Geostatistical description of texture on an aerial photograph for discriminating classes of land cover

Abstract

The mean square-root pair difference between the DN values of pixels separated by a particular spatial interval (lag) in a digital image is a measure of spatial variability related to the semi-variance. It is shown that this statistic, when evaluated in a local window for several lags differing in length and direction, can make an important contribution to the discrimination of classes of land cover. Square-root pair differences are, for this purpose, statistically preferable to semi-variances. It is also shown that a set of square-root pair differences measures different components of image texture, not all of which may be distinguished by simpler textural variables.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

R. M. LARK

Address for correspondence: Silsoe Research Institute, Wrest Park, Silsoe, Beds. MK45 4HS, U.K.