Derivation of vegetation density and land-use type pattern in mountain regions of Jordan using multi-seasonal SPOT images

The mountainous region represents the most important agricultural and biodiversity haven in Jordan. The objective of this study is to characterize the seasonal pattern of land use and vegetation using multi-temporal SPOT images. Multi-temporal SPOT images were analyzed to characterize the land use and cropping pattern in the mountain regions of Jordan. The images were radiometrically corrected using invariant objects located on the image, and a linear inter-calibration method was used to calibrate the other images. A hybrid classification approach was used in the classification; the spectral signatures of the land-use classes were derived in an iterative procedure using the ISODATA and field survey data. Then, the maximum likelihood classification was applied on all images to classify the class signatures into thematic land-use types. The hybrid classification approach gives more accurate classification accuracy especially for the multi-seasonal image classification. The overall accuracy of the multi-temporal data set was achieved with 87.9%, while classification accuracy for single-date classifications were 61.3, 76.8, 72.2, and 65.5 for months of October, February, April, and June, respectively. In addition, the scene combinations that were derived from February and April were classified the land-use types almost as well as those combinations including more scenes. Regarding the classification details, the multi-temporal images enable higher level of classification for land-use types such as Anderson level 2, and produce accurate boundaries for the different cropping and farming systems.