A Hybrid Feature Method for Handling Redundant Features in a Sentinel-2 Multidate Image for Mapping Parthenium Weed

Multidate images provide additional spectral information valuable for mapping plant species. However, correlated or redundant variables created from multiple image data and a large set of variables impede accurate and efficient landscape classification. Nevertheless, with the implementation of an appropriate feature selection method, the full potential of multidate images and subsequent increased classification accuracies may be achieved. Feature selection is a process of automatically selecting features in a dataset that contribute the most to the prediction of a target variable. It improves the classification process in terms of computation cost and predictive accuracy. Feature selection algorithms are typically classified into three groups: filters, wrappers, and embedded. Due to the inherent tradeoffs provided by different feature selection approaches, we hypothesize that a hybrid approach could optimize landscape delineation by leveraging on their complementary strengths. In this regard, we propose a new feature selection method that combines a filter ReliefF, a wrapper Support vector machines-backward (SVM-b), and the embedded random forest in mapping the noxious Parthenium weed using a Sentinel-2 multidate image. The new approach was compared to its three constituents based on the size of optimal feature subsets and classification accuracies. To make comparison and assessment of developed models from selected variables more valuable, the split between training and test datasets was implemented in three different ratios, namely, 3:1(Dataset 1), 1:1(Dataset 2); 1:3 (Dataset 3). The new approach was also evaluated against the multidate image without feature selection and a single-date image. Results showed that the new approach yielded the highest overall accuracies with the smallest optimal feature subsets. For instance, on Dataset 3, the OA was 86.6% with 22 optimal features, whereas it was 84.7% with 35 optimal features using SVM-b, which was the second most performing feature selection algorithm. The new approach yielded higher classification accuracies than the multidate image without feature selection and the single-date image. The findings of this study under-score the capability of hybrid methods to select fewer features from multidate images, with higher predictive accuracies than individual feature selection methods.