A Semi-Automated Workflow for LULC Mapping via Sentinel-2 Data Cubes and Spectral Indices

Abstract

Land use and land cover (LULC) mapping initiatives are essential to support decision making related to the implementation of different policies. There is a need for timely and accurate LULC maps. However, building them is challenging. LULC changes affect natural areas and local biodiversity. When they cause landscape fragmentation, the mapping and monitoring of changes are affected. Due to this situation, improving the efforts for LULC mapping and monitoring in fragmented biomes and ecosystems is crucial, and the adequate separability of classes is a key factor in this process. We believe that combining multidimensional Earth observation (EO) data cubes and spectral vegetation indices (VIs) derived from the red edge, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared bands provided by the Sentinel-2/MultiSpectral Instrument (S2/MSI) mission reduces uncertainties in area estimation, leading toward more automated mappings. Here, we present a low-cost semi-automated classification scheme created to identify croplands, pasturelands, natural grasslands, and shrublands from EO data cubes and the Surface Reflectance to Vegetation Indexes (sr2vgi) tool to automate spectral index calculation, with both produced in the scope of the Brazil Data Cube (BDC) project. We used this combination of data and tools to improve LULC mapping in the Brazilian Cerrado biome during the 2018–2019 crop season. The overall accuracy (OA) of our results is 88%, indicating the potential of the proposed approach to provide timely and accurate LULC mapping from the detection of different vegetation patterns in time series.