Land Use/Land Cover Mapping Using Multitemporal Sentinel-2 Imagery and Four Classification Methods—A Case Study from Dak Nong, Vietnam

Abstract

Information on land use and land cover (LULC) including forest cover is important for the development of strategies for land planning and management. Satellite remotely sensed data of varying resolutions have been an unmatched source of such information that can be used to produce estimates with a greater degree of confidence than traditional inventory estimates. However, use of these data has always been a challenge in tropical regions owing to the complexity of the biophysical environment, clouds, and haze, and atmospheric moisture content, all of which impede accurate LULC classification. We tested a parametric classifier (logistic regression) and three non-parametric machine learning classifiers (improved k-nearest neighbors, random forests, and support vector machine) for classification of multi-temporal Sentinel 2 satellite imagery into LULC categories in Dak Nong province, Vietnam. A total of 446 images, 235 from the year 2017 and 211 from the year 2018, were pre-processed to gain high quality images for mapping LULC in the 6516 km2 study area. The Sentinel 2 images were tested and classified separately for four temporal periods: (i) dry season, (ii) rainy season, (iii) the entirety of the year 2017, and (iv) the combination of dry and rainy seasons. Eleven different LULC classes were discriminated of which five were forest classes. For each combination of temporal image set and classifier, a confusion matrix was constructed using independent reference data and pixel classifications, and the area on the ground of each class was estimated. For overall temporal periods and classifiers, overall accuracy ranged from 63.9% to 80.3%, and the Kappa coefficient ranged from 0.611 to 0.813. Area estimates for individual classes ranged from 70 km2 (1% of the study area) to 2200 km2 (34% of the study area) with greater uncertainties for smaller classes.