Evaluation of change detection techniques for monitoring coastal zone environments

Procedures for detecting changes in Landsat multispectral scanning imagery of coastal zone environments are discussed. Four detection procedures are examined: a comparison of independently produced spectral classifications; a classification of a multispectral difference data set; a single analysis of a multidate data set; and a maximum likelihood classification using multistage decision logic. The relatively complex maximum likelihood classification technique was found to yield results closest to those obtained with the comparison of independently produced spectral classifications, the chosen standard.