reference data if your classification scheme
distinguishes n species of same type land cover such as n types of grass.

 You may need GPS’d ground data

Step-2: Determining size of reference plots
 Match spatial scale of reference plots and remotely sensed data
I.e. GPS`d ground plots 5 meters on a side may not be useful if remotely sensed cells are 1km
on a side.
You may need aerial photos or even other satellite images

Step-3: Determining position and number of samples

 Make sure to adequately sample the landscape.
 Variety of sampling schemes
Random, stratified random, systematic, etc.
 The more reference plots, the better
You can estimate how many you need statistically

Step 4: Having chosen reference source, plot size, and locations

Determine class types from reference source
Determine class type claimed by classified map

Accuracy rate

Land cover accuracy assessment

 The user accuracy is the probability that a certain class in the GCP is labeled the same
class in the classification and refers to the columns of the table.
 The producer accuracy is the probability that a sampled pixel in an image falls in that
particular class in the GCP and refers to the rows.
 The aim is to evaluate how effectively pixels were correctly grouped

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Example error matrix

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