ENVL 3304: Remote Sensing

Spring 2019

Machu Picchu Land Use Change Over Time

Region Information
The study area is a region near Machu Picchu in Cusco, Peru, situated
within the Andes Mountains. The region mostly consists of mountains and
forests along with roads, small towns, farms, rivers, and lakes. I collected all
the satellite imagery from USGS Earth Explorer Website. Both images were
taken during the day but the first image from Landsat 7 was taken on July
23rd, 2002 at 14:40:50 (HR:MIN:SEC) and the second image from Landsat 8
was taken on July 24th, 2017 at 14:52:27. The Peruvian Andes Mountains
climate is classified as subtropical highland meaning there are two seasons:
winter and summer. Winter begins in July and is characterized as dry and
warm with cool nights. Overall this region is important to continue
researching for land preservation not only for tourism but for the
continuation of the Quechua people, indigenous Peruvians, and their culture.
The classification map created from this study can aid in tracking the
expansion of the villages and how this movement impacts the forests and its
inhabitants.

Satellite Remote Sensing Introduction

The use of multispectral sensors is unique. These sensors can detect
certain spectral bands within the electromagnetic spectrum that humans
cannot. Humans can only see visible light with wavelength sizes ranging from
400 to 700 nanometers, but satellites can detect above and below those
wavelengths. Multispectral sensory imagery can detect up to three to ten
bands by the reflection of light energy. Satellites are useful for earth studies
because they can pick up vast amounts of data without physical contact and
with much more precision than if humans were to collect the same data. Also,
satellite imagery can track large areas of land as they change over the years.
This is much more advantageous in understanding land use especially in the
age of anthropogenic events and climate change science. Gauging temporal
disparities in vegetation and agriculture amount can help climate scientists
suggest places of concern in order to implement mitigation and adaption
strategies.
 In this study we used Landsat satellites mainly because Landsat
imagery is open source data, meaning it is for free to view by the public. This
makes it easier for undergraduate and graduate students with financial
restrictions to access data. Also, Landsat has data from the 1970s to the
current day and these images are relatively decent resolutions. Overall,
Landsat imagery was more convenient for this change detection lab.

Methods
I used QGIS to perform the supervised classification method that
allowed me to distinguish land cover classes from each other. This involved
selecting samples or training data from the imagery to represent the land
areas and applying these samples to the rest of the image. To determine
training data in this case, I initially needed to come up with land cover classes
for my region. I chose stable forests for all the undisturbed forest areas, stable
water for all the rivers, lakes, and ponds that did not change in the area,
stable farms for agricultural fields that did not change, forest to roads which
is a change class from forest areas to roads, and forest to urban which is
another change class from forest areas to village areas. Most of these classes
are independent from each other and do not overlap expect for the urban
area. Since there are roads in urban areas, it would have been appropriate to
classify urban areas as non-road villages. Also I failed to account for
exhaustive classes, meaning all classes are taken into account. I needed to
create a class called “other” to account for land areas like mountains. After
defining classes, I collected training data by toggling between both imageries
and assessing the change or no change to define samples within my
designated classes. After collecting training data, the algorithm detects
change based in whether certain pixels closely resemble the bands of the
classified training data.

Results
(NEXT PAGE)
Part 4: Res
Accuracy Assessment
I did not perform an accuracy assessment for this change detection
method but nonetheless the process is important to discuss. The first step in
an accuracy assessment is to identify which sites to visit again (aka sampling
design). The second step is to gather true conditions of the land either by
accumulating knowledge on the area through research or seeking
professional advice, using high resolution data, accessing aerial footage from
drones, or even collection land cover classification data from the government
during the designated time periods. This requires deciding the land use of
each pixel. The third step is to organize and summarize the data into a table to
make inferences on the accuracy and area of the map. The importance of an
accuracy assessment and unbiased area estimations is to highlight the errors
that already exist on the map.

Discussion
There was a significant change detected in the final image classification
product. The change class of forest to urban for example based on the visual
appears to be about 70% of the entire map which is untrue. Very little change
occurred from the forest to the urban areas according to my research. This
overestimation happened because I failed to account for all types of land by
creating an “other” class. What the forest to urban change is detecting is this
“other” class that I failed to gather training data for. Also the change class of
forest to roads is not represented well because roads are connected linearly
while the map recreates the change as dispersed. Errors include not choosing
the correct training data or not as much and also failing to create classes that
are mutual and exclusive. If I were to do this classification again, I would
collect more training data and remember to create an “other” class!

Conclusion
This map can improve understating of the expansion of people and
cities in order to preserve the culture of the Quechan people. My map overall
displayed stable areas the best which is important for knowing which natural
resources are in stock and abundant. The change classes would be much more
accurate if another class was created but once that is taken care of, I would
expect to see less change. As urbanization increases in other areas in Peru,
more frequent imagery of this region needs to be researched. This region is
very close to one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the natives who live
there are essential to its continued recognition as one. Identifying land
changes can determine whether these communities are capable of passing on
generations of love and devotion towards Machu Picchu.
More Pictures