398 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 34, NO.
2, MARCH 1996
emote Sensing of Forest Change
sing Artificial Neural Networks
Sucharita Gopal and Curtis Woodcock, Associate Member, IEEE
Abstract-A prolonged drought in the Lake Tahoe Basin in
California has resulted in extensive conifer mortality. This phe-
nomenon can be analyzed using (multitemporal) remote sensing
data. Prior research in the same region used more tradition&
methods of change detection [SI, [30]. This paper introduces a
third approach to change detection in remote sensing based on
artificial neural networks. The neural network architecture used
is a Multilayer Feedforward Network. The results of the study
indicate that the artificialneural network (ANN) estimates conifer
mortality more accurately than the other approaches. Further, an
analysis of its architecture reveals that it uses identifiable scene
characteristics-the same as those used by a GrammSchmidt
transformation.ANN models offer a viable alternative for change
detection in remote sensing.
I. INTRODUCTION
EURAL networks hold the potential for improving a
variety of tasks in remote sensing and image processing.
They represent a fundamentally different approach to problems
like pattern recognition, as they do not rely on statistical
relationships. Instead, neural networks adaptively estimate
continuous functions from data without specifying mathemat-
ically how outputs depend on inputs (Le., adaptive model-free
function estimation using a nonalgorithmic strategy). To date,
most of the efforts to use neural networks in remote sensing
have involved image classification with considerable success
(e.g., [2], [12], [14], [18], [22]). Neural network classifiers
outperform conventional classifiers mainly due to their lack of
assumptions about normality in datasets, considerable ease in
using multidomain datasets, and perhaps, in capturing some
of the inherent nonlinearity in such data. The purpose of
this paper is to test the utility of neural networks in change
detection. As far as we know, this is the first paper to use
neural networks for change detection in remote sensing. In
particular, neural networks are used to estimate the degree of
conifer mortality in the Lake Tahoe Basin. This area has been
studied in the past [8], [30], and this project uses their datasets.
Change detection studies in remote sensing involve the
use of multitemporal datasets, Le., sequential images taken
of the same area. Techniques to analyze the location, nature,
and magnitude of changes serve two distinct purposes [37]:
comparative analysis of independently produced classifica-
tions, and simultaneous analysis of multitemporal data. Singh
E371 provides an excellent review and comparison of various
Manuscript received December 16, 1994; revised July 20, 1995. This work
was supported by the National Science Foundahon under Grant SBR-9300633
The authors are with the Department of Geography, Boston University,
Boston, MA 02215 USA.
Publisher Item Identifier S 0196-2892(96)01005-4.
0196-2892/96$05.00 0 1996 IEEE
change detection methods such as image differencing, princi-
pal component analysis, and multitemporal regression. Since
that time, much additional literature has been published on
the logic of change detection. In the area of timber inventory
and forest management, changes in forest cover caused due to
defoliation by insects [31], [32], [39], [41] and landuse andor
other human-induced factors (e.g., pollution stress) [7], [9],
[38] are significant.
The perspective on change detection in this paper is a
bit different from the normal in remote sensing, which is to
detect changes in land use or land cover. In these studies the
nature of the change is categorical, or between different land-
cover classes 1371. In this study, the intent is to measure the
magnitude of change [25], [26], which in this case corresponds
to the number of trees in a forest that have died.
E. BACKGROUND:THE MAPPINGPROJECT AND PRIOR
OF CONIFER MORTALITY
&PROACHES TO DETECTION
For the past several years, Boston University Center for
Remote Sensing and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Region 5
Remote Sensing Group have been involved in developing
a set of new methods for mapping and inventorying forest
vegetation using remote sensing and geographical information
systems (GIS). An important innovation in this mapping
project has been the use of an image segment procedure [42]
to define the map units early, in the mapping process, enabling
subsequent analysis to be conducted on stands rather than a
per-pixel basis. The image segmentation algorithm uses raw
TM bands and a texture channel and produces regions that
are the polygons used in the final map. The other primary
innovation is the use of a forest canopy reflectance model
to map forest stand structure. An overview of the mapping
procedure and its results are given in Woodcock et al. [43].
During the period of this project, the region experienced
prolonged drought that has resulted in considerable mortality
of conifer trees. Two prior approaches for detecting conifer
mortality in the Lake Tahoe Basin have been tested. Macomber
and Woodcock [30] used a method that measures the decrease
in crown cover between the two dates of the images. Estimates
of crown cover are obtained from the Li-Strahler model [29]
for each conifer stand for two dates of imagery. Three levels of
change in crown cover were combined with three crown cover
classes to stratify the forest areas. Field samples were collected
for each stratum and total conifer mortality was estimated at
15% of the total timber volume between 1988 and 1992. The
patterns in the means for the strata followed the anticipated
patterns with respect to mortality, indicating the viability of
GOPAL AND WOODCOCK: REMOTE SENSING OF FOREST CHANGE USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS
the approach. However, at the level of individual stands,
the relationship between field measurements and estimated
mortality were less reliable (R2 S 0.4).
Collins and Woodcock [SI proposed a new change detection
technique based on the Gramm-Schmidt orthogonalization
process by which an n-band image may be decomposed
into n-orthogonal indices, each with the potential of mea-
suring scene characteristics. The analysis of change in Lake
Tahoe used three stable components corresponding to mul-
tidate brightness, greenness, and wetness, and one change
component. Regressions between these components and field
measurements indicated improved ability to detect mortality
compared with the methods of [30]. Depending on which data
were used to train and test the regression model, adjusted R2
values ranged from approximately 0.5-0.7.
111. METHODSAND RESULTS
This paper pursues a third approach to change detection
based on artificial neural networks. Artificial neural networks
(ANNS) are large networks of extremely simple computa-
tional units, massively interconnected and running in parallel.
Formally, an ANN may be viewed as a dynamic system
with the topology of a directed graph which can execute
information processing by means of its state response to
continuous or episodic input [17]. The nodes of the graph
are called processing elements (PEs), and the directed links
(unidirectional signal channels) are termed connections. The
PEs communicate with one another by signals that are nu-
merical rather than symbolic. ANNS are designed to perform
a task by specifying the architecture: the number of processing
elements, the network topology (i.e., the interconnections of
the PEs), and the weight or strength of each connection via
learning rules. ANNS have proven well suited to problems
of pattern recognition and classification, nonlinear feature de-
tection, prediction and function approximation [4], [ 161-[ 191,
[23], [24]. The essence of learning in ANNS is to find
a suitable set of parameters that approximate an unknown
input-output relation. This problem in the present context is
solved using a supervised learning algorithm, which requires
a training set (i.e., a set of input-output examples). Learning
the training set may be posed as a search in the network
parameter space by introducing an additive error function of
statistically independent examples which measures the quality
of the networks approximation to the input-output relation
on the restricted domain covered by the training set. The
minimization of this error over the networks parameter space
is called the training process. The ultimate goal, however, is
to minimize the error for all possible examples related through
the input-output relation, namely, to generalize outside of the
training set [28]. Hornik, Hinton, and White [20] and Cybenko
[ 111 have shown that these networks can approximate any
continuous input-output relation of interest to any degree of
accuracy, provided sufficient hidden units are available.
The architecture of the two-layer feedforward network con-
sidered in the present research is fixed and determined by
the number of units per array and by their connectivity.
The network receives a vector input signal x and emits an
399
output signal x . The system has no feedback connections
(see Fig. 1). The inputs units i(i = 1,.. . , I) send signals x z
toward intermediate (hidden) units over connections that either
attenuate or amplify signals by a factor wZ3.Each hidden unit
j ( j = 1,. . . , J ) sees signals X , W , ~ (i = 1, . . . ,I) and process
them in some characteristic way. In the present research, a
simple function is used: the hidden unit sums what it receives
and produces an activation y3 that is sent to the output units
k ( k = 1,. . . , K ) . The input to the hidden unit determines
the state y3 of the element through the transfer function f . A
logistic function is used that scales the activation sigmoidally
between 0 and 1. The bias unit (shown in Fig. 1) outputs
a fixed unit value and can be viewed as constant terms in
the equation defining the learning process carried out by the
network.
The network was trained using the backpropagation pro-
cedure that iteratively adjusts the coupling strengths in the
network to minimize the error between the desired pattern and
the predicted pattern. Since convergence tends to be extremely
slow, the momentum variant is added to the weight update
equation to achieve a faster rate of convergence [21]. At each
step n, weight parameter w ( n ) of the network is updated
according to the following equation:
where q and y are the learning and momentum rates, and
e(x I x ) is the error signal between target vector x and output
vector 2. Hence d e / d w denotes the partial derivative of the
error with respect to ~ ( n )For . complete derivation of this
equation see standard references on backpropagation networks
[21], [36], [40]. The statistical approach to learning in such
networks is described in Gopal and Fischer [15].
Data representation is a critical component in ANN mod-
eling since it has a strong effect on what can be learned and
how long it takes to learn. In the present research context,
input information consists of TM data and output consists of
the change in basal area between 1988 and 1991. There are two
methods of representing the inppt vector: a 10-input vector of
10 TM Bands (5 for 1988 and 5 for 1991) or a 5-input vector
of the differences in the five TM Bands between 1988 and
1991. Either absolute or relative change could be represented
in the output vector.
A decision also had to be made whether to use individual
pixel information or stand (map units) information. TM data
(input) were available for each pixel while change in basal area
(output) was available only for stands. From the viewpoint of
training the neural network, pixel-level information provides
more data for training while stand-level information may
provide too few training examples. But to use pixel-level
input data, the stand-level output representation has to be
disaggregated to the pixel level. Data on change in basal
area (between 1988 and 1991) were collected during two field
seasons from 26 and 61 stands, respectively. We used the set of
61 stands to train the network and 26 stands to test or estimate
the generalization capability of the network.
Several multilayer feedforward networks were constructed
and simulations were systematically made with different input
400 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING,VOL. 34, NO. 2, MARCH 1996
Net work Units
Network Architecture
including biases)
Output Units
Bias Unit
Hiddens Units
Input Units
Fig. 1. Neural network architecture used in change detection (10:15:1).
and output representations in order to find an acceptable
architecture in terms of convergence during learning and
generalization. In all these simulations, input and outputs
were normalized in the [O, 11 range. This normalization
removes any need to transform the original digital variable
like radiance. Also, additive effects associated with sensor
differences between dates becomes irrelevant. We found that
the best network performance was obtained using stand-level
information with the 10-input vector and the output vector
of the total change in basal area between the two dates
of observation. There may be many reasons why this data
representation produced the best performance results. Using
pixel-level information, each pixel in the stand is assumed to
have the mean mortality level for the stand. This assumption
does not match the physical reality. The mortality withm
stands is concentrated in patches with some areas exhibiting
little more mortality. This mismatch at the pixel level adds
noise io the neural network and undermines convergence on
a solution. The result of this many-to-one mapping is that
the neural network may be unable to find an appropriate
mapping between the inputs and outputs. Thus, the stand-level
representation proved more successful despite the dramatic
reduction in the amount of available data. The other important
representation question concerns the use o f the raw TM
data for both dates (10-band input) versus use of only the
differences between dates (5-band input). The IO-band input
representation proved more useful as the 5-band input never
converged to a reasonable solution. One possible reason is the
loss of data concerning overall brightness associated with the
use of differences.
Fig. 1 shows the architecture of the network. There are 10
inputs, 15 hidden units, and one output. The initial weights
in the network were drawn at random from an uniform
Network
ers
1 Output Unit
Hidden Layer
k=l , ..., 15
Input Units
distribution between -0.1 and 0.1. During each time step a set
of 5 input signals (i.e., epoch size of 5 ) is presented in random
order (stochastic approximation). At the end of each epoch, the
network parmeters are updated using (1). Simulations were
made with different values of learning rate, q, and momentum
rate, 7 , in (1). A final choice on their values was made that
reduced oscillations during learning. These values are 0.3
and 0.6, respectively. Since the backpropagation procedure
is sensitive to different starting points, five simulations with
different random initializations were conducted. The number
of hidden units was varied between 5 io 50. Best performance
was produced with hidden units 15-20. Hence the minimal
architecture with 15 hidden units is selected to discuss the
results. Five simulations of the 10:15:1 network with different
initial conditions were made. The results of the best simulation
(with minimum variance) are presented in the next section, but
it is interesting to note that all five simulations produced sim-
ilar results. This similarity is encouraging and one indication
of the stability of the input-output relationship.
There are two phases in neural network modeling-training
and testing. During training, input and desired output pairs
pairs are presented to the network. After aaining, the net-
works generalization performance was estimated on a test
dataset that was not part of the training data set.
The prediction of the 10:15:1 neural network model is
shown in the scatterplot in Fig. 2. The actual basal area change
is plotted against the predicted basal area change. There are
26 points in the test set. There is a reasonable fit between the
two as most of the points are near the diagonal: The value
of adjusted R2 using the neural network prediction on the
test data set was 0.839 compared to the corresponding values
obtained using Gramm-Schmidt approach of between 0.48 and
0.70. Another measure of goodness of fit is the root-mean-
GOPAL AND WOODCOCK REMOTE SENSING OF FOREST CHANGE USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS
0 50
Actual Basal Area Change
Fig. 2. Network approximation using backpropagation (10:15:1) plot of observed versus predicted basal areas of test stands.
square error (RMSE). RMSE using Gramm-Schmidt approach
varied between 9.91 to 7.86. RMSE using neural network is
6.80.
These results indicate that the ANN model produces better
prediction results compared to the benchmark approach.
IV. DISCUSSION
One key question concerns the reason the neural net-
work produces better estimates of conifer mortality than the
Gramm-Schmidt technique. This concern is common when
using neural networks, as they are often treated as black
boxes-meaning that the nature of the signal used from the
input variables and its relationship to the output are usually
unknown. For applications where a one-time relationship is
all that is required, this black-box approach may be sufficient.
However, the more common case in pattern recognition is the
desire to detect patterns usable many times, or to learn about
the underlying relationships between variables. From a remote
sensing perspective, neural networks will prove most useful
if their internal behavior can be understood. Also, the kinds
of uses for neural networks expand if their internal structure
is understood.
There appear to be two primary possibilities why neural
networks worked better than the Gramm-Schmidt technique.
First, the relationship between conifer mortality and the spec-
tral data may be nonlinear. Given the lack of constraints in this
regard within neural networks, they would have an obvious
advantage in this situation. The other possibility is that the
neural networks are using different patterns or a different
signal in the spectral data to find mortality. To evaluate
this situation, we explored the use of principal components
analysis [ 131.
Recently, several researchers [ 101, [27], [33]-[351 have
explored how neural networks filter for principal components.
In the present study, a covariance matrix of the hidden unit
activation (weights) of the trained network was formed and
the principal components were extracted. Analysis of the
401
100 150
eigenvalues and eigenvectors in this matrix is useful for two
purposes. First the eigen values provide an indication of the
relative importance of the various principal components. The
first principal component explains nearly 94% of the variance
in the data. The second and third explain an additional 4%.
These percentages can be interpreted as the percent of the
variances in the output vector (mortality) contained in the
various components defined. This formulation for principal
components analysis (PCA) is different from conventional
applications because the information extracted relates to the
dependent variable (mortality in this case). This difference in
formulation is possible due to the filtering of information from
the input variables related to the output variable by the weights
in the neural network. All the other principal components are
insignificant and are discarded from further analysis.
The eigenvectors for the first three principal components and
shown in Table I. The eigenvectors are direct analogs of the
components created by the Gramm-Schmidt technique used
by Collins and Woodcock [SI and facilitate comparison of the
two methods. The first principal component is very similar to
the change component defined using the Gramn-Schmidt
procedure. (Table I1 from [8]). The pattern in the signs for the
coefficients matches exactly and the magnitudes of the coef-
ficients are also similar. This result indicates that the primary
signal used by both methods is the same. Also, the second
eigenvector looks in general like a multidate brightness image,
much like the one defined in the Gramm-Schmidt analysis.
That this factor might be related to change is interesting, and a
result of the conditions in the Lake Tahoe Basin. As described
by [8] and [30], there are patterns in the areas where conifer
mortality is concentrated. One such pattern is that areas of
the densest stocking of trees have the highest mortality. Since
brightness is inversely related with forest density, there is a
correlation between mortality and scene brightness. Similarly,
the third eigenvector has the form of a multidate greenness
index, which is also correlated with stand density and hence
mortality.
402 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL. 34, NO. 2, MARCH 1996

TABLE II
TRLNSFORMATION
GRAMM-SCHMIDT VECTORS

TM Band Principal Components TMBand I Princiaal ComDonents

1 2 3 Brightness I Greenness I Wetness I Change
TM 2 1988 -0.320 0.236 0.146 TM 2 1988 I 0.095 I -0.312 I 0.153 I -0.161
TM 3 1988 -0.313 0.423 0.273 TM 3 1988 0.173 -0.445 0.193 -0.356
TM 4 1988 0.295 0.619 -0.611 TM 4 1988 0.211 0.309 0609 0.108
TM 5 1988 -0.320 0.285 0.206 TM 5 1988 0.561 0.182 -0.271 -0.568
TM 7 1988 -0.323 0.123 0.251 TM 7 1988 0.300 -0.181 -0.218 -0.148
TM 2 1991 0.320 0.114 0.223 TM 2 1991 0.088 -0.356 0.182 0.107
TM 3 1991 0.322 0.124 0.276 TM 3 1991 0.163 -0.529 0.250 0.172
TM 4 1991 -0.312 0.317 -0.314 TM 4 1991 0.198 0.278 0.558 -0.161
TM 5 1991 0.319 0.269 0.281 TM 5 1991 0.580 0.186 -0.140 0.451
TM 7 1991 0.317 0.292 0.350 TM 7 1991 0.319 -0.161 -0.143 0.471

Given that it appears that the same spectral signal is being
used by both the Gramm-Schmidt technique and the neural
network, it seems likely that there are nonlinearities in the
relationship between the spectral inputs and the observed
mortality pattems which account for the improved results using
ANN'S.
At this point it is possible to consider some of the strengths
and weaknesses of the two methods, particularly as they apply
to future use. Obviously the fact that neural networks produced
better results is important. However, there are other con-
siderations that influence decisions regarding which method
to use. One such consideration is the amount of field data
required to train the neural network. The GrammSchmidt
technique can be calibrated by enough field sites to estimate
regression coefficients-or approximately 30 sites. Neural
networks need many more field sites for training the network.
In this study less than one hundred sites (5334 pixels) were
used, but that would appear to represent a bare minimum.
A serious problem in model estimation is the problem of
overfitting which is particularly serious for noisy limited
real world data. Several strategies exist for handling such
problems [ 11. We will address this problem in future research.
Each field site represents a full day's work for two people,
so this difference is not trivial. Another consideration is
the nature and quantity of processing required for the two
different approaches. The processing for the Gramm-Schmidt
technique is direct and relatively easy. On the other hand,
error-based neural networks such as the backpropagation that
is described in this paper, is much more difficult to train and
use. This problem can be overcome by using a more powerful
architecture like the Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) 131 or
one of its variants, ARTMAP [5], [6] which are characterized
by stability, speed, and incremental learning. Our future efforts
in change detection will involve the use of fuzzy ARTMAP
[6]. We hope to examine a number of interesting issues
concerning magnitude and direction of change. In essence, the
use of neural networks at this time for this kind of application
requires a significantly different type and amount of training on
the part of the user than does the Gramm-Schmidt technique.
A third consideration related to the selection of change
detection methods concerns the ability to apply the results
in other places or times. For example, could the neural
network built for this dataset be used in a neighboring area?
Similarly, could the same neural network be used at a later
date in the same location with new input images? This
kind of generalization has not been tested for either the
Gramm-Schmidt technique, or for neural networks.
Another factor related to the issue of generalization of
results concems feature selection. One future role for neural
networks in remote sensing may be to help define the most
useful set of input features for particular applications. In
situations where many input bands are available and little is
known about which bands are most useful, neural networks
can be used for data exploration. Following training df a neural
network, analysis of the internal structure of the neural network
using methods like the principal component analysis of this
paper may help select the appropriate input features for future
analysis. The generalization of the results would not come in
the form of a trained neural network. Rather, the lasting result
would be an understanding of the information content of the
various input bands with respect to a specific application. In
subsequent projects, it may not prove necessary or expedient
to collect enough data to train an entire new neural network,
but the value of the initial neural network analysis will p
via feature selection.
Some of the interesting issues in neural network approach
to change detection need further research. These include
data pre-processing and data representation, generalization
capabilities of neural networks outside the domain of training
data (temporal and spatial), and development of suitable
measures to quantify the neural network signal concerning
the direction and magnitude of change. Data preprocessing
is important since input data to neural networks is usually
normalized to preserve the feature space. In addition, the
issue of differencing versus simultaneous presentation of the
multitemporal data needs further investigation. Our experience
has shown that the latter provides more complete spectral
information to the neural networks.
V. CONCLUSION
This paper introduces a new approach to change detection
in remote sensing based on artificial neural networks. The
neural network architecture used is a Multilayer Feedforward
Network. The results of the study suggest that the neural
networks produce improved results over more conventional
methods of change detection.
GOPAL AND WOODCOCK REMOTE SENSING OF FOREST CHANGE USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS
An analysis of the internal structure of the trained neural
network through PCA allows understanding of the signal being
used in the spectral data. The neural network appears to be
using the same signal in the spectral data as those found
by a Gramm-Schmidt transformation. This suggests that the
improvements associated with the use of neural networks is
probably due to nonlinearities in the relationship between the
spectral data and conifer mortality. This issue needs to be
evaluated in other studies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the Support of the
U.S. Forest Service for collection of the data used in this paper.
They also thank S. Macomber, J. Collins, and V. Jakabhazy
for their assistance in organizing the data.
REFERENCES
C. Bishop, Improving the generalization properties of radial basis
function neural networks, Neural Computation, vol. 3, pp. 930-945,
1991.
J. A. Benediktsson, P. H. Swain, and 0. K. Ersoy, Neural network
approaches versus statistical methods in classification of multisource
remote sensing data, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol. 28, pp.
540-552, 1990.
G. A. Carpenter and S. Grossberg, ART2: Self-organization of stable
category recognition codes for analogue input patterns, Appl. Opt., vol.
26, pp. 4919-4930, 1987.
-, Pattern Recognition by Self-organizing Neural Networks.
Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press, 1991.
G. A. Carpenter, S. Grossberg, and J. H. Reynolds, ARTMAP: Super-
vised real-time learning and classification of nonstationary data by a
self-organizing neural network, Neural Networks, vol. 4, pp. 565-588,
1991.
G. A. Carpenter, S . Grossberg, and D. N. Rosen, Fuzzy ART Fast
stable learning and categorization of analog patterns by an adaptive
resonance system, Neural Networks, vol. 4, pp. 759-771, 1991.
J. C. Coiner, Using Landsat to monitor changes in vegetation cover
induced by dissertification processes, in Symp. Remote Sensing of the
Environment, Environ. Res. Inst. Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1980, vol.
3, no. 14, pp. 1341-1347.
J. B. Collins and C. E. Woodcock, Change detection using the Gramm-
Schmidt transformation applied to mapping forest mortality, Remote
Sensing Environ., vol. 50, pp. 267-279, 1995.
P. R. Coppin and M. E. Bauer, Processing of multitemporal Landsat
TM imagery to optimize extraction of forest cover change features,
IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 918-927,
1994.
G . W. Cottrell atld J. Metcalfe, EMPATH: Face, emotion and gender
recognition using Holons, Advances in Neural Information Processing
Systems, R. P. Lippmann, J. Moody, and D. Touretzky, Eds., vol. 3.
San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 1991, pp. 56&572.
G. Cybenko, Approximation by superpositions of sigmoidal function,
Math. Contr., Signals, Syst., vol. 2, pp. 303-314, 1980.
M. S . Dawson, A. K. Fung, and M. T. Manry, Sea ice classification
using fast learning neural networks, in Proc. IGARSS92,, Houston,
TX, 1992, vol. 2, pp. 1070-1071.
W. Dillon ind M. Goldstein, Multivariate Analysis: Methods and Appli-
cations. New York Wiley, 1984.
S . Gopal, D. M. Sklarew, and E. Lambin, Fuzzy-neural networks in
multi-temporal classification of landcover change in the Sahel, in Proc.
DOSES Workshop on New Tools for Spatial Analysis, Lisbon, Portugal,
DOSES, EUROSTAT, ECSC-EC-EAEC, Brussels, Luxembourg, 1994,
pp. 55-68.
S . Gopal and M. Fischer, Learning in single hidden layer feedforward
neural network models, Geographical Analysis, 1996, in press.
S . Grossberg, Nonlinear neural networks: Principles, mechanisms and
architectures, Neural Networks, vol. 1, pp. 1 7 4 1 , 1988.
R. Hecht-Nielsen, Neurocomputing. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley,
1990.
403
[18] G. F. Hepner, T. Logan, N. Ritter, and N. Bryant, Artificial neural
network classification using a minimal training set comparison of
conventional supervised classification, Photogrammetric Eng. Remote
Sensing, vol. 56, pp. 469-473, 1990.
[19] J. J. Hopfield, Neural networks and physical systems with emergent col-
lective computational abilities, in Proc. National Academy of Sciences,
1982, vol. 79, pp. 2554-2558.
[20] K. Homik, M. Stinchcombe, and H. White, Multilayer feedforward
networks are universal approximators, Neural Networks, vol. 2, pp.
359-366, 1989.
[21] R. A. Jacobs, Increased rates of convergence through learning rate
adaptations, Neural Networks, vol. 1, pp. 295-307, 1988.
[22] A. Kanellopoulos, A. Varfis, G. G. Wilkinson, and J. Megier, Land-
cover discrimination in SPOT HRV imagery using an artificial neural
network-A 20-class experiment, Int. J. Remote Sensing, vol. 13, no.
5, pp. 917-924, 1992.
1231 T. Kohonen, Self-organization and Associative Memory, 3rd ed.
Berlin; New York Springer-Verlag, 1989.
[24] B. Kosko, Neural Networks and Fuuy Systems: A Dynamical Systems
Approach to Machine Intelligence. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
1992.
[25] E. F. Lambin and A. H. Strahler, Indicators of land-cover change for
change-vector analysis in multitemporal space at coarse spatial scales,
Int. J. Remote Sensing, vol. 15, no. 10, pp. 2099-2119, 1994.
[26] -, Change-vector analysis in multitemporal space: A tool to
detect and categorize land-cover change processes using high temporal-
resolution satellite data, Remote Sensing Environ., vol. 48, pp. 23 1-244,
1994.
[27] T. Leen, Dynamics of learning in recurrent feature-discovery net-
works, Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, R. P.
Lippmann, J. Moody, and D. Touretzky, Eds., vol. 3. San Mateo, CA:
Morgan Kaufmann, 1991, pp. 70-76.
[28] E. Levin, N. Tishby, and S . A. Solla, A statistical approach to learning
and generalization in layered neural networks, Proc. IEEE, vol. 78, pp.
1568-1575, 1990.
[29] X. Li and A. H. Strahler, Geometric-optical modeling of a conifer
forest canopy, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol. GRS-23, up.
705-72 1, 1985.
__
1301. S . Macomber and C. E. Woodcock, Mapping and monitoring conifer
.
mortality using remote sensing in the lake-&o; basin, Remote Sensing
Environ., vol. 50, pp. 255-266, 1995.
1311 D. M. Muchoney and B. N. Haack, Change detection for monitoring
forest defoliation, Photogrammetric Eng. Remote Sensing, vol. 60, no.
10, pp. 1243-1251, 1994.
R. F. Nelson, Detecting forest canopy change due to insect activity
using Landsat MSS, Photogrammetric Eng. Remote Sensing, vol. 49,
pp. 1303-1314, 1983.
E. Oja, A simplified neuron model as a principal component analyzer,
J. Math. Biology, vol. 15, pp. 267-273, 1982.
-, Neural networks, principal components, and subspaces, Int. J.
Neural Systems, vol. 1, pp. 61-68, 1989.
J. Rubner and K. Scbulten, Development of feature detectors by
self-organization: A network model, Biological Cybem., vol. 62, pp.
193-199, 1990.
D. E. Rummelhart, G. E. Hinton, and R. J. Williams, Learning repre-
sentations by back-propagating errors, Nature, vol. 323, pp. 533-536,
.--,
IYXb.
[37] A. Singh, Digital change detection techniques using remotely-sensed
data, Int. J. Remote Sensing, vol. 10, pp. 989-1003, 1989.
[38] J. E. Vogelmann, Use of thematic mapper data for the detection for
forest damage caused by the pear thirps, Remote Sensing Environ., vol.
30, pp. 217-225, 1988.
1391 J. E. Vogelmann and B. N. Rock, Assessing forest damage in high-
~~
elevation- coniferous forests in Vermont and New Hampshire using
thematic mapper data, Remote Sensing Environ., vol. 24, pp. 227-246,
1988.
[40] H. White, Learning in artificial neural networks: A statistical perspec-
tive, Neural Computation, vol. 1, pp. 425-464, 1989.
[41] D. L. Williams, R. F. Nelson, and C. L. Dottavio, A georeferenced
LANDSAT digital database for forest insect-damage assessment, Int.
J. Remote Sensing, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 643-656, 1989.
[42] C . Woodcock and V. Harward, Nested hierarchical scene models and
image segmentation, Int. J. Remote Sensing, vol. 13, no. 16, pp.
3167-3189, 1992.
[41] C. E. Woodcock, J. Collins, S . Gopal, V. Jakabhazy, X. Li, S . Macomber,
S . Ryherd, Y. Wu, V. J. Harward, J. Levitan, and R. Warbington,
Mapping forest vegetation using Landsat TM imagery and a canopy re-
flectance model, Remote Sensing Environ., vol. 50, pp. 240-254, 1994.
404 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, VOL 34, NO 2, MARCH 1996
Sucharita Godal received the Ph.D. degree from
the Department of Geography, University of C a l -
fomia, Santa Barbara, in 1989.
Since then, she has carried out research in the
areas of spatial cognition, fuzzy sets, spatial accu-
racy, and geographical information systems. Over
the last few years, she has conducted research
in the applications of neural networks to land-
cover classification, change detection, and modeling
in remote sensing. She is currently an Associate
Professor at Boston University, Boston, MA.
Curtis Woodcock (A90) received the B.A., M A,,
and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Geogra-
phy, University of California, Santa Barbara
Since 1984, he has taught at Boston university,
Boston, MA, where he is currently Associate Pro-
fessor and Chair of Geography and a Researcher in
the Center for Remote Sensing. His primary current
research interests in remote sensing include mapping
of forest structure and change, spatial modeling
of images, inversion of canopy reflectance models,
detection of environmental change, and issues of
map accuracy.