Land use and land cover classification and verification in Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau

Since the implementation of the Grain for Green project in 1999, land use and land cover had changed apparently in Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau. Land cover classification after the implementation of Grain for Green project, which was important in monitoring the land use and land cover change (LUCC) and assessing the project. Based on the previous classification system and the field survey of the different land cover distribution, a suitable land cover classification system for Northern Shaanxi was constructed firstly, and then according to MODIS/NDVI, DEM and land surface temperature data, the land cover classification in the Northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau was finished by decision tree method. Finally, using the field survey data and Google Earth high-resolution remote sensing data, the classification accuracy of the whole area and different land cover types was verified by error matrix method. The results showed that land cover classification of this study not only reflect the whole distribution of land use and land cover, but also the distinction between different land cover types.