Environmental impact assessment of a barrage system using novel change detection methods

This paper deals with the environmental and ecological effects of a barrage system realized near the Hungarian- Slovakian border. The study area is the region of Szigetkoz in the north-western part of Hungary. Altogether 23 images, dating from 1981 to 2001, are processed and analyzed. Ten images were selected to analyze seasonal vegetation dynamics. Fourteen images are used in long-term vegetation change analysis. Multiple supplementary datasets are included in zonal statistics calculations and are also used as reference. Radiometric correction and normalization are carried out by combining traditional and novel methods, including radiance and reflectance calculations, atmospheric corrections and multi- temporal principal component analysis. Multiple methods are used and compared for change analysis such as vegetation index differencing and change vector analysis. Image segmentation, unsupervised and supervised classification methods are used to analyze land cover changes. The results are then compared and amalgamated to have precise description of the ongoing processes.