In this project a land cover map for the Mudgee region in NSW was produced using Landsat satellite data. All observations for the period December 2023 - February 2024 were combined to produce a median composite dataset. Ground truth points were established for each class to which a Random Forest (RF) classifier was applied. The overall accuracy of the classifier was found to be …% based on … training samples and … test samples.

Change detection involves comparing land cover maps from different periods to determine the extent and types of change that have occurred. In this project, two land cover maps for the Hunter River Estuary were compared to quantify changes over a twenty year period. Substantial changes in urban development and woody vegetation cover were detected and quantified for the period 2003 to 2023. The Hunter River Estuary contains important shorebird and other wetland species habitat, including several endangered species. Change detection using remote sensing is beneficial for the purposes of wildlife conservation and for measuring the effect of ecological managment strategies such as the opening of the tidal gates into the Hexham Swamp from 2008 onwards.