An Assessment of a Random Forest Classifier for a Crop Classification Using Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery

Crop type classification is essential for supporting agricultural decisions and resource monitoring. Remote sensing techniques, especially using hyperspectral imagery, have been effective in agricultural applications. Hyperspectral imagery acquires contiguous and narrow spectral bands in a wide range. However, large dimensionality results in unreliable estimates of classifiers and high computational burdens. Therefore, reducing the dimensionality of hyperspectral imagery is necessary. In this study, the Random Forest (RF) classifier was utilized for dimensionality reduction as well as classification purpose. RF is an ensemble-learning algorithm created based on the Classification and Regression Tree (CART), which has gained attention due to its high classification accuracy and fast processing speed. The RF performance for crop classification with airborne hyperspectral imagery was assessed. The study area was the cultivated area in Chogye-myeon, Habcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, where the main crops are garlic, onion, and wheat. Parameter optimization was conducted to maximize the classification accuracy. Then, the dimensionality reduction was conducted based on RF variable importance. The result shows that using the selected bands presents an excellent classification accuracy without using whole datasets. Moreover, a majority of selected bands are concentrated on visible (VIS) region, especially region related to chlorophyll content. Therefore, it can be inferred that the phenological status after the mature stage influences red-edge spectral reflectance.