Integrated method for global land cover products' validation on the example of Bulgaria

Vanya Stamenova; Stefan  Stamenov

doi:10.3986/AGS.10929

Authors

Vanya Stamenova Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Space Research and Technology Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8933-5426
Stefan Stamenov Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Space Research and Technology Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6010-8142

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.10929

Keywords:

land cover validation, global land cover products, integrated method, GIS processing, visual interpretation, Bulgaria

Abstract

The article presents the validation of four global land cover datasets for 2009–2010 (GlobeLand30, GlobCover, Forest/Non-forest map, Tree canopy cover) for the territory of Bulgaria as a part of a task led by the Group on Earth Observation (GEO). An integrated method for validation, combining the GIS processing capabilities, various data and the expert knowledge-based method of visual interpretation was developed. It aims to be an effective, time-saving approach, allowing validation of several datasets in one environment. The results are presented in vector format with structured attribute data for all validated datasets. The analysis reveals that the highest accuracy is observed for Tree canopy cover (96.1%), the lowest for GlobCover 2009 (51.0%), and the other products’ accuracy is considerably high, about 80.0%.

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