K-S Test for Detecting Changes from Landsat Imagery Data

Digital techniques for detecting changes between two Landsat images were developed. A data matrix containing 16 × 16 picture elements was used for this purpose. The Landsat imagery data was corrected for sensor inconsistencies and varying sun illumination. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (K-S test) was performed between the two corrected data matrices. This test is based on the absolute value of the maximum difference (Dmax) between the two cumulative frequency distributions. The limiting distribution of Dmax is known; thus a statistical decision concerning changes can be evaluated for the region. The K-S test was applied to different test sites. It successfully isolated regions of change. The test was found to be relatively independent of slight misregistration.