Digital Change Detection Why do we study change detection?

It is believed that land-use/land-cover change is a major

This lecture reviews basic considerations when
change information is extracted from digital
remotely sensed data and some of the
procedures to the study of change detection.
component of global change with an impact perhaps
greater than that of climate change.
It is important that such changes be inventoried
accurately so that the physical and human processes at
work can be more fully understood.

Classifying Features
Considerations
Considerations for
for • Classification systems can be broad such as water/land, or
change
change detection
detection detailed such as single family/multifamily dwelling. The
scale of the image will often dictate how finely you can
classify features.
1.
1. Classification
Classification scheme
scheme
2.
2. Geographic
Geographic study
study area
area • The USGS has developed a standard land use/land cover
3.
3. Time
Time period
period classification system based in the works of Anderson 1976.
4.
4. Per
Per pixel
pixel or
or object
object oriented
oriented approach
approach
5.
5. Temporal
Temporal and
and spatial
spatial resolution
resolution • Other classification systems have been develop by:
6.
6. Phenological
Phenological cycles
cycles – GLUT (Georgia landuse trends)
– NARSAL (Natural Resources Spatial Analysis Laboratory
(NARSAL)
– CCAP (Coastal Change Analysis programs
 Classifying Features Change
Change Detection
Detection Geographic
Geographic Region
Region of
of
Interest
Interest
• The USGS land use/land cover classification system has 4
levels, with each successive level providing more detail.
• http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/rig/includes/a1def.pdf
The
The dimensions
dimensions of of the
the change
change detection
detection region
region of
of
interest
interest (ROI)
(ROI) must
must bebe carefully
carefully identified
identified and
and held
held
• Levels 1 and 2 are standard as they indicate broader areas constant
constant throughout
throughout aa change
change detection
detection project,
project, to
to
such as national or statewide scales. avoid
avoid data
data voids
voids that
that are
are problematic
problematic when
when computing
computing
change
change statistics.
statistics.
• Levels 3 and 4 are flexible and are typically used for finer
resolution (larger scale) images at the county, city and/or
neighborhood scales.

Time
Time Period
Period Temporal
Temporal Resolution
Resolution
Time
Time period
period isis dictated
dictated by
by the
the nature
nature of
of the
the problem.
problem. Two
Twotemporal
temporalresolutions
resolutionsshould
shouldbe
beheld
heldconstant
constantduring
duringchange
change
Land
Land cover
cover features
features can
can be
be divided
divided in:
in: detection.
detection.
Static:
Static: they
they do
do not
not change
change over
over time.
time. 1.
1. Data
Datashould
shouldbe
beacquires
acquiresatatapproximately
approximatelythe
thesame
sametime
timeof
ofday.
day.
Dynamic:
Dynamic: changing
changing rapidly.
rapidly.
2.
2. Data
Datashould
shouldbebeacquired
acquiredon
onanniversary
anniversarydates,
dates, e.g.,
dates, e.g.,Feb
Feb1,
1,2005,
2005,and
and
Feb
Feb1,1,2007.
2007.
1.
1. Traffic
Traffic transportation
transportation studies
studies might
might require
require aa change
change
detection period of just a few seconds or minutes.
detection period of just a few seconds or minutes. Anniversary
Anniversarydate
dateimagery
imageryminimizes
minimizesthe
theinfluence
influenceof
ofseasonal
seasonalSun-
Sun -angle
Sun-angle
2.
2. For
For inter
inter annual
annual analysis,
analysis, images
images obtained
obtained monthly
monthly oror and plant phenological differences that can negatively impact a
and plant phenological differences that can negatively impact a
seasonally
seasonally might
might be
be sufficient
sufficient change
changedetection
detectionproject.
project.
3.
3. For
For time
time span
span of
of several
several years
years anniversary
anniversary data
data isis
required
required
 Spatial
Spatial Resolution
Resolution
Per-pixel or Object-oriented Change Detection
ItIt isis possible
possible to
to perform
perform change
change detection
detection using
using data
data
per
per pixel
pixel change
change detection:
detection: most
most digital
digital image
image change
change collected from two different sensor
collected from two different sensor systems withsystems with
detection
detection isis based
based on
on processing
processing Date
Date nn and
and Date
Date nn ++ 11 different
different IFOVs,
IFOVs, for for example,
example, Landsat
Landsat TM TM data
data
classification
classification maps
maps pixel
pixel by
by pixel.
pixel. (30
(30 ×× 30 30 m)
m) for
for Date
Date 11 and
and SPOT
SPOT HRVHRV XS XS data
data
(20 × 20 m) for Date
(20 × 20 m) for Date 2. 2.
Object -oriented change
Object-oriented change detection
detection involves
involves the
the
comparison
comparison of
of relatively
relatively homogenous
homogenous image
image objects
objects In
In such
such cases,
cases, itit isis usually
usually necessary
necessary to to decide
decide onon aa
(landscape
(landscape patches
patches oror segments).
segments). representative
representative minimum
minimum mappingmapping unit
unit (e.g., 20 ×× 20
(e.g., 20 20 m)
m)
and then resample both datasets to this uniform
and then resample both datasets to this uniform pixel pixel
size.
size.

Phenological
PhenologicalCycle
Cycleof
ofHard
HardRed
RedWinter
WinterWheat
Wheatin
inthe
theGreat
GreatPlains
Plains
Phenological
Phenological Cycle
Cycle Characteristics
Characteristics

Phenological
Phenological cycles
cycles.. Winter Wheat
Phenology
Natural
Natural ecosystems
ecosystems go go through
through repeatable,
repeatable, predictable
predictable cycles
cycles of
of
development
development referred
referred asas Phenological
Phenological cycles
cycles..
snow cover
Analysts
Analysts must
must be
be familiar
familiar with
with the
thebiophysical
biophysical characteristics
characteristics
of
of the vegetation, soils, and water constituents of ecosystems
the vegetation, soils, and water constituents of ecosystems SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG
and their phenological cycles.
and their phenological cycles. crop establishment greening up heading mature Harvest
50 108 days 28 34 29 21
Dead
10 14 26 14 14 21 13 25 47 9 5
ripe
Sow Tillering Dormancy Growth Jointing Heading
Emergence resumes Boot Soft Hard dough
dough
Maximum Coverage Jensen,
Jensen,2000
2000
 Environmental
Environmental Parameter:
Parameter: Vegetation
Vegetation Phenology
Phenology Environmental
Environmental Parameter:
Parameter: coastal
coastal tides
tides
In In
In coastal
coastal landscapes
landscapes the
the analyst
analyst should
should bebe aware
aware of
of
In agricultural
agricultural crops,
crops, the
the
analyst tidal differences
tidal differences
analyst must
must bebe aware
aware
of
of when the crops were
when the crops were
planted.
planted.

AA month
month lag
lag in
in planting
planting
date
date between fields of
between fields of
the
the same
same crop
crop can
can cause
cause
serious
serious change
change
detection
detection error.
error.

Options
Options for
for change
change detection
detection
Image
Image Algebra
Algebra Change
Change Detection
Detection

••Image
Image algebra
algebra Image
Image differencing
differencing involves
involves subtracting
subtracting the
the imagery
imagery of
of
••Post
Post classification
classification comparison
comparison one
one date
date from
from that
that of
of another.
another.
••Binary
Binary mask
mask
••An
An Ancillary
Ancillary Data
Data Source
Source As
As Date
Date 11 ItIt isis possible
possible toto identify
identify the
the amount
amount ofof change
change between
between
••Visual
Visual on two
two rectified
rectified images
images byby band
band ratioing
ratioing or
or image
image
on screen
screen digitization
digitization differencing
differencing..
 Image Algebra Change Detection Image
Image Algebra
Algebra Change
Change Detection
Detection
Image
Imagedifferencing
differencinginvolves
involvessubtracting
subtractingthe
theimagery
imageryof
ofone
onedate
datefrom
fromthat
thatof
of
another.
another.

∆BVi , j ,k = BV (1) − BV (2) + c

∆∆BV
BVijkijk==change
changepixel
pixelvalue
value
BV
BVijkijk(1)
(1)==brightness
brightnessvalue
valueon
ondate
date11
BV
BVijkijk(2)
(2)==brightness
brightnessvalue
valueon
ondate
date22
cc==aaconstant (e.g., 127)
constant (e.g., 127)
ii==line
linenumber
number
jj==column
columnnumber
number
kk==aasingle
singleband
band

Post -classification Comparison

Post-classification Comparison Change
Change Detection
Detection

Image
Image algebra
algebra ItIt requires
requires rectification
rectification and
and classification
classification of
of each
each remotely
remotely se nsed
sensed
••It
It isis highly
highly demanding
demanding in
in image
image quality
quality image.
image. TheThe two
two maps
maps are
are then
then compared
compared on on aa pixel-by-pixel basis
pixel-by-pixel basis
using a change detection matrix
using a change detection matrix. .
••Also
Also itit produces
produces information
information about
about the
the amount
amount ofof
change
change but but itit does
does not
not qualify
qualify such
such change
change inin terms
terms of
of Problems:
Problems:
land Error
Error inin the
the individual
individual date
date classification
classification map
map will
will also
also be
be present
land cover
cover classes
classes present
in
in the
the final
final change
change detection
detection map,
map, therefore
therefore individual
individual
classification be as accurate as possible.
classification be as accurate as possible.

••Requires:
Requires: Anniversary
Anniversary data,
data, co
co registration,
registration, temporal
temporal
similarities
similarities of
of the
the images
images
 Post-classification Comparison Change Detection Post-classification
Comparison
Change Detection

Post -classification
Post-classification Post-
Post-Classification Comparison
Post-Classification Comparison
Comparison
Comparison Change
Change Detection: ChangeMatrix
Detection: Change Matrix
Change
Change Detection
Detection To:
2007

Water Forest Urban

Water 1 2 3

From:
2000 Forest 4 5 6

Urban 7 8 9
 Binary
Binary Change
Change Mask
Mask Applied
Applied to
to Date
Date 22 Change Detection Using A Binary Change Mask Applied to Date 2
Steps
Steps
1.
1. AA traditional
traditional classification
classification ofof Date
Date 11 isis performed
performed
2.
2. one
one of
of the
the bands
bands (e.g.,
(e.g., band
band 3)3) from
fromboth
both dates
dates of
of imagery
imagery isis
analyzed
analyzed using
using image
image differencing
differencing toto identify
identify areas
areas of
of
““change”
change” and “ no change ” in the new
and “no change” in the new image. image.

3.
3. The
The change
change image
image isis then
then recoded
recoded into
into aa binary
binary mask
mask file
file
consisting
consisting of
of areas
areas that
that have
have changed
changed between
between the the two
two dates.
dates.

4.
4. The
The change
change mask
mask isis then
then overlaid
overlaid onto
onto Date
Date 22 of
of the
the analysis
analysis
and only those pixels that were detected as having
and only those pixels that were detected as having changedchanged
are
are classified
classified in
in the
theDate
Date 22 imagery.
imagery.

Using An Ancillary Data Source As Date 1 Change Detection Using An Ancillary Data Source As Date 1

Instead of using a remotely sensed image as Date 1 it is

possible to use a digital land cover map of the region.

For example, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a

National Wetland Inventory (NWI) of the United States at
1:24,000 scale.

Date 2 of the analysis is classified and then compared on a

pixel-by-pixel basis with the Date 1 information using post-
classification comparison methods.
 AA white
white arrow
arrow indicates
indicates
Visual On-screen Change Detection and Digitization the
the direction
direction of
of houses
houses
removed
removed from
fromtheir
their
In
In this
this process
process both
both digitized
digitized photographs
photographs (or
(or images)
images) foundations.
foundations.
are
are displayed
displayed at
at the
the same
same time,
time, side
side by
by side.
side.
Areas
Areas of
of beach
beach erosion
erosion
are depicted as black
are depicted as black
Both
Both dates
dates of
of aerial
aerial photography
photography (or(or other
other type
type of
of lines.
lines.
remote
remote sensor
sensor data)
data) are
are visually
visually interpreted
interpreted and
and
compared Areas
Areas of
of beach
beach accretion
accretion
compared toto detect
detect change.
change.
caused by Hurricane
caused by Hurricane
Hugo
Hugo are
are shown
shown as
as
Changes dashed black lines.
dashed black lines.
Changes are
are digitized
digitized on
on screen
screen

Date 1
Date 2
Land-use Maps