Efficient land desertification detection using a deep learning-driven generative adversarial network approach: A case study

Precisely detecting land cover changes aids in improving the analysis of the dynamics of the landscape and plays an essential role in mitigating the effects of desertification. Mainly, sensing desertification is challenging due to the high correlation between desertification and like-desertification events (e.g., deforestation). An efficient and flexible deep learning approach is introduced to address desertification detection through Landsat imagery. Essentially, a generative adversarial network (GAN)-based desertification detector is designed and for uncovering the pixels influenced by land cover changes. In this study, the adopted features have been derived from multi-temporal images and incorporate multispectral information without considering image segmentation preprocessing. Furthermore, to address desertification detection challenges, the GAN-based detector is constructed based on desertification-free features and then employed to identify atypical events associated with desertification changes. The GAN-detection algorithm flexibly learns relevant information from linear and nonlinear processes without prior assumption on data distribution and significantly enhances the detection's accuracy. The GAN-based desertification detector's performance has been assessed via multi-temporal Landsat optical images from the arid area nearby Biskra in Algeria. This region is selected in this work because desertification phenomena heavily impact it. Compared to some state-of-the-art methods, including deep Boltzmann machine (DBM), deep belief network (DBN), convolutional neural network (CNN), as well as two ensemble models, namely, random forests and AdaBoost, the proposed GAN-based detector offers superior discrimination performance of deserted regions. Results show the promising potential of the proposed GAN-based method for the analysis and detection of desertification changes. Results also revealed that the GAN-driven desertification detection approach outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.