Accuracy and consistency comparisons of land use and land cover maps made from high-altitude photographs and Landsat multispectral imagery

Accuracy analyses for land use and land cover maps of the 74712-km² Central Atlantic Regional Ecological Test Site were performed for a 1-percent sample of the area. Researchers compared Level II land use and land cover maps produced at three scales, 1:24000, 1:100000, and 1:250000 from high-altitude photographs, with point data obtained in the field. The same procedures were employed to determine the accuracy of the Level I land use and land cover produced at 1:250 000 scale from high-altitude photographs and color composite Landsat imagery.

The accuracy of the Level II maps was 85 percent at 1:24 000, 77 percent at 1:100 000, and 73 percent at 1:250 000. The accuracy of the Level I 1:250000 maps produced from high-altitude photographs was 77 percent and for those produced from Landsat multispectral imagery was 70 percent. The accuracy of the Level I land use maps produced using Landsat imagery is approximately that of the Level I land use maps produced from high-altitude photography with the exception of urban and built-up land. No built-up land was identified from Landsat imagery in the non-urban areas.