A Rapid Land Cover Classification Method for Use in Urban Watershed Analysis
Date
2003-03Author
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Hill, Kristina
Botsford, Erik
Booth, Derek B.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Because of the profound effect of urban development on aquatic systems,
characterizing the land cover of a region is critical for a variety of resource management
applications. In the Pacific Northwest, this characterization has
been used most commonly to correlate the intensity of human activity with
observed stream or wetland conditions, in order to predict the health of the
stream system or to guide the allocation of mitigation efforts. Unfortunately, there is little consistency or quality control in how land-cover
data are collected and analyzed. We have developed an alternative approach using Landsat satellite imagery
to produce the same general type of land-cover characterization as has currently
found widespread acceptance and use across the region. However, our
methodology does so in a way that achieves maximum utility and consistency for
a particular group of users -- individuals and agencies needing to assess
watershed conditions in the urban, and urbanizing, parts of western Washington.
The classes of land cover produced have been chosen to reflect the categories
that can be readily distinguished in the satellite data and to have important
differences in their associated runoff and watershed characteristics.
The advantages of such an approach are obvious. The algorithm is
developed only once; after completion, it can be applied rapidly to any other
selected area through GIS software. It does not depend on the discretion of
individual operators and so the results are reproducible. These advantages have
not been lost on public agencies, but those agencies are not equipped to pursue
such efforts systematically, given project-related geographic boundaries, time
constraints, staff turnover, and the difficulty of inter-agency communication. With
suitable testing and documentation, the release of these data layers through the
University of Washington may encourage agencies across the region to adopt a uniform methodology, resulting in a degree of uniformity in data collection,
analysis, and reporting of these data that is currently unavailable.
Collections
- The Water Center [316]