Qualitative Analysis of Application Remote Sensing towards the Understanding of a Rural Community

Abstract

Remote sensing and human observation provide the resources necessary to view changes in land cover and land use (LULC) in an area of interest (AOI). Remote sensing tools have limitations and fail to accurately summarize areas individually. However, tools can be used in collaboration with human observation in order to better analyze an area and overcome their limitations. To accomplish this, numerous datasets such as the 1984–2024 Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC), National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Viewer, various layers available in Earth Map digital software from the baseline year 2020, 1984-2025 Landsat satellite imagery, Collect Earth Online (CEO), and ground observations from the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Observer application were synthesized and analyzed. In order to collect data from the same places across all datasets, an AOI measuring 3 km by 3 km was constructed. This AOI contained 37 kernels, each measuring 10,000 m². The kernels were constructed into a 6 × 6 matrix, and the final kernel was placed in the center, totaling 37 kernels. In analyzing these datasets holistically, inconsistencies were found between remote and ground observations. Each provided important information but was sometimes inconsistent. The synthesis of remote and ground datasets, however, was able to shed light on the LULC of the study area and provide an understanding of how it has changed over time. It was found that the study area had a relatively harmonious relationship between urban/built-up elements and vegetation, but that multiple tools were needed to draw this conclusion.