A new strategy based on multi-source remote sensing data for improving the accuracy of land use/cover change classification

Abstract Land Use/Cover Change (LUCC) plays a crucial role in sustainable land management and regional planning. However, contemporary feature extraction approaches often prove inefficient at capturing critical data features, thereby complicating land cover categorization. In this research, we introduce a new feature extraction algorithm alongside a Segmented and Stratified Principal Component Analysis(SS-PCA) dimensionality reduction method based on correlation grouping. These methods are applied to UAV LiDAR and UAV HSI data collected from areas concentrated with crops, buildings, and trees. We utilize LiDAR and HSI data to extract 157 features, including intensity, height, Normalized Digital Surface Model (NDSM), spectral, texture, and index features, to identify the optimal feature subset. Subsequently, the best feature subset is inputted into a random forest classifier to classify the features. Our findings demonstrate that the SS-PCA method successfully enhances downscaled feature bands, reduces hyperspectral data noise, and improves classification accuracy (Overall Accuracy = 91.17%). Additionally, the CFW method effectively screens appropriate features, thereby increasing classification accuracy for LiDAR, HSI, and LiDAR + HSI data across various areas. Moreover, the integration of LiDAR and HSI data holds promise for significantly improving ground fine classification accuracy while mitigating issues such as the ' salt and pepper noise '. Furthermore, among individual features, the LiDAR intensity feature emerges as critical for enhancing classification accuracy, while among single-class features, the HSI feature proves most influential in improving classification accuracy.