Deep Learning-Based Classification Methods for Remote Sensing Images in Urban Built-Up Areas

Urban areas have been focused recently on the remote sensing applications since their function closely relates to the distribution of built-up areas, where reflectivity or scattering characteristics are the same or similar. Traditional pixel-based methods cannot discriminate the types of urban built-up areas very well. This paper investigates a deep learning-based classification method for remote sensing images, particularly for high spatial resolution remote sensing (HSRRS) images with various changes and multi-scene classes. Specifically, to help develop the corresponding classification methods in urban built-up areas, we consider four deep neural networks (DNNs): 1) convolutional neural network (CNN); 2) capsule networks (CapsNet); 3) same model with a different training rounding based on CNN (SMDTR-CNN); and 4) same model with different training rounding based on CapsNet (SMDTR-CapsNet). The performances of the proposed methods are evaluated in terms of overall accuracy, kappa coefficient, precision, and confusion matrix. The results revealed that SMDTR-CNN obtained the best overall accuracy (95.0%) and kappa coefficient (0.944) while also improving the precision of parking lot and resident samples by 1% and 4%, respectively.