Expert maps: an alternative for integrating expert knowledge in satellite imagery classification

A new classification method which permits the integration of expert knowledge in satellite image classification is presented. This approach differs from other knowledge based ones for the following reasons: 1) it is a low-cost procedure; 2) it allows that the available experts explicitly express all their knowledge on the area to be classified, and 3) it does not have to face the problem of rule generalization over the whole area. The method is applied to a real image data set and it is shown that the achieved classification is more accurate than the classification just based on spectral data