UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE LANDSCAPE HETEROGENEITY AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL RESOLUTION CONSIDERATIONS FOR MAPPING LAND COVER CHANGES A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By TRUNG VINH TRAN Norman, Oklahoma 2013 LANDSCAPE HETEROGENEITY AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL RESOLUTION CONSIDERATIONS FOR MAPPING LAND COVER CHANGES A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY BY ______________________________ Dr. Jason P. Julian, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Kirsten M. de Beurs ______________________________ Dr. Sally Gros ______________________________ Dr. Charles G. Warnken ______________________________ Dr. Xiangming Xiao © Copyright by TRUNG VINH TRAN 2013 All Rights Reserved. I dedicate my dissertation work to my grandparents, Nguyễn Duy Hưng, Trần Thị Khanh, Phan Văn Ký, Trần Thị Sánh, for their love. A special feeling of gratitude to my loving parents, Trần Vĩnh Phước and Trần Thị Thu Hương, whose words of encouragement ring in my ears. My sister, Trần Thị Vân Anh, has never left my side. I also dedicate this dissertation to my amazing wife, Trương Vũ Khánh Trâm. Her hours of work in loving our little son, Trần Vĩnh Nhật Nam, enabled the hours of research, contemplation, and writing necessary to complete this project. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my committee members who were more than generous with their expertise and precious time. I want to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Jason P. Julian and Dr. Kirsten M. de Beurs, who were my advisors, for their countless hours of reflecting, reading, encouraging, and most of all patience throughout the entire process. Thank you Dr. Sally Gros, Dr. Charles Warnken, and Dr. Xiangming Xiao for agreeing to serve on my committee. I would like to acknowledge and thank my Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability for allowing me to conduct my research and for providing any assistance requested. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. ix Abstract .......................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research objectives .............................................................................................. 6 1.2 Organization of dissertation ................................................................................. 7 Chapter 2. LAND COVER HETEROGENEITY EFFECT ON SUBPIXEL CLASSIFICATION .............................................................................................. 8 2.1 Abstract ................................................................................................................. 8 2.2 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 9 2.3 Study area ........................................................................................................... 11 2.4 Data ..................................................................................................................... 14 2.5 Methodology ....................................................................................................... 15 2.5.1 Classification ............................................................................................. 15 2.5.2 Validation .................................................................................................. 17 2.5.3 Statistical analysis ..................................................................................... 18 2.6 Results and discussion ........................................................................................ 19 2.6.1 Land cover map and accuracy ................................................................... 19 2.6.2 Impact of heterogeneity on classification accuracies ................................ 26 2.7 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 30 v Chapter 3. ACCOUNTING FOR LAND COVER HETEROGENEITY IN A SPATIAL TEMPORAL ADAPTIVE ALGORITHM FOR MAPPING REFLECTANCE CHANGE: A CASE STUDY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA 2000-2011 ..... 31 3.1 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 31 3.2 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 31 3.3 Study area ........................................................................................................... 36 3.4 Data and pre-processing ..................................................................................... 36 3.4.1 Landsat data ............................................................................................... 36 3.4.2 MODIS data ............................................................................................... 37 3.4.3 Land cover data ......................................................................................... 40 3.4.4 Validation data ........................................................................................... 40 3.5 Methods .............................................................................................................. 45 3.5.1 Spatial pattern analysis of NLCDs ............................................................ 45 3.5.2 Statistical test of tasseled cap indices ........................................................ 45 3.5.3 Data fusion ................................................................................................. 46 3.5.4 Validation .................................................................................................. 54 3.5.5 Mapping disturbances ................................................................................ 56 3.6 Results ................................................................................................................ 56 3.6.1 Land cover heterogeneity in the study area ............................................... 56 3.6.2 Variability of tasseled cap indices due to different compositions of forest types ........................................................................................................ 57 3.6.3 Method validation and comparison ........................................................... 59 3.6.4 Trends of area disturbed ............................................................................ 64 vi 3.6.5 Spatio-temporal distribution disturbances ................................................. 65 3.7 Discussion ........................................................................................................... 66 3.8 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 73 3.9 Acknowledgement .............................................................................................. 74 Chapter 4. MAPPING FIRE AND TIMBER HARVESTING DISTURBANCES USING HIGH TEMPORAL RESOLUTION TIME-SERIES ........................... 75 4.1 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 75 4.2 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 75 4.3 Study area ........................................................................................................... 77 4.4 Data ..................................................................................................................... 79 4.5 Methods .............................................................................................................. 82 4.5.1 Disturbance temporal characteristics ......................................................... 82 4.5.2 Disturbance type mapping and validation ................................................. 84 4.6 Results ................................................................................................................ 84 4.6.1 Temporal characteristics of disturbances .................................................. 84 4.6.2 Map of disturbance types ........................................................................... 88 4.7 Discussions ......................................................................................................... 91 4.8 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 95 Chapter 5. CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................... 97 Suggestions for future research .............................................................................. 100 References .................................................................................................................... 103 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Land cover classes used in the classifications. ............................................. 17 Table 2.2. The cross tabulation matrix of the average sample for the two classifications: