Deviation of land-use data from quickbird and TM remote sensing imagery: A case study of the Tanjiaying small watershed in the loess hilly-gully area of China

Land-use maps provide important data and basic information for accomplishing the optimal allocation of resources and for ensuring sustainable development. However, the land-use data interpreted from various sources of remotely sensed, low-resolution imagery are highly variable. Therefore, an analysis of these deviations in land-use data is imperative for correcting the accuracy of the land-use maps derived from such low-resolution, remote sensing imagery. With ArcGIS 9.3 software, we derived the land-use maps with different accuracies for the Tanjiaying small watershed in the loess hilly-gully area of China by interpreting Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and QuickBird images acquired in 2010. We compared the maps derived from these two sources of imagery data and analyzed the resulting deviation distribution with respect to the slope, aspect, and elevation of the land.