remote sensing Article Monitoring Land-Use/Land-Cover Changes at a Provincial Large Scale Using an Object-Oriented Technique and Medium-Resolution Remote-Sensing Images Kaisheng Luo 1,* , Bingjuan Li 2,3 and Juana P. Moiwo 4 1 School of Remote Sensing and Geomatics Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China 2 Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China;
[email protected] 3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China 4 Department of Agricultural Engineering, School of Technology, Njala University, Freetown, Sierra Leone;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +86-188-6095-7185 Received: 30 October 2018; Accepted: 8 December 2018; Published: 12 December 2018 Abstract: An object-based image analysis (OBIA) technique is replacing traditional pixel-based methods and setting a new standard for monitoring land-use/land-cover changes (LUCC). To date, however, studies have focused mainly on small-scale exploratory experiments and high-resolution remote-sensing images. Therefore, this study used OBIA techniques and medium-resolution Chinese HJ-CCD images to monitor LUCC at the provincial scale. The results showed that while woodland was mainly distributed in the west, south, and east mountain areas of Hunan Province, the west had the largest area and most continuous distribution. Wetland was distributed mainly in the northern plain area, and cultivated land was distributed mainly in the central and northern plains and mountain valleys. The largest impervious surface was the Changzhutan urban agglomerate in the northeast plain area. The spatial distribution of land cover in Hunan Province was closely related to topography, government policy, and economic development.