Bridging Domains and Resolutions: Deep Learning-Based Land Cover Mapping without Matched Labels

High-resolution land cover mapping is crucial in various disciplines but is often hindered by the lack of accurately matched labels. Our study introduces an innovative deep learning methodology for effective land cover mapping, independent of matched labels. The approach comprises three main components: (1) An advanced fully convolutional neural network, augmented with super-resolution features, to refine labels; (2) The application of an instance-batch normalization network (IBN), leveraging these enhanced labels from the source domain, to generate 2-m resolution land cover maps for test sites in the target domain; (3) Noise assessment tests to evaluate the impact of varying noise levels on the model’s mapping accuracy using external labels. The model achieved an overall accuracy of 83.40% in the target domain using endogenous super-resolution labels. In contrast, employing exogenous, high-precision labels from the National Land Cover Database in the source domain led to a notable accuracy increase of 2.55%, reaching 85.48%. This improvement highlights the model’s enhanced generalizability and performance during domain shifts, attributed significantly to the IBN layer. Our findings reveal that, despite the absence of native high-precision labels, the utilization of high-quality external labels can substantially benefit the development of precise land cover mapping, underscoring their potential in scenarios with unmatched labels.