University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 1999 AVI multilayer forest classification using airborne image texture Moskal, Ludmila Monika Moskal, L. M. (1999). AVI multilayer forest classification using airborne image texture (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/19218 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/25205 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY AVI Multilayer Forest Classification Using Airborne Image Texture Ludmila Monika Moskal A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTTAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEPARmOF GEOGRAPHY CALGARY, ALBERTA DECEMBER, 1999 QLudmila Monika Moskal 1999 National Library Biblioth&quenationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. ~e Wellington OttawaON K1AW O(tawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distri'bute or sell reproduire, prster, distri'buer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/film de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur consewe la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit #auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be p~tedor otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT In this study a Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (casi) mdtiresolution data set, acquired over the Kananaskis Barrier Lake mix-wood forest in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, was analyzed for classification accuracies using forest cover types outlined by the Alberta Vegetation Inventory (AVI), with special emphases on identifying multistory canopies and species composition. Seven spectral channels, existing in the three resolutions of the imagery (60 cm, irn, 2 m), and five textural channels derived from second-order texture measures of the 'brightness' component of the imagery, were used in discriminant analysis to determine the usefilness of the textural information and compare two sample stratification schemes (six-class using only the first AVI canopy layer and thirteen-class using dl AVI canopy layers) based on the AVI label. Field data used to determine classification accuracies included a plot level survey of species composition by basal area, crown closures, stem count, height, dbh and additional site descriptors such as slope and aspect. On average, the use of texture channels improved the per-plot classification accuracies by 17% compared to using the spectral channels alone. The highest per pixel resolution imagery of 60 cm outperformed the other image resolutions (1 m and 2 m) and the thirteen-class sample stratification scheme improved the classification accuracies by 14%, with results of 87% and a KHAT of 0.85, compared to the six-class sample stratification scheme results of 72% and a KHAT of 0.73. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most importantly I would like to thank my parents for encouraging independent thinking, at an early age; their lessons have made me who I am today. I am gratell to my supe~sor,Dr. Steven E. Franklin, who provided an opportunity for me to undertake this research. Dr. Franklin's contagious enthusiasm towards science and remote sensing has been inspiring. I would also like to give a special acknowledgement and thank you to the other members of my committee, Dr. Mryka Hall-Beyer for her guidance and encouragement and Dr. Robert W. Longair for offering a biological perspective and providing a thorough review of my thesis. In addition, thank you to Dr. Derek Peddle (University of Lethbridge) for participating in my thesis proposal defense. Enough can not be said about all the individuals assisting me during my field season, but most importantly I would like to thank Dr. Ron Hall of' the Canadian Forest Service for giving freely of his time, knowledge and expertise. Thank you to ail of the field research assistants: Cynthia Huculak, Mira Kunes, Beth Dickson and Glenda Samuelson and the University of Regina and University of Lethbridge research teams. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the staff, technicians and co-op students at the University of Calgary, Kananaskis Field Station (Barrier Lake), for providing equipment, technical expertise and most importantly, Ines Kwan, field assistant extrodinaire. Likewise a special thank you to the Department of Geography, staff, faculty and students. Last but not least I would like to thank my colleagues Median Deuling, Beth Dickson, Graham Gerylo and A1 Maudie who offered fiendship, assistance and critical thought (and sometimes pen) during my graduate studies. Support for this thesis came fiom Dr. S.E. Franklin's NSERC Gmt, Teaching Assistantships and Graduate Research Scholarships supplied by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, through the Department of Geography. DEDICATION W pamigci Izabeli Olejniczak TABLE OF CONTENENTS APPROVAL PAGE ............................................................................................................ ii ... ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................~............................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES.. ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES AND PLATES ....................................................................................... xi CHAPlXR 1 INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH OJMECTIVES... ....... ..~o.~~~~.~~~...~........o....e.e... .. 1 CHAPTER 2 REMOm SENSING OF FOREST STRUCTURE .*..*...**.....*.,.,. ..........*..*..............e....e.*.... 8 CHAPTER 3 STUDY AREA AND DATA COLLECmD.,.. .................................. .*.s....o..Ct.....*.......* .......... 25 3.1 LOCATION AND Descrumo~OF THE STUDYAREA ............. ..+............................................................... 25 3.2 DATACQSON ............................................................................................................................ 28 3.2. I Field Data ........................... ,. ............................................................................................... 28 3.2. I .I Spectroradiometer Data ........................................................................................................................... 29 3.2.1.2 Sampling Procedure ................................................................................................................................ 19 3.2.1.3 GPS Data Collection ............................................................................................................................... 30 3.2.1.4 Forest Measurements ............................................................................................................................. 31 3.2.2 casi Imagery ................................................................................................................................. 36 3.3 CHAPTERS~MARY............................................................................................................................. 39 CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY ~o~~~~~~~o~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oo~O~~~C~O~~~~~OI~~~~~~~~m~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~m~Uomm~U~~~o~~~~~~H~UO~~~40 4- t ~ODUCTION...................................................................................................................................... 40 43 BASALAREA AND AVI PLOT LABELS..............................~.................................................................... 41 vi 4 1. 1 Sample Stratification Based on AVI First Canopy Layer........................................................................ 44 4.2. 1.2 Sample Stratification Based on All AVI Canopy Layers ........................................................................ 44 4.3 IMAGEPREPAMTION AND STATISTICALDATA EX~UC~ON ................................................................ 47 4.4 PRINCIPALCOMPONENT ANALYSIS ...........,................ ........................................................................... 49 4.5 STRUC~UREAND CASIIMAGERY SHADOW ............................................................................................. 54 4.6 CREATIONOF TEXTURECHANNELS ...................................................................................................... 55 4.7 TEXTURE AND GISI MAGERYSHADOW .................................................................................................