Building Change Detection Method to Support Register of Identified Changes on Buildings

• Main Authors: Dušan Jovanović, Milan Gavrilović, Dubravka Sladić, Aleksandra Radulović, Miro Govedarica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Remote Sensing
• Subjects: image segmentation; neural network; classification; building footprint extraction; cadastre; change detection
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/16/3150

Based on a newly adopted “Rulebook on the records of identified changes on buildings in Serbia” (2020) that regulates the content, establishment, maintenance and use of records on identified changes on buildings, it is expected that the geodetic-cadastral information system will be extended with these records. The records contain data on determined changes of buildings in relation to the reference epoch of aerial or satellite imagery, namely data on buildings: (1) that are not registered in the real estate cadastre; (2) which are registered in the real estate cadastre, and have been changed in terms of the dimensions in relation to the data registered in the real estate cadastre; (3) which are registered in the real estate cadastre, but are removed on the ground. For this purpose, the LADM-based cadastral data model for Serbia is extended to include records on identified changes on buildings. In the year 2020, Republic Geodetic Authority commenced a new satellite acquisition for the purpose of restoration of official buildings registry, as part of a World Bank project for improving land administration in Serbia. Using this satellite imagery and existing cadastral data, we propose a method based on comparison of object-based and pixel-based image analysis approaches to automatically detect newly built, changed or demolished buildings and import these data into extended cadastral records. Our results, using only VHR images containing only RGB and NIR bands, showed object identification accuracy ranging from 84% to 88%, with kappa statistic from 89% to 96%. The accuracy of obtained results is satisfactory for the purpose of developing a register of changes on buildings to keep cadastral records up to date and to support activities related to legalization of illegal buildings, etc.