Using machine learning to produce a very high resolution land-cover map for Ireland

Abstract

Land-cover classifications in the form of maps are required for numerical modelling of weather and climate. Such maps are often of coarse resolution and are infrequently updated. Here we propose a novel approach for land-cover classification using a Convolutional Neural Network machine learning algorithm to segment satellite images into various land-cover classes. Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, the CORINE land-cover database and the BigEarthNet dataset are used. A 10 m resolution map, called the Ulmas-Walsh map, has been created for Ireland that outperforms ECO-SG in terms of accuracy, as well as demonstrating a capacity for identifying features not labelled correctly in CORINE. The map can be updated on demand for any time of the year, subject to cloud cover. This is particularly useful for regions with large seasonal variation in land classifications such as Turloughs – seasonal lakes, flood plains and rotational crops.