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A classifier-combined method based on D-S evidence theory for the land cover classification of the Tibetan Plateau

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Abstract

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a region with high altitudes and complicated terrain conditions. Due to the special conditions of this region, it is also regarded as the third pole of the Earth. The land cover and vegetation in this region have not been extensively studied, so this study investigated the possibility of using a combined classifier that was established based on D-S evidence theory to extract the land cover of the TP. Multiple feature images were obtained based on a single classification rule, and the feature images were normalized to obtain the basic probability assignment (BPA). The BPA was used as the evidence source to represent the belief level of each type of land cover. The information for the different belief levels was combined based on the D-S evidence theory. The maximum belief level of the combination results was used to identify the land cover types on the TP. The results of this study indicate that based on the D-S evidence theory, multiple classifiers can effectively be combined to improve the classification results. This study has also revealed that more classifiers fused together to make a combined classifier did not result in the combined classifier’s accuracy being higher than those of the original classifiers. Higher accuracies were only obtained when more high accuracy evidence theory was used in the classifier combination, in which case, the combined classifier’s classification accuracy was also high.

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Data availability

Relevant datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Remote sensing data used during current study are available from the website of USGS: http://glovis.usgs.gov/.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, under grant number 41801332.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 200036, China

    Shuang Hao & Yuhuan Cui

  2. Institute of Forest Resource Information Techniques, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China

    Yongfu Chen & Bo Hu

Authors
  1. Shuang Hao
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  2. Yongfu Chen
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  3. Bo Hu
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  4. Yuhuan Cui
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Contributions

Shuang HAO and Yongfu CHEN were responsible for the overall design of the study. Shuang HAO performed the experiments and drafted the manuscript, which was revised by all authors. Shuang HAO, Bo HU, and Yuhuan CUI carried out the data processing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shuang Hao or Yongfu Chen.

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Hao, S., Chen, Y., Hu, B. et al. A classifier-combined method based on D-S evidence theory for the land cover classification of the Tibetan Plateau. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 16152–16164 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11791-z

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