The increased feature space available in object-based classification environments (e.g., extended spectral feature sets per object, shape properties, or textural features) has a high potential of improving classifications. However, the availability of a large number of derived features per segmented object can also lead to a time-consuming and subjective process of optimizing the feature subset. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the effect of the advanced feature selection methods of popular supervised classifiers (Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Random Forest (RF)) for the example of object-based mapping of an agricultural area using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery, in order to optimize their usage for object-based agriculture pattern recognition tasks. In this study, several advanced feature selection methods were divided into both types of classifiers (SVM and RF) to conduct further evaluations using five feature-importance-evaluation methods and three feature-subset-evaluation methods. A visualization method was used to measure the change pattern of mean classification accuracy with the increase of features used, and a two-tailed t-test was used to determine the difference between two population means for both repeated ten classification accuracies. This study mainly contribute to the uncertainty analysis of feature selection for object-based classification instead of the per-pixel method. The results highlight that the RF classifier is relatively insensitive to the number of input features, even for a small training set size, whereby a negative impact of feature set size on the classification accuracy of the SVM classifier was observed. Overall, the SVM Recursive Feature Elimination (SVM-RFE) seems to be an appropriate method for both groups of classifiers, while the Correlation-based Feature Selection (CFS) is the best feature-subset-evaluation method. Most importantly, this study verified that feature selection for both classifiers is crucial for the evolving field of Object-based Image Analysis (OBIA): It is highly advisable for feature selection to be performed before object-based classification, even though an adverse impact could sometimes be observed from the wrapper methods.

Object-based change detection (OBCD) has recently been receiving increasing attention as a result of rapid improvements in the resolution of remote sensing data. However, some OBCD issues relating to the segmentation of high-resolution images remain to be explored. For example, segmentation units derived using different segmentation strategies, segmentation scales, feature space, and change detection methods have rarely been assessed. In this study, we have tested four common unsupervised change detection methods using different segmentation strategies and a series of segmentation scale parameters on two WorldView-2 images of urban areas. We have also evaluated the effect of adding extra textural and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) information instead of using only spectral information. Our results indicated that change detection methods performed better at a medium scale than at a fine scale where close to the pixel size. Multivariate Alteration Detection (MAD) always outperformed the other methods tested, at the same confidence level. The overall accuracy appeared to benefit from using a two-date segmentation strategy rather than single-date segmentation. Adding textural and NDVI information appeared to reduce detection accuracy, but the magnitude of this reduction was not consistent across the different unsupervised methods and segmentation strategies. We conclude that a two-date segmentation strategy is useful for change detection in high-resolution imagery, but that the optimization of thresholds is critical for unsupervised change detection methods. Advanced methods need be explored that can take advantage of additional textural or other parameters.

Fragmentation and reduced continuity of habitat patches threaten the environment and biodiversity. Recently, ecological networks are increasingly attracting the attention of researchers as they provide fundamental frameworks for environmental protection. This study suggests a set of procedures to construct an ecological network. First, we proposed a method to construct a landscape resistance surface based on the assessment of habitat quality. Second, to analyze the effect of the resistance surface on corridor simulations, we used three methods to construct resistance surfaces: (1) the method proposed in this paper, (2) the entropy coefficient method, and (3) the expert scoring method. Then, we integrated habitat patches and resistance surfaces to identify potential corridors using graph theory. These procedures were tested in Changzhou, China. Comparing the outputs of using different resistance surfaces demonstrated that: (1) different landscape resistance surfaces contribute to how corridors are identified, but only slightly affect the assessment of the importance of habitat patches and potential corridors; (2) the resistance surface, which is constructed based on habitat quality, is more applicable to corridor simulations; and (3) the assessment of the importance of habitat patches is fundamental for ecological network optimization in the conservation of critical habitat patches and corridors.

Object identification in very high-resolution (VHR) remote sensing imagery has always been a fundamental but challenging issue. In the past few decades, various methods for the identification of different types of objects have been proposed, including the template matching-based method,¹ 2. ^{– 3} knowledge-based method,⁴ 5. ^{– 6} object-based image analysis (OBIA) method,⁷ 8. ^{– 9} and machine learning-based method.^10,11 Among them, the OBIA method can be easily combined with geographical information system (GIS) techniques, which allows for more complete mapping of land-use types for GIS analyses.¹² Thus, OBIA has attracted the attention of many scholars.¹² 13. ^{– 14} The first step in OBIA is to segment the images into relatively homogeneous regions (segmentation objects),¹⁵ and then, the statistical information for the segmentation objects is employed for image analyses (e.g., object-based image classification, hereafter, OBIC). As compared with pixels, the segmented objects not only exhibit rich spectral and textural features, but also provide shape and contextual information,¹⁶ which can improve the classification performance for various types of objects.

Despite increases in the spatial resolution of satellite imagery prompting interest in object-based image analysis, few studies have used object-based methods for monitoring changes in coral reefs. This study proposes a high accuracy object-based change detection (OBCD) method intended for coral reef environment, which uses QuickBird and WorldView-2 images. The proposed methodological framework includes image fusion, multi-temporal image segmentation, image differencing, random forests models, and object-area-based accuracy assessment. For validation, we applied the method to images of four coral reef study sites in the South China Sea. We compared the proposed OBCD method with a conventional pixel-based change detection (PBCD) method by implementing both methods under the same conditions. The average overall accuracy of OBCD exceeded 90%, which was approximately 20% higher than PBCD. The OBCD method was free from salt-and-pepper effects and was less prone to images misregistration in terms of change detection accuracy and mapping results. The object-area-based accuracy assessment reached a higher overall accuracy and per-class accuracy than the object-number-based and pixel-number-based accuracy assessment.

When estimating national PM_2.5 concentrations, the results of traditional interpolation algorithms are unreliable due to a lack of monitoring sites and heterogeneous spatial distributions. PM_2.5 spatial distribution is strongly correlated to elevation, and the information diffusion algorithm has been shown to be highly reliable when dealing with sparse data interpolation issues. Therefore, to overcome the disadvantages of traditional algorithms, we proposed a method combining elevation data with the information diffusion algorithm. Firstly, a digital elevation model (DEM) was used to segment the study area into multiple scales. Then, the information diffusion algorithm was applied in each region to estimate the ground PM_2.5 concentration, which was compared with estimation results using the Ordinary Kriging and Inverse Distance Weighted algorithms. The results showed that: (1) reliable estimate at local area was obtained using the DEM-assisted information diffusion algorithm; (2) the information diffusion algorithm was more applicable for estimating daily average PM_2.5 concentrations due to the advantage in noise data; (3) the information diffusion algorithm required less supplementary data and was suitable for simulating the diffusion of air pollutants. We still expect a new comprehensive model integrating more factors would be developed in the future to optimize the interpretation accuracy of short time observation data.