ABSTRACT
Land cover determines critical surface conditions associated with many environmental and ecological processes at various spatial and temporal scales (Meyer et al. 1994). Changes in land cover have a wide range of impacts on the Earth systems, including climate change, loss of biodiversity, and soil degradation (Turner et al. 1990; Vitousek et al. 1997; Lambin et al. 1999; Foley et al. 2005). With the widespread natural and anthropogenic land changes, the need for monitoring land cover change on a regular basis over large areas has never been greater (Rindfuss et al. 2004; Steffen et al. 2004; Liu & Cai 2012). Satellite remote sensing plays an essential role in mapping and monitoring of land cover change with its continuous observations of the land surface (Alves & Skole 1996; Defries & Belward 2000; Coppin et al. 2004).
