Remote Sensing and GIS Accuracy Assessment L1443_C00.fm Page 2 Friday, June 25, 2004 9:44 AM Remote Sensing and GIS Accuracy Assessment Edited by Ross S. Lunetta John G. Lyon CRC PR ESS Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C. L1443_C00.fm Page 4 Friday, June 25, 2004 9:44 AM This is a work of the United States Government under the provisions of Title 17, Section 105 of the U.S. Code and, therefore, U.S. copyright protection is not available. Under U.S. law, no U.S. copyright may be assigned. U.S. Government works are in the public domain and may be used by members of the U.S. public without copyright restrictions. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Remote sensing and GIS accuracy assessment / edited by Ross S. Lunetta, John G. Lyon. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 1-56670-443-X 1. Remote sensing—Congresses. 2. Geographic information systems—Congresses. 3. Spatial analysis (Statistics)—Congresses. I. Lunetta, Ross S. II. Lyon, J. G. (John G.) G70.39.R45 2004 621.36’78—dc22 2004045728 This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The consent of CRC Press LLC does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission must be obtained in writing from CRC Press LLC for such copying. Direct all inquiries to CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, Florida 33431. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe. Visit the CRC Press Web site at www.crcpress.com International Standard Book Number 1-56670-443-X Library of Congress Card Number 2004045728 Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Printed on acid-free paper L1443_C00.fm Page 5 Friday, June 25, 2004 9:44 AM Preface The development of robust accuracy assessment methods for the validation of spatial data represents a difficult challenge for the geospatial science community. The importance and timeliness of this issue are related directly to the dramatic escalation in the development and application of spatial data throughout the latter 20th century. This trend, which is expected to continue, will become increasingly pervasive and continue to revolutionize future decision-making processes. However, our current ability to validate large-area spatial data sets represents a major impediment to many future applications. Problems associated with assessing spatial data accuracy are primarily related to their valued characteristic of being continuous data and to the associated geometric or positional errors implicit with all spatial data. Continuous data typically suffer from the problem of spatial autocorrelation, which violates the important statistical assumption of “independent” data. Positional errors tend to introduce anomalous errors with the combining of multiple data sets or layers. The majority of large-area spatial data coverages are derived from remote sensor data and subsequently analyzed in a GIS to provide baseline information for data-driven assessments to facilitate the decision-making process. This important topic was the focus of a special symposium sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on “Remote Sensing and GIS Accuracy Assessment” on December 11–13, 2001, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The symposium evaluated the important scientific elements relevant to the performance of accuracy assessments for remote sensing-derived data and GIS data analysis and integration products. A keynote address was delivered by Russell G. Congalton that provided attendees with an historical accuracy assessment overview and that identified current technical gaps and established important issues that were the subject of intense debates throughout the symposium. A total of 27 technical papers were presented by an international group of scientists representing federal, state, and local governments, academia, and nongovernmental organizations. Specific technical presentations examined sampling issues, reference data collection, edge and boundary effects, error matrix and fuzzy assessments, error budget analysis, and special issues related to change detection accuracy assessment. Abstracts submitted for presentation were evaluated for technical merit and assigned to technical sessions by the program committee members. Members then served as technical session chairs, thus maintaining responsibility for session content. Subsequent to the symposium, presenters were invited to submit manuscripts for consideration as chapters. This book contains 20 chapters that represent the important symposium outcomes. All chapters have undergone peer review and were determined to be suitable for publication. The editors have arranged the book into a series of complementary scientific topics to provide the reader with a detailed treatise on spatial data accuracy assessment issues. The symposium chairs would like to thank the program committee members for their organi- zation of individual technical sessions and participation as session chairs and presenters. Ross S. Lunetta and John G. Lyon U.S. Environmental Protection Agency L1443_C00.fm Page 6 Friday, June 25, 2004 9:44 AM L1443_C00.fm Page 7 Friday, June 25, 2004 9:44 AM Acknowledgments Symposium Sponsor U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Symposium Chairs and Book Editors Ross S. Lunetta (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) John G. Lyon (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Program Committee and Session Chairs Gregory S. Biging (University of California at Berkeley) Russell G. Congalton (University of New Hampshire) Christopher D. Elvidge (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) John S. Iiames (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) S. Taylor Jarnagin (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Michael Jennings (U.S. Geological Survey) Bruce K. Jones (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Siamak Khorram (North Carolina State University) Thomas R. Loveland (U.S. Geological Survey) Thomas H. Mace (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Anthony R. Olsen (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Elijah Ramsey III (U.S. Geological Survey) Terrence E. Slonecker (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Stephen V. Stehman (State University of New York) James D. Wickham (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) L. Dorsey Worthy (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) L1443_C00.fm Page 8 Friday, June 25, 2004 9:44 AM L1443_C00.fm Page 9 Friday, June 25, 2004 9:44 AM Contributors Elisabeth A. Addink John B. Dietz University of Michigan Cooperative Institute for Research on the Ann Arbor, Michigan Atmosphere University of Colorado Frank Baarnes Boulder, Colorado Oak Ridge Associated Universities Oak Ridge, Tennessee Samuel E. Drake University of Arizona Michele Barson Tucson, Arizona Bureau of Rural Sciences Canberra, ACT, Australia Jiunn-Der Dub University of Michigan Latha Baskaran Ann Arbor, Michigan Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania Donald W. Ebert U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Kimberly E. Baugh National Exposure Research Laboratory Cooperative Institute for Research in Las Vegas, Nevada Environmental Sciences University of Colorado Curtis M. Edmonds Boulder, Colorado U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Exposure Research Laboratory Vivienne Bordas Las Vegas, Nevada Bureau of Rural Science Kingston, ACT, Australia Christopher D. Elvidge Mark A. Bowersox NOAA National Geophysical Data Center Town of Pittsford Boulder, Colorado Pittsford, New York Sarah R. Falzarano Daniel G. Brown National Park Service University of Michigan Flagstaff, Arizona Ann Arbor, Michigan Donald Garofalo Halil I. Cakir U.S. Environmental Protection Agency North Carolina State University National Exposure Research Laboratory Raleigh, North Carolina Reston, Virginia Russell G. Congalton Michael F. Goodchild University of New Hampshire University of California Durham, New Hampshire Santa Barbara, California Stephen D. DeGloria Kass Green Cornell University Space Imaging Ithaca, New York Emeryville, California