Mapping Urban Expansion of the City of Pula Using Sentinel-2 Data and Land Cover Classification

Abstract

U ovom završnom radu analizirano je urbano širenje grada Pule u razdoblju od 2015. do 2024. godine korištenjem Sentinel-2 satelitskih snimki i alata za obradu prostornih podataka u programu QGIS. Satelitske snimke preuzete su sa Copernicus Browser-a te su obrađene pomoću Semi- Automatic Classification Plugin-a (SCP). Analiza je provedena na temelju NDBI (Normalized Difference Built-up Index) indeksa, čime su definirane četiri klase pokrova: voda, šuma, niska vegetacija i urbano područje. Za klasifikaciju su korišteni algoritmi Minimum Distance i Random Forest, pri čemu je Random Forest dao točnije rezultate u identifikaciji urbanih površina. Na temelju dobivenih klasifikacija izračunata je razlika dviju klasifikacija i time je dobiveno širenje urbanih područja od 2015. do 2024. godine.In this final thesis, urban expansion of the city of Pula was analyzed for the period from 2015 to 2024 using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and spatial data processing tools in the QGIS software. Satellite images were downloaded from the Copernicus Browser and processed using the Semi- Automatic Classification Plugin (SCP). The analysis was based on the NDBI (Normalized Difference Built-up Index), which enabled the classification of four land cover classes: water, forest, low vegetation, and urban area. Two classification algorithms were used: Minimum Distance and Random Forest, with Random Forest providing more accurate results in identifying urban areas. Based on the obtained classifications, the difference between the two time points was calculated, resulting in an assessment of urban expansion between 2015 and 2024