Consideration of Landsat-8 Spectral Band Combination in Typical Mediterranean Forest Classification in Halkidiki, Greece

Abstract

Utilization of satellite data by means of remote sensing practices creates a wider window of opportunities to conduct robust outcomes Landsat OLI-8 data acquired over the peninsula of Halkidiki in Greece for the summer period of 2013, were analyzed to determine their utility to classify natural resources categories based on the determination of spectral bands combination. Consequently, spectral bands combination can be used to classify various categories based on their higher overall accuracy assessment. Spectral information contained in each of the utilized channels of Landsat OLI-8, statistics defining 12 cover type classes of interest were calculated and used as a basis for classification of the designated study area. Spectral bands combinations (4-5-6/ 3-4-5/ 3-4-5-6/ 4-5-6-7) fulfill the required accuracy for forest purpose as they conducted overall accuracies ranging between 7.85% and 96.29%. The spectral band combination 3-4-5-6-7 conducted the highest overall accuracy (98.15%). The poorest results were obtained by the analysis of spectral bands combination 4-6 (68.52%). Single spectral band 6 conducted the best overall results; however, spectral bands 5 and 6 seemed to be the most useful spectral bands combination for each category.