The spectral within- and between-class variability of reed beds and reference species was evaluated in this study in order to determine the possibilities to discriminate reed beds from other green vegetation using airborne hyperspectral data. Five reed bed and five reference sites representing other greenish vegetation were chosen for this study, 15 sample plots at each site. The differences in within-class variability among reed classes are significant (here we consider the different reed bed sites as well as sites of other vegetation as separate classes). This is likely to deteriorate discrimination results. In general, between-class variability between the reed sites is low, however, the variability between the site Karhukarinrauma and other reed sites is considerable. All reference sites had reasonably high between-class variability with respect to the reed sites, except site Birch, which can easily cause misclassified regions. The results indicates that sophisticated classification methods such as multiple end-member approach and data fusion are likely needed to produce accurate results in reed bed discrimination.
['Jyrki Tuominen', 'Tarmo Lipping']
Spatial variability of reed bed spectra in Olkiluoto Island