Investigating ways of developed and undeveloped features from satellite images - Balancing coastal development and preservation

This research attempted to find possibilities of the practical use utilizing geospatial methods for the balanced promotion of sustainable coastal development and preservation through a case study of Jekyll Island, one of Georgia's barrier islands. In response, this research provided ways for practical use in sustainable development and preservation plans. First this research thoroughly investigated the 1996 master plan of Jekyll Island and tried to recalculate developed and undeveloped areas. Second, new estimations for developed areas were investigated through field survey. Third, this research proposed the use of the satellite images with different levels of spatial resolutions and tested different classification schemes to find possibilities for practical use. For these purposes, first, we classified developed and undeveloped features by manual digitization using an aerial photo image with 0.5m spatial resolution. Second, a Landsat 7 ETM+ and a QuickBird satellite images with mid- and high-levels of spatial resolutions were applied to identify developed and undeveloped areas using both the National Land Cover Data (NLCD) and the Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) classification schemes. Also, GEOBIA (Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis) was conducted to accurately identify developed and undeveloped areas.