Module 2: Ground Truthing and Accuracy Assessment

In this week's lab, I practiced feature recognition skills using natural color aerial photography by digitizing an area of Pascagoula, MS to create a land use/land cover map in ArcGIS Pro. To do this, I used a USGS Standard Land Use / Land Cover Classification Scheme and digitized polygons to Level II based on features in the landscape. For each of the classification codes, I developed a guide with recognition elements to aid in the LULC classification.

Once the classification was complete, I used the Create Random Sample tool in ArcGIS Pro to create 30 ransom points within the area. I then used Google maps street view to "ground truth" these locations to check the accuracy of my LULC classifications.

Fig 1. LULC map of an area of Pascagoula, MS digitized to Level II of the USGS Standard LULC Classification Scheme showing the accuracy of 30 randomly generated ground truthing locations. 

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