Automatic land-cover classification of a barrier island in the Virginia Coast Reserve using HYMAP imagery: an intercomparison of methods

Automatic land-cover maps were developed from HYMAP hyperspectral imagery acquired May 8, 2000 over Smith Island, VA in the Virginia Coast Reserve. Both unsupervised and supervised classification approaches were used to create these products. Ground surveys made by us in late October and early December, 2000 provided ground truth data for various land-cover types. We used GPS data from these surveys to extract spectral end-members used in supervised land-cover classification models. Both approaches to the classification problem produced consistent results for some categories such as Spartina alterniflora, although there were differences for other categories.