{"ID":2829701,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.11267","arxiv_id":"2512.11267","title":"Evaluating the Efficacy of Sentinel-2 versus Aerial Imagery in Serrated Tussock Classification","abstract":"Invasive species pose major global threats to ecosystems and agriculture. Serrated tussock (\\textit{Nassella trichotoma}) is a highly competitive invasive grass species that disrupts native grasslands, reduces pasture productivity, and increases land management costs. In Victoria, Australia, it presents a major challenge due to its aggressive spread and ecological impact. While current ground surveys and subsequent management practices are effective at small scales, they are not feasible for landscape-scale monitoring. Although aerial imagery offers high spatial resolution suitable for detailed classification, its high cost limits scalability. Satellite-based remote sensing provides a more cost-effective and scalable alternative, though often with lower spatial resolution. This study evaluates whether multi-temporal Sentinel-2 imagery, despite its lower spatial resolution, can provide a comparable and cost-effective alternative for landscape-scale monitoring of serrated tussock by leveraging its higher spectral resolution and seasonal phenological information. A total of eleven models have been developed using various combinations of spectral bands, texture features, vegetation indices, and seasonal data. Using a random forest classifier, the best-performing Sentinel-2 model (M76*) has achieved an Overall Accuracy (OA) of 68\\% and an Overall Kappa (OK) of 0.55, slightly outperforming the best-performing aerial imaging model's OA of 67\\% and OK of 0.52 on the same dataset. These findings highlight the potential of multi-seasonal feature-enhanced satellite-based models for scalable invasive species classification.","short_abstract":"Invasive species pose major global threats to ecosystems and agriculture. Serrated tussock (\\textit{Nassella trichotoma}) is a highly competitive invasive grass species that disrupts native grasslands, reduces pasture productivity, and increases land management costs. In Victoria, Australia, it presents a major challen...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.11267","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.11267v1","authors":"[\"Rezwana Sultana\",\"Manzur Murshed\",\"Kathryn Sheffield\",\"Singarayer Florentine\",\"Tsz-Kwan Lee\",\"Shyh Wei Teng\"]","published":"2025-12-12T04:10:44Z","proceeding":"cs.CV","tasks":"[\"cs.CV\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}