Remote Sensing and GIS Accuracy Assessment

Preface of the Book

The development of robust accuracy assessment methods for the validation of spatial data represents a difficult challenge for the geospatial science community. The importance and timeliness of this issue are related directly to the dramatic escalation in the development and application of spatial data throughout the latter 20th century. This trend, which is expected to continue, will become increasingly pervasive and continue to revolutionize future decision-making processes.



However, our current ability to validate large-area spatial data sets represents a major impediment to many future applications. Problems associated with assessing spatial data accuracy are primarily related to their valued characteristic of being continuous data and to the associated geometric or positional errors implicit with all spatial data. Continuous data typically suffer from the problem of spatial auto correlation, which violates the important statistical assumption of “independent” data. Positional errors tend to introduce anomalous errors with the combining of multiple data sets or layers. The majority of large-area spatial data coverages are derived from remote sensor data and subsequently analyzed in a GIS to provide baseline information for data-driven assessments to facilitate the decision-making process. 

This important topic was the focus of a special symposium sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on “Remote Sensing and GIS Accuracy Assessment” on December 11–13, 2001, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The symposium evaluated the important scientific elements relevant to the performance of accuracy assessments for remote sensing-derived data and GIS data analysis and integration products. A keynote address was delivered by Russell G. Congalton that provided attendees with an historical accuracy assessment overview and that identified current technical gaps and established important issues that were the subject of intense debates throughout the symposium. 

A total of 27 technical papers were presented by an international group of scientists representing federal, state, and local governments, academia, and nongovernmental organizations. Specific technical presentations examined sampling issues, reference data collection, edge and boundary effects, error matrix and fuzzy assessments, error budget analysis, and special issues related to change detection accuracy assessment Abstracts submitted for presentation were evaluated for technical merit and assigned to technical sessions by the program committee members. Members then served as technical session chairs, thus maintaining responsibility for session content. Subsequent to the symposium, presenters were invited to submit manuscripts for consideration as chapters. 

This book contains 20 chapters that represent the important symposium outcomes. All chapters have undergone peer review and were determined to be suitable for publication. The editors have arranged the book into a series of complementary scientific topics to provide the reader with a detailed treatise on spatial data accuracy assessment issues. The symposium chairs would like to thank the program committee members for their organization of individual technical sessions and participation as session chairs and presenters.

Ross S. Lunetta and John G. Lyon 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

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Remote Sensing and GIS Accuracy Assessment