Classification techniques for mapping biophysical parameters in the US southern Great Plains

This research was part of a 1997 NASA-USDA collaborative research study for regional mapping of soil moisture in the US southern Great Plains. The study was conducted during a transition from winter to summer crops in June and July. Classification techniques were developed using Landsat TM data to separate the transitional vegetation from the natural vegetation. Areal photography and associated ground truth data for selected areas were used in developing the spectral signatures for each vegetation class. Classification of the entire region used these signatures. This research suggests techniques to be used in mapping vegetation classes in a very mixed land use area and suggests ways of using multi temporal satellite imagery for separating vegetation classes and minimizing cloud cover problems.