Delineating Grassland in British Columbia using Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) through Google Earth Engine

However, rapid urbanization and forest encroachment threaten these habitats. This study addresses the urgent need for an accurate, automated method for delineating and monitoring BC's grasslands by employing Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) within the Google Earth Engine platform, utilizing high-resolution Sentinel-2 satellite imagery.

The approach innovates by integrating Superpixel Segmentation Based on Simple Non-Iterative Clustering (SNIC) with Random Forest classification, aimed at overcoming the mixed pixel effect prevalent in pixel-based methods. The methodology demonstrates a significant improvement in the accuracy of grassland delineation, achieving an overall classification accuracy of 96%. Specifically, the accuracy for grassland identification increased by 26.6% compared to the previous study, underscoring the effectiveness of GEOBIA for environmental monitoring.