We propose methods to facilitate the preparation of historical datasets for the LULC change detection and present an object-oriented joint classification scheme for multi-source datasets to accurately map the spatio-temporal changes. We investigated two pilot regions, Aksu and Kestel towns in Bursa/Turkey, to analyze the long-term LULC changes quantitatively and to understand the driving forces that caused the changes.

This study aims to determine historical land use and land cover (LULC) changes using multi-modal geospatial data, which are the cadastral maps produced in 1858, monochrome aerial photographs obtained in 1955, and multi-spectral WorldView-3 satellite images of 2020.

Accurate representation of landscape characteristics and precise determination of spatio-temporal changes provide valuable inputs for environmental models, landscape and urban planning, and historical land cover change analysis. Land surface of the Earth has been changing as a result of human induced activities and natural processes.

Historical satellite image