LULC Classification and Ground Truthing

 Land use/land cover (LULC) classification is the process of looking at an aerial image and assigning a region a value based off of the visible features that indicate what the area is used for.  I utilized the USGS Standard LULC system to determine the level I and the level II classifications.  The higher the level classification the more specific it is.  For example a level I 2 is agricultural land, while the level II classification of the same space could have a code of 21 to denote cropland or pasture.

An important way to follow up on this is to go through the process of ground truthing.  This being an online class, it would not be easy for me to verify these locations in person.  Instead, I used google street view as the next best way to visit these areas.  I was only 66% accurate in my judgement of the area from the aerial photography alone.  The most common land type I would mix up was mistaking commercial for industrial land.  I was very reliable with judging residential land, however.

The land use and land cover map of Pascagoula, Mississippi with ground truthing markers.