Land cover classification using ASTER data - year 2000

Land cover classification for the CAP LTER study region using ASTER imagery acquired September 19, 2000. Current classification is broadly similar to previous classifications using Landsat TM by Stefanov et al (2001). Three visible bands (15m/pixel) of ASTER were used to perfom a multistep classification of the area. The fifteen-class classification is produced by applying the expert system approach and using the initially derived 16-class minimum distance to means (MDM) supervised classification, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), spatial variance texture image, and land use vector coverage. The overall classification accuracy is 88.06%. Although it does not cover the entire CAP LATER, the dataset can be used as higher spatial resolution alternative to Landsat-derived land cover.