Texture analysis of IKONOS panchromatic data for Douglas-fir forest age class separability in British Columbia

This Letter presents the results of textural separability tests obtained by first- and second-order texture methods on different aged Douglas-fir stands in IKONOS panchromatic imagery acquired 3 June 2000 over the Sooke River watershed in British Columbia. The effects of different measures and window sizes on the textural separability are discussed. Small windows sizes were not as effective in separating stands as larger windows sizes. Second-order (spatial co-occurrence homogeneity) texture values were the most effective in distinguishing between age classes. A first-order (variance) texture measure, though still useful, provided less separability.