INDICATORS OF LAND-COVER CHANGE FOR CHANGE-VECTOR ANALYSIS IN MULTITEMPORAL SPACE AT COARSE SPATIAL SCALES

Change-vector analysis in multi-temporal space is a powerful tool to a nalyse the nature and magnitude of land-cover change. The change vecto r compares the difference in the time-trajectory of a biophysical indi cator for ve time periods. This change detection method is applied to three remotely-sensed indicators of land-surface conditions-vegetation index, surface temperature and spatial structure-in order to improve the capability to detect and categorize subtle forms of land-cover cha nge. It is tested in a region of West Africa, using multi-temporal Loc al Area Coverage imagery obtained by the Advanced Very-High Resolution Radiometer on NOAA-9 and NOAA- 11 orbiting platforms. The three indic ators show a low degree of redundancy and detect different land-cover change processes, which operate at different time scales. Change vecto r analysis is being developed for application to the land-cover change product to be produced using NASA's Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spect roradiometer instrument, scheduled for flight in 1998 and 2000 on EOS- AM and -PM