Classification
classification

Classification refers to categorizing or classifying parts of an image into different types, for example **pavement**, **water**, **soil** and **sand**. It often relies on examining an image pixel by pixel and using color or shape information to decide which "class" is the best match. The result is often an image such as this one, which is colored by class: If classification can be automated, using for example the software program [GeniePro](http://geniepro.lanl.gov/), large numbers of photos or large maps can be colored by class, helping to quantify for example "how much wetlands?", "how much oil?" or "how much _Spartina alterniflora?_" ###Spectral classification### Using the ratios of Red, Green, and Blue (and possibly Near-infrared), _spectral classification_ attempts to categorize regions of an image by land type. Read more in [this post by Adam Griffith and students at University of South Carolina - Beaufort](http://publiclaboratory.org/notes/adam-griffith/9-10-2011/students-map-campus-university-south-carolina-beaufort-south) ##Open source classification software## * [Spring](http://www.dpi.inpe.br/spring/) - desktop app, not super user-friendly (see [a tree canopy project using SPRING](http://depts.washington.edu/rsgalwrk/canopy/) by Diane Styers) * [Clashifier](http://github.com/jywarren/clashifier) - web service, in planning stage, not functional ##Human, or "Cognitive" Classification## Human Beings have generally been better than machines at classification, although computing power has changed the situation. In situations, such as on the US Gulf Coast, where programmers and computing power is not available, though, the older techniques are still useful--even a handful of volunteers can work through thousands of images quickly. There is a problem of creating a framework for different people to describe to one another their logic for classification. For each class, we call the meta information whereby a person can justify the classification a signature. This signature development process is still useful for communicating to programmers how to create automated classifications, should those programmers become available. Here is a Signature Development Worksheet for situations where advocates need to create a classification workflow for volunteer classifiers. [Public Copy 2018 GRN Signature Development Assessment Summary for Aerial Photo Classification](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PgQ22RGVAKrYsI9OuSGQaGHOgprskS2jycPgQAuPm3A/edit#gid=143327483) For each class, develop one Signature in a worksheet. See this [post about abandoned mines in Louisiana wetlands ](https://publiclab.org/notes/eustatic/03-11-2022/signature-development-for-aerial-photo-classification-louisiana-wetland-forest-mine-reclamation-project)as an example. This process is also useful for education and advocacy, as the process can galvanize support for protecting the land. Such is the case for the [Land Loss Lookout project](https://publiclab.org/wiki/openhour-archive#October+5:+Applying+Aerial+Imagery+and+Community+Mapping+-+Lessons+from+the+Land+Loss+Lookout+Project). Algorithms, after all, cannot vote. The experience of looking and classifying can change a voter's mind. ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
bobbypalgifts "PrettyPetals is a leading online gift store in India, specializing in exquisite flower arrangements and unique gift options for various occasions. ..." | Read more » 12 months ago
eustatic " " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic " " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic "https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l-M6xKOSc1lrq5F3OAz2iGDbZ2yKqpIkRBZY95AMnqA/edit#slide=id.g38f404e1aa_0_66 " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic " " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic " " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic " " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic "ppt https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l-M6xKOSc1lrq5F3OAz2iGDbZ2yKqpIkRBZY95AMnqA/edit#slide=id.g3483485c21_0_49 " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LqzPObDTaKTAfkotuPhh-skMfU5eupLW/view?usp=sharing " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic "https://www.flickr.com/photos/healthygulf/tags/mines these photos show a pit capture. the blue line is our canoe path " | Read more » over 2 years ago
eustatic "yes, but there are buried on a GIS Archive somewhere " | Read more » over 2 years ago
laurel_mire "This is an awesome resource @eustatic , especially for our current RAR on mine reclamation! Really appreciate your explanation of the classificatio..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
eustatic "There are two csvs in the earlier post One csv for Tangipahoa, one csv for Amite River. " | Read more » almost 3 years ago
eustatic "Here are the csvs that were to be put into a GIS. No signature development was completed for the GIS fields by Montoya, or perhaps the file has be..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
eustatic " Floodplain_Forest_signaturedevelopment_GRN_worksheet-FF_Welch_003_Shrubs.pdf Attached are three Signatures developed by Maya Welsh for GRN. Fl..." | Read more » almost 3 years ago
cfastie "The signature of ripe coconuts might be distinguishable from some of the other things in the photos, but not necessarily everything else in the pho..." | Read more » almost 7 years ago
warren "Ned Horning points out that Fiji has a similar open source plugin: http://fiji.sc/Trainable_Weka_Segmentation " | Read more » about 11 years ago
nedhorning "Well done. I've been working a bit with texture to add additional image layers (predictor variables) to the stack for eventual automated classifica..." | Read more » over 11 years ago
cfastie "Charlie: The images everyone is working on are single photos from the cameras (or multispectral versions). The problematic color variations are wit..." | Read more » over 11 years ago
ttaylor "the large scale image is here, 2736x3648 pixels. The patch of Trapa that I "trained" on and the patch in the upper center really do have significa..." | Read more » over 11 years ago
nedhorning "Hi Charlie, The better we can represent the variability of the feature we are trying to classify the more accurate the result should be. In genera..." | Read more » over 11 years ago
cschweik "Thanks Ned for your ongoing insight and expertise. So one thought I had related to Tom's workflow would be to see if we have a broad scale image t..." | Read more » over 11 years ago
nedhorning "HI all, I thought I made a comment on this earlier today but apparently I did something wrong (again). It's great to see more people digging into ..." | Read more » over 11 years ago
cschweik "Hi Tom, Chris, (Tom, I'm Charlie, the UMass Amherst faculty who was out in the canoe with Chris. Thanks for doing this work!) Chris - just to be ..." | Read more » over 11 years ago