Crop distribution mapping using hard and soft change detection method with multi-temporal remote sensing images

To take advantage of conventional hard land use/cover change detection method (HLUCD) and soft land use/cover change detection method (SLUCD), we develop a soft and hard land use/cover change detection method (SHLUCD) for crop distribution mapping. Two HJ-1/CCD images, acquired on 6 October 2011 (T1) and 16 April 2012 (T2) which represented the period of sowing and jointing respectively, were utilized by SHLUCD to extract wheat area in study area. The results show that the crop distribution derived from the SHLUCD reflects reality more accurately than that from HLUCD and SLUCD. Crops distribution mapping derived from SHLUCD give lowest RMSE and bias and the highest R² than that from other two methods in all window size. Wheat distribution in typical area and mixed pixels zone could be identified by land use/cover change status and land change scope respectively through SHLUCD. Moreover, the theory and methods employed in developing the SHLUCD provide a new way for crop distribution mapping based on change detection technique.