Knowledge of tree species composition in a forest is an important topic in forest management. Accurate tree species maps allow for much more detailed and in-depth analysis of biophysical forest variables. The paper presents a comparison of three classification algorithms: support vector machines (SVM), random forest (RF) and artificial neural networks (ANN) for tree species classification using airborne hyperspectral data from the Airborne Prism EXperiment sensor. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the three nonparametric classification algorithms (SVM, RF and ANN) in an attempt to classify the five most common tree species of the Szklarska Poręba area: spruce (Picea alba L. Karst), larch (Larix decidua Mill.), alder (Alnus Mill), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and birch (Betula pendula Roth). To avoid human introduced biases a 0.632 bootstrap procedure was used during evaluation of each compared classifier. Of all compared classification results, ANN achieved the highest median overall classification accuracy (77%) followed by SVM with 68% and RF with 62%. Analysis of the stability of results concluded that RF and SVM had the lowest variance of overall accuracy and kappa coefficient (12 percentage points) while ANN had 15 percentage points variance in results.

Invasive and expansive plant species are considered a threat to natural biodiversity because of their high adaptability and low habitat requirements. Species investigated in this research, including Solidago spp., Calamagrostis epigejos, and Rubus spp., are successfully displacing native vegetation and claiming new areas, which in turn severely decreases natural ecosystem richness, as they rapidly encroach on protected areas (e.g., Natura 2000 habitats). Because of the damage caused, the European Union (EU) has committed all its member countries to monitor biodiversity. In this paper we compared two machine learning algorithms, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF), to identify Solidago spp., Calamagrostis epigejos, and Rubus spp. on HySpex hyperspectral aerial images. SVM and RF are reliable and well-known classifiers that achieve satisfactory results in the literature. Data sets containing 30, 50, 100, 200, and 300 pixels per class in the training data set were used to train SVM and RF classifiers. The classifications were performed on 430-spectral bands and on the most informative 30 bands extracted using the Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) transformation. As a result, maps of the spatial distribution of analyzed species were achieved; high accuracies were observed for all data sets and classifiers (an average F1 score above 0.78). The highest accuracies were obtained using 30 MNF bands and 300 sample pixels per class in the training data set (average F1 score > 0.9). Lower training data set sample sizes resulted in decreased average F1 scores, up to 13 percentage points in the case of 30-pixel samples per class.

Due to the pathogenic nature of asbestos, a statutory ban on asbestos-containing products has been in place in Poland since 1997. In order to protect human health and the environment, it is crucial to estimate the quantity of asbestos–cement products in use. It has been evaluated that about 90% of them are roof coverings. Different methods are used to estimate the amount of asbestos–cement products, such as the use of indicators, field inventory, remote sensing data, and multi- and hyperspectral images; the latter are used for relatively small areas. Other methods are sought for the reliable estimation of the quantity of asbestos-containing products, as well as their spatial distribution. The objective of this paper is to present the use of convolutional neural networks for the identification of asbestos–cement roofing on aerial photographs in natural color (RGB) and color infrared (CIR) compositions. The study was conducted for the Chęciny commune. Aerial photographs, each with the spatial resolution of 25 cm in RGB and CIR compositions, were used, and field studies were conducted to verify data and to develop a database for Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) training. Network training was carried out using the TensorFlow and R-Keras libraries in the R programming environment. The classification was carried out using a convolutional neural network consisting of two convolutional blocks, a spatial dropout layer, and two blocks of fully connected perceptrons. Asbestos–cement roofing products were classified with the producer’s accuracy of 89% and overall accuracy of 87% and 89%, depending on the image composition used. Attempts have been made at the identification of asbestos–cement roofing. They focus primarily on the use of hyperspectral data and multispectral imagery. The following classification algorithms were usually employed: Spectral Angle Mapper, Support Vector Machine, object classification, Spectral Feature Fitting, and decision trees. Previous studies undertaken by other researchers showed that low spectral resolution only allowed for a rough classification of roofing materials. The use of one coherent method would allow data comparison between regions. Determining the amount of asbestos–cement products in use is important for assessing environmental exposure to asbestos fibres, determining patterns of disease, and ultimately modelling potential solutions to counteract threats.

Land cover information is essential in European Union spatial management, particularly that of invasive species, natural habitats, urbanization, and deforestation; therefore, the need for accurate and objective data and tools is critical. For this purpose, the European Union’s flagship program, the Corine Land Cover (CLC), was created. Intensive works are currently being carried out to prepare a new version of CLC+ by 2024. The geographical, climatic, and economic diversity of the European Union raises the challenge to verify various test areas’ methods and algorithms. Based on the Corine program’s precise guidelines, Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 satellite images were tested to assess classification accuracy and regional and spatial development in three varied areas of Catalonia, Poland, and Romania. The method is dependent on two machine learning algorithms, Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). The bias of classifications was reduced using an iterative of randomized training, test, and verification pixels. The ease of the implementation of the used algorithms makes reproducing the results possible and comparable. The results show that an SVM with a radial kernel is the best classifier, followed by RF. The high accuracy classes that can be updated and classes that should be redefined are specified. The methodology’s potential can be used by developers of CLC+ products as a guideline for algorithms, sensors, and the possibilities and difficulties of classifying different CLC classes.

Mapping plant communities is a difficult and time consuming endeavor. Methods relying on field surveys deliver high quality data but are usually limited to relatively small areas. In this paper we apply airborne hyperspectral data to vegetation mapping in remote and hard to reach areas. We classified 22 vegetation communities in the Giant Mountains on 3.12-m Airborne Prism Experiment (APEX) hyperspectral images, registered in 288 spectral bands (10 September 2012). As the classification algorithm, Support Vector Machines (SVM) was used. APEX data were corrected geometrically and atmospherically, and three dimensionality reduction methods were performed to select the best dataset. As reference we used a non-forest vegetation map containing vegetation communities of Polish Karkonosze National Park from 2002, orthophotomap and field surveys data from 2013 to 2014. We obtained the post-classification maps of 22 vegetation communities, lakes and areas without any vegetation. Iterative accuracy assessment repeated 100 times was used to obtain the most objective results for individual communities. The median value of overall accuracy (OA) was 84%. Fourteen out of twenty-four classes were classified of more than 80% of producer accuracy (PA) and sixteen out of twenty-four of user accuracy (UA). APEX data and SVM with the use of iterative accuracy assessment are useful for the mountain communities classification. This can support both Polish and Czech national parks management by giving the information about diversity of communities in the whole transboundary area, helping with identification especially in changing environment caused by humans.