# Segmentation of Satellite Imagery using U-Net Models for Land Cover Classification

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.02899 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.02899/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 5 Mar 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Attention-augmented Spatio-Temporal Segmentation for Land Cover Mapping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.02963/) (2021)
- [Clustering augmented Self-Supervised Learning: Anapplication to Land Cover Mapping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.07323/) (2021)
- [Edge Tracing using Gaussian Process Regression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.03605/) (2021)
- [L^3U-net: Low-Latency Lightweight U-net Based Image Segmentation Model for Parallel CNN Processors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.16528/) (2022)
- [A Consensual Collaborative Learning Method for Remote Sensing Image Classification Under Noisy Multi-Labels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05496/) (2021)
- [A multi-scale vision transformer-based multimodal GeoAI model for mapping Arctic permafrost thaw](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.17822/) (2025)
- [Mesh-Wise Prediction of Demographic Composition from Satellite Images Using Multi-Head Convolutional Neural Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.13441/) (2023)
- [Learning Semantic Segmentation with Query Points Supervision on Aerial Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.05490/) (2023)
- [Satellite to Street : Disaster Impact Estimator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.00065/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The focus of this paper is using a convolutional machine learning model with a modified U-Net structure for creating land cover classification mapping based on satellite imagery. The aim of the research is to train and test convolutional models for automatic land cover mapping and to assess their usability in increasing land cover mapping accuracy and change detection. To solve these tasks, authors prepared a dataset and trained machine learning models for land cover classification and semantic segmentation from satellite images. The results were analysed on three different land classification levels. BigEarthNet satellite image archive was selected for the research as one of two main datasets. This novel and recent dataset was published in 2019 and includes Sentinel-2 satellite photos from 10 European countries made in 2017 and 2018. As a second dataset the authors composed an original set containing a Sentinel-2 image and a CORINE land cover map of Estonia. The developed classification model shows a high overall Ftextsubscript1 score of 0.749 on multiclass land cover classification with 43 possible image labels. The model also highlights noisy data in the BigEarthNet dataset, where images seem to have incorrect labels. The segmentation models offer a solution for generating automatic land cover mappings based on Sentinel-2 satellite images and show a high IoU score for land cover classes such as forests, inland waters and arable land. The models show a capability of increasing the accuracy of existing land classification maps and in land cover change detection.