Characterization of the spectral signature of tropical terrain units by means of the principal component analysis /PCA

A study has been carried out in order to investigate the possibilities offered by Landsat imagery for characterization of tropical terrain units with respect to surface topography, vegetation, type of soil, and climate. The distribution of the radiometric values of the multispectral imagery calculated by PCA is represented in the plane of the two major axes (corresponding to the largest eigenvalues). The areas occupied by each terrain class are then defined within this plane.