Seasonal Change of Land-Use/Land-Cover (LULC) Detection Using MODIS Data in Rapid Urbanization Regions: A Case Study of the Pearl River Delta Region (China)

Seasonal changes were detected using multi-temporal MODIS images from March 2008 to December 2009 over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, China, to determine temporal and spatial changes of land-use/land-cover (LULC) classes in rapid urbanizing regions. The maximum likelihood method was applied to extract five types of LULC classes. A post-classification change detection technique was used to determine the types changed. Cropland, water and bare land had some seasonal changes, while urban and woodland had very little seasonal change. Results demonstrate that the urban area had a slight but continuous increase from early 2008 to late 2009, while the other land-use types had different increases or decreases at the same period. The study provides an example of seasonal change detection of LULC types using MODIS data in regions of rapid urbanization, such as the PRD in China.