Evaluating LANDSAT wildland classification accuracies

Abstract

Procedures to evaluate the accuracy of LANDSAT derived wildland cover classifications are described. The evaluation procedures include: (1) implementing a stratified random sample for obtaining unbiased verification data; (2) performing area by area comparisons between verification and LANDSAT data for both heterogeneous and homogeneous fields; (3) providing overall and individual classification accuracies with confidence limits; (4) displaying results within contingency tables for analysis of confusion between classes; and (5) quantifying the amount of information (bits/square kilometer) conveyed in the LANDSAT classification.