JORNEX'99 : Landsat MSS Classification

This is the result of an unsupervised classification of the 1993 MSS dataset provided as part of a NALC (N. American Land Cover) Triplicate (70s/80s/90s). The classification was performed via an iterative clustering algorithm (ISODATA) on all four MSS channels and NDVI, with 12 initial classes. A polygon layer comprising the results of the mapping carried out by Buffington and Herbel (1965) for 1963 is overlaid; the codes preceding / are M=mesquite, T=tarbush, C=creosote, NA=outside mapped area. Codes following / are A: sparse (0-15%), B: moderate (15 - 55%) and C: abundant (55-100%). White lines are current pasture boundaries; red lines are current roads.

Landsat MSS Unsupervised Classification (ISODATA) of Land Cover over the JER

The spectral signatures for the 12-class clustering were examined and merged to produce the four-class classification below, which has a spatial distribution similar to the 1946 map produced by Branscomb (1956 : Shrub Invasion of a Southern New Mexico Desert Grassland Range, unpubl. M.Sc. dissertation, University of Arizona); and indeed the Buffington and Herbel map for 1963.

four-class classification of the above via merging of signatures.

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