Land use mapping using edge density texture measures on Thematic Mapper simulator data

Abstract

Texture analysis was performed as part of an investigation of the information content of Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery. High altitude aircraft scanner imagery from the Airborne Thematic Mapper (ATM) instrument was acquired over central California and used to simulate TM data. Edge density texture images were constructed by computation of proportions of edge pixels in a 31 x 31 moving window on a near infrared ATM band. A training technique was employed to select computational parameters to maximize the difference between edge density measurements in urban and in rural areas. The results of classification of the texture images showed that urban and rural areas could be distinguished with texture alone, indicating that inclusion of texture in automated classification procedures could significantly improve their accuracy.