CHANGE DETECTION

Chapter 16

 Introduction
 Change Detection: Assessment of changes in the type or condition of surface features
 Postclassification change detection (PCD): Comparing images subsequent to classifying each one
 The resulting accuracy of PCD is typically low, as it incorporates any errors present in the original
classifications, approximated as the product of the overall accuracies of individual classifications
 Spectral change detection: Analysis of spectral changes between 2 or more dates
 Ideally, the images being compared should be:
o Acquired from the same sensors at the same of the day using the same IFOV and look angle
o Same season for interannual analyses
o Well coregistered
o Free of clouds
o Corrected to TOA or surface reflectance
o Free of other conditions not deemed part of the signal of interest
 Bitemporal Spectral Change Detection Techniques
 Visual Interpretation
 Compositing: All bands from both dates are stacked to form one image
 Multidate color image composite (Technique 1): 2 suitable radiometrically calibrated and
coregistered images are composited, then bands from different dates are chosen for display to
highlight the change of interest
 Technique 2: The images aren’t composited, but are displayed with one on top of the other
 Technique 3: Viewing coregistered and geolinked images side by side
 One of the primary goals of visual interpretation is often to help select the best change detection
techniques based on the goals of the analysis
 Image Algebra
 Arithmetic operations are applied to corresponding pixels in each image, with the change image
formed from the resulting values
 Most common operations: image differencing, image ratios, Euclidean distance and change vector
analysis
 Image differencing: Subtracting one or more bands from the same band(s) of the same area acquired
at different dates. Values at or near zero identify pixels that have similar spectral values and therefore
presumably have experienced no change between the two dates. The analyst must specify some
threshold value, often heuristically, beyond which change is considered to have occurred
 Taking the ratio of 2 bands, one from one image date and the other from the same band in the second
image date, is another popular change detection technique
 The Euclidean distance only gives the magnitude of the multiband change. Change vector analysis is
needed for the direction of the change.
 Transformation/Data Reduction
 Techniques by which the data in the original image can be transformed to new axes composed of
linear combinations of the existing bands
 The most widely used transformation techniques are principal components analysis (PCA) and the
tasseled cap transformation
 PCA reorients the axes of multidimensional data space such that there is no longer any remaining
covariance among the PC bands, which are linear combinations of the original bands
 The tasseled cap transformation, because it uses the same coefficients to reorient the axes every time,
circumvents many of the issues raised above with respect to the image-dependent nature of PCA
 Classification
 If classification is used alone on the whole area of interest, a common technique is to use a composite
image of either the spectral or transformed bands as the source of data
 One of the reasons for using classification is that we often not only want to detect change but also
attribute it
 Statistical Techniques
 There are many ways to compare images statistically, but one of the most widely used techniques is
image cross-correlation using pixel neighborhoods or multitemporal segments
 Choosing a technique
 The first and most important choice is usually whether or not to first classify the data from each date
and then proceed with a postclassification change detection. If the classification accuracy will be high
and the classification process objective with both images, this is a clear choice
 If the classification accuracy will neither be high nor the process objective, then spectral change
detection presents a very viable alternative as long as the change of interest is spectrally
distinguishable