Integrating remotely sensed data, GIS and expert knowledge to update object-based land use/land cover information

Remote-sensing technology provides a powerful means for land use/land cover (LU/LC) monitoring at global and regional scales. However, it is more efficient and effective to combine remote-sensing measurements with a geographic information system (GIS) database and expert knowledge for change updating than to use remote-sensing technology alone. In this article, these different sources of information are integrated in the proposed framework, which is able to provide rapid updating of LU/LC information. An object-based data analysis is adopted for thematic mapping, taking both spectral and spatial properties into consideration. An expert knowledge coding is introduced and combined quantitatively with other evidence provided by remotely sensed data and the GIS database. A case study using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) datasets demonstrated an overall successful LU/LC map updating and a satisfactory change detection using the proposed change-updating framework.