High altitude aircraft remote sensing during the 1988 Yellowstone national park wildfires

Abstract

The advancement of satellite remote sensing has offered greater potential for mapping volcanic deposits. Although the development of weather‐independent microwave remote sensing has made the frequent detection over large area detection of deposits using SAR intensity image is sometimes hindered by ambiguities and noise. The ambiguities occur in volcanic deposit areas covered by young vegetation and that give either high or low backscatter depending upon their orientation. For this reason coherent images were integrated with SAR intensity images to extract more reliable information about volcanic deposited area. Besides, the layover areas due to the viewing geometry of SAR make difficulties to map the volcanic deposits on every side of the mountain. To avoid the influence of layover effects fusion techniques of ascending and descending pass SAR intensity and coherent images were developed. Using the fused images with an optical image, a color composite was developed to identify the areas affected by an eruption. In this color composite, especially vegetation damages can be easily identified.     

Urban land-use classification by combining high-resolution optical and long-wave infrared images

Abstract

Multi-sensor and multi-resolution source images consisting of optical and long-wave infrared (LWIR) images are analyzed separately and then combined for urban mapping in this study. The framework of its methodology is based on a two-level classification approach. In the first level, contributions of these two data sources in urban mapping are examined extensively by four types of classifications, i.e. spectral-based, spectral-spatial-based, joint classification, and multiple feature classification. In the second level, an objected-based approach is applied to decline the boundaries. The specificity of our proposed framework not only lies in the combination of two different images, but also the exploration of the LWIR image as one complementary spectral information for urban mapping. To verify the effectiveness of the presented classification framework and to confirm the LWIR’s complementary role in the urban mapping task, experiment results are evaluated by the grss_dfc_2014 data-set.     

Detecting shadows in multi-temporal aerial imagery to support near-real-time change detection

Multi-temporal aerial imagery captured via an approach called repeat station imaging (RSI) facilitates post-hazard assessment of damage to infrastructure. Spectral-radiometric (SR) variations caused by differences in shadowing may inhibit successful change detection based on image differencing. This study evaluates a novel approach to shadow classification based on bi-temporal imagery, which exploits SR change signatures associated with transient shadows. Changes in intensity (brightness from red–green–blue images) and intensity-normalized blue waveband values provide a basis for classifying transient shadows across a range of material types with unique reflectance properties, using thresholds that proved versatile for very different scenes. We derive classification thresholds for persistent shadows based on hue to intensity ratio (H/I) images, by exploiting statistics obtained from transient shadow areas. We assess shadow classification accuracy based on this procedure, and compare it to the more conventional approach of thresholding individual H/I images based on frequency distributions. Our efficient and semi-automated shadow classification procedure shows improved mean accuracy (93.3%) and versatility with different image sets over the conventional approach (84.7%). For proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that overlaying bi-temporal imagery also facilitates normalization of intensity values in transient shadow areas, as part of an integrated procedure to support near-real-time change detection.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of white mold and impacts on yield in soybean fields in South Dakota

ABSTRACT

White mold of soybeans is one of the most important fungal diseases that affect soybean production in South Dakota. However, there is a lack of information on the spatial characteristics of the disease and relationship with soybean yield. This relationship can be explored with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from Landsat 8 and a fusion of Landsat 8 and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images. This study investigated the patterns of yield in two soybean fields infected with white mold between 2016 and 2017, and estimated yield loss caused by white mold. Results show evidence of clustering in the spatial distribution of yield (Moran’s I = 0.38; p < 0.05 in 2016 and Moran’s I = 0.45; p < 0.05 in 2017) that can be explained by the spatial distribution of white mold in the observed fields. Yield loss caused by white mold was estimated at 36% in 2016 and 56% in 2017 for the worse disease pixels, with the most accurate period for estimating this loss on 21 August and 8 September for 2016 field and 2017 field, respectively. This study shows the potential of free remotely sensed satellite data in estimating yield loss caused by white mold.     

Detection of seismic façade damages with multi-temporal oblique aerial imagery

ABSTRACT

Remote sensing images have long been recognized as useful for the detection of building damages, mainly due to their wide coverage, revisit capabilities and high spatial resolution. The majority of contributions aimed at identifying debris and rubble piles, as the main focus is to assess collapsed and partially collapsed structures. However, these approaches might not be optimal for the image classification of façade damages, where damages might appear in the form of spalling, cracks and collapse of small segments of the façade. A few studies focused their damage detection on the façades using only post-event images. Nonetheless, several studies achieved better performances in damage detection approaches when considering multi-temporal image data. Hence, in this work a multi-temporal façade damage detection is tested. The first objective is to optimally merge pre- and post-event aerial oblique imagery within a supervised classification approach using convolutional neural networks to detect façade damages. The second objective is related to the fact that façades are normally depicted in several views in aerial manned photogrammetric surveys; hence, different procedures combining these multi-view image data are also proposed and embedded in the image classification approach. Six multi-temporal approaches are compared against 3 mono-temporal ones. The results indicate the superiority of multi-temporal approaches (up to ~25% in f1-score) when compared to the mono-temporal ones. The best performing multi-temporal approach takes as input sextuples (3 views per epoch, per façade) within a late fusion approach to perform the image classification of façade damages. However, the detection of small damages, such as smaller cracks or smaller areas of spalling, remains challenging in this approach, mainly due to the low resolution (~0.14 m ground sampling distance) of the dataset used.     

An efficient application of fusion approach for hot spot detection with MODIS and PALSAR-1 data

Hot spot detection with satellite images, especially with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is still a challenging task. Several researchers have used TM/optical data for identification of hot spot but the use of SAR data is very limited for this type of application. The fusion of SAR data with TM/optical data may add additional information which in turn will lead for enhancement of detection capability of the hot spot. Therefore, this study explores the possibility of fusion of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) satellite images for the hot spot detection. Image fusion is emerging as a powerful tool where information of various sensors can be used for obtaining better results. For this purpose, vegetation greenness and roughness information which is obtained from MODIS and PALSAR satellite images, respectively, are used for fusion, and then, a contextual-based thresholding algorithm is applied to the fused image for hot spot detection. The proposed approach comprises of two steps: (1) application of genetic algorithm-based scheme for image fusion of MODIS and PALSAR satellite images, and (2) classification of the fused image as either hot spot or non-hot spot pixels by employing a contextual thresholding technique. The algorithm is tested over the Jharia Coal Field region of India, where hot spot is one of the major problems and it is observed that the proposed thresholding technique classifies the each pixel of the fused image into two categories: hot spot and non-hot spot and the proposed approach detects the hot spot with better accuracy and less false alarm.     

Multitemporal Landsat-MODIS fusion for cropland drought monitoring in El Salvador

Abstract

This study aims to develop an approach to characterize cropland drought conditions in El Salvador, Central America. The data were processed for 2016–2017 through three main steps: (1) reconstructing MODIS land-surface temperature (LST), (2) Landsat-MODIS data fusion and (3) drought delineation using the temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI). The results of LST reconstruction using the random forests (RF) indicated the median RMSE value of 0.5?°C. The fusion results achieved from the STARFM compared with the reference Landsat data revealed close agreement with the correlation coefficient (r) values higher than 0.84. The TVDI results verified with that from the reference Landsat data indicated r values of 0.85 and 0.75 for 2016 and 2017, respectively. The larger very dry area was observed for the 2016 primera season due to prolonged droughts. Approximately 11.5% and 10.7% of croplands were, respectively, associated with very dry moisture condition in the 2016 and 2017 primera seasons.     

Segmenting mangrove ecosystems drone images using SLIC superpixels

Abstract

Mangrove ecosystems play a very important ecological role on land–ocean interfaces in tropical regions. These ecosystems comprise of various tree species and aquatic animals, protecting the environment and providing a habitat that supports many living organisms including humans. The identification of image regions in mangrove ecosystems plays a significant role in ecosystem monitoring and conservation. Recent studies have suggested oversegmentation of colour images using superpixels as a solution to the segmentation of image regions. This study used the SLIC superpixel algorithm and k-means clustering to segment images taken from a camera mounted on a drone from a mangrove ecosystem in Fiji. The SLIC superpixel algorithm performed well to demarcate image regions with similar colour and texture information into patches and to use k-means for the segmentation of the whole image. These results lend support to the use of superpixel algorithms for the segmentation of mangrove ecosystems. Understanding how superpixels can be used for the segmentation of drone images will assist conservation efforts in mangrove ecosystems.     

Salient man-made object detection based on saliency potential energy for unmanned aerial vehicles remote sensing image

Abstract

It is difficult to automatically recognize complex ground objects, and massive data images with the super-high ground resolution in images captured by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In order to directly identify the salient man-made ground objects from the UAV remote sensing (RS) image, a saliency detection method based on saliency potential energy (SPE) is proposed. With a detection, filtration and backtracking strategy, the texture, shape and colour of the UAV RS image are comprehensively and numerally analysed by the SPE to detect the salient man-made objects. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations have indicated that, compared to the state-of-art saliency detection methods, our method could achieve better performance with better accuracy and less errors, which prove that our method has great application potential in UAV RS image understanding.     

Automatic Registration Between Low-Altitude LiDAR Point Clouds and Aerial Images Using Road Features

Among the many means of acquiring surface information, low-altitude light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicle LiDAR, UAV-LiDAR) have become an important approach to accessing geospatial information. Considering the lower level of hardware technology in low-altitude LiDAR systems compared to that in airborne LiDAR, and the greater flexibility in-flight, registration procedures must be first performed to facilitate the fusion of laser point data and aerial images. The corner points and edges of buildings are frequently used for the automatic registration of aerial imagery with LiDAR data. Although aerial images and LiDAR data provide powerful support for building detection, adaptive edge detection for all types of building shapes is difficult. To deal with the weakness of building edge detection and reduce matching-related computation, the study presents a novel automatic registration method for aerial images, with LiDAR data, on the basis of main-road information in urban areas. Firstly, vector road centerlines are extracted from raw LiDAR data and then projected onto related aerial images with the use of coarse exterior orientation parameters (EOPs). Secondly, the corresponding image road features of each LiDAR vector road are determined using an improved total rectangle-matching approach. Finally, the endpoints of the conjugate road features obtained from the LiDAR data and aerial images are used as ground control points in space resection adjustment to refine the EOPs; an iterative strategy is used to obtain optimal matching results. Experimental results using road features verify the feasibility, robustness and accuracy of the proposed approach.     

决策级融合的多分辨率遥感影像变化检测

针对多时相、多分辨率遥感影像数据的特点,充分考虑不同分辨率数据和不同变化检测应用的需求,将由粗到精数据集分层检测和决策级融合的思想引入到变化检测,以多时相多分辨率ALOS遥感影像为例,构建并试验了由粗到精变化检测的技术流程.该方法将ALOS多光谱数据视为粗数据集,将全色数据和融合数据视为精数据集,通过对3种数据集变化检...     

Monitoring the built-up environment of Shanghai on the street-block level using SAR and volunteered geographic information

ABSTRACT

In this geo-statistical analysis of change detection, we illustrate the evolution of the built-up environment in Shanghai at the street-block level. Based on two TerraSAR-X image stacks with 36 and 15 images, covering the city centre of Shanghai for the time period from 2008 to 2015, a set of coherence images was created using a small baseline approach. The road network from Open Street Map, a volunteered geographic information product, serves as the input dataset to create street-blocks. A street-block is surrounded by roads and resembles a ground parcel, a real estate property – a cadastral unit. The coherence information is aggregated to these street-blocks for each observation and the variation is analysed over time. An analysis of spatial autocorrelation reveals clusters of similar behaviours. The result is a detailed map of Shanghai highlighting areas of change. We argue that the aggregation and grouping of synthetic aperture radar coherence image information to real-world entities (street-blocks) is comprehensible and relevant to the urban planning process. Therefore, this research is a contribution to the community of urban planners, designers, and government agencies who want to monitor the development of the urban landscape.     

Production of high-resolution remote sensing images for navigation information infrastructures

This paper introduces the image fusion approach of multi-resolution analysis-based intensity modulation (MRAIM) to produce the high-resolution multi-spectral images from high-resolution panchromatic image and low-resolution multi-spectral images for navigation information infrastructure. The mathematical model of image fusion is derived according to the principle of remote sensing image formation. It shows that the pixel values of a high-resolution multi-spectral images are determined by the pixel values of the approximation of a high-resolution panchromatic image at the resolution level of low-resolution multi-spectral images, and in the pixel valae computation the M-band wavelet theory and the d trous algorithm are then used. In order to evaluate the MRAIM approach, an experiment has been carried out on the basis of the IKONOS 1 m panchromatic image and 4 m multi-spectral images. The result demonstrates that MRAIM image fusion approach gives promising fusion results and it can be used to produce the high-resolution remote sensing images required for navigation information infrastructures.     

Production of high-resolution remote sensing images for navigation information infrastructures

This paper introduces the image fusion approach of multi-resolution analysis-based intensity modulation (MRAIM) to produce the high-resolution multi-spectral images from high-resolution panchromatic image and low-resolution multi-spectral images for navigation information infrastructure. The mathematical model of image fusion is derived according to the principle of remote sensing image formation. It shows that the pixel values of a high-resolution multi-spectral images are determined by the pixel values of the approximation of a high-resolution panchromatic image at the resolution level of low-resolution multi-spectral images, and in the pixel valae computation the M-band wavelet theory and the à trous algorithm are then used. In order to evaluate the MRAIM approach, an experiment has been carried out on the basis of the IKONOS 1 m panchromatic image and 4 m multi-spectral images. The result demonstrates that MRAIM image fusion approach gives promising fusion results and it can be used to produce the high-resolution remote sensing images required for navigation information infrastructures.     

Normalizing shadows in multi-temporal aerial frame imagery using relative radiometric adjustments to support near-real-time change detection

This study addresses the problem of shadows in multi-temporal imagery, which is a key issue with change detection approaches based on image comparison. We apply image-to-image radiometric normalizations including histogram matching (HM), mean-variance (MV) equalization, linear regression based on pseudo-invariant features (PIF-LR), and radiometric control sets (RCS) representing high- and low-reflectance extrema, for the novel purpose of normalizing brightness of transient shadows in high spatial resolution, bi-temporal, aerial frame image sets. Efficient shadow normalization is integral to remote sensing procedures that support disaster response efforts in a near-real-time fashion, including repeat station image (RSI) capture, wireless data transfer, shadow detection (as precursor to shadow normalization), and change detection based on image differencing and visual interpretation. We apply the normalization techniques to imagery of suburban scenes containing shadowed materials of varied spectral reflectance characteristics, whereby intensity (average of red, green, and blue spectral band values) under fully illuminated conditions is known from counterpart reference images (time-1 versus time-2). We evaluate the normalization results using stratified random pixel samples within transient shadows, considering central tendency and variance of differences in intensity relative to the unnormalized images. Overall, MV equalization yielded superior results in our tests, reducing the radiometric effects of shadowing by more than 85 percent. The HM and PIF-LR approaches showed slightly lower performance than MV, while the RCS approach proved unreliable among scenes and among stratified intensity levels. We qualitatively evaluate a shadow normalization based on MV equalization, describing its utility and limitations when applied in change detection. Application of image-to-image radiometric normalization for brightening shadowed areas in multi-temporal imagery in this study proved efficient and effective to support change detection.     

高光谱与高空间分辨率遥感数据的亚热带森林生物量反演

精确估算森林生物量对全球碳平衡以及气候变化的研究有重要意义。以亚热带天然次生林为研究对象,借助地面实测样地数据,通过对机载LiCHy(LiDAR,CCD and Hyperspectral)传感器同时获取的高光谱和高空间分辨率数据进行信息提取和数据融合,建模反演森林生物量。首先通过面向对象分割方法进行单木冠幅提取,然后融合从高光谱数据提取的光谱特征变量和从高空间分辨率数据提取的单木冠幅统计变量,构建多元回归模型估算地上、地下生物量,最后利用地面实测生物量经交叉验证评价模型精度。结果表明,综合模型的精度(R~2为0.54—0.62)高于高光谱模型(R~2为0.48—0.57);在高光谱模型中地上生物量模型精度(R~2为0.57)高于地下生物量模型(R~2为0.48);在综合模型中地上生物量模型精度(R~2为0.62)同样高于地下生物量模型(R~2为0.54)。交叉验证结果表明,与仅使用高光谱数据(单一数据源)相比,通过集成高光谱和高空间分辨率数据的生物量反演效果有所提升,可以更加有效地估算亚热带森林生物量。     

结合像元分解和STARFM模型的遥感数据融合

高空间、时间分辨率遥感数据在监测地表快速变化方面具有重要的作用。然而,对于特定传感器获取的遥感影像在空间分辨率和时间分辨率上存在不可调和的矛盾,遥感数据时空融合技术是解决这一矛盾的有效方法。本文利用像元分解降尺方法(Downscaling mixed pixel)和STARFM模型(Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model)相结合的CDSTARFM算法(Combination of Downscaling Mixed Pixel Algorithm and Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model)进行遥感数据融合。首先,利用像元分解降尺度方法对参与融合的MODIS数据进行分解降尺度处理;其次,利用分解降尺度的MODIS数据替代STARFM模型中直接重采样的MODIS数据进行数据融合;最后以Landsat 8和MODIS遥感影像数据对该方法进行了实验。结果表明:(1)CDSTARFM算法比STARFM和像元分解降尺度算法具有更高的融合精度;(2)CDSTARFM能够在较小的窗口下获得更高的融合精度,在相同的窗口下其融合精度也高于STARFM;(3)CDSTARFM融合的影像更接近真实影像,消除了像元分解降尺度影像中的"图斑"和STARFM模型融合影像中的"MODIS像元边界"。     

Markov random field-based method for super-resolution mapping of forest encroachment from remotely sensed ASTER image

Forest encroachment (FE) is a problem in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) in India for environment and planning. Small gaps created in the forest slowly expand its periphery disturbing the biodiversity. Therefore, intrusion of poachers, slash and burn and other factors causing FE must be carefully detected and monitored. Remote sensing offers a great opportunity to accomplish this task because of its synoptic view. Conventional classification methods with remotely sensed images are problematic because of small size of FE and mixed landcover composition. This study presents an application of super-resolution mapping (SRM) based on Markov random field for detection of FE using ASTER (15 m) images. The SRM results were validated using multispectral IRS LISS-IV (5.8 m) image. Non-contiguous FE patches of various sizes and shapes are characterized using the spatial contextual information. The novelty of this approach lies in the identification and separability of small FE pockets which could not be achieved with pixel-based maximum likelihood classifier (MLC). The SRM parameters were optimized and found comparable to previous studies. Classification accuracy obtained with SRM at scale factor 3 is κ = 0.62 that is superior to accuracy of MLC (κ = 0.51). SRM is a promising tool for detection and monitoring of FE at Rutland Island in ANI, India.     

Building segmentation and outline extraction from UAV image-derived point clouds by a line growing algorithm

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an approach to process raw unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) image-derived point clouds for automatically detecting, segmenting and regularizing buildings of complex urban landscapes. For regularizing, we mean the extraction of the building footprints with precise position and details. In the first step, vegetation points were extracted using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier based on vegetation indexes calculated from color information, then the traditional hierarchical stripping classification method was applied to classify and segment individual buildings. In the second step, we first determined the building boundary points with a modified convex hull algorithm. Then, we further segmented these points such that each point was assigned to a fitting line using a line growing algorithm. Then, two mutually perpendicular directions of each individual building were determined through a W-k-means clustering algorithm which used the slop information and principal direction constraints. Eventually, the building edges were regularized to form the final building footprints. Qualitative and quantitative measures were used to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach by comparing the digitized results from ortho images.     

An approach to extracting information of residential areas from Beijing-1 image based on Gabor texture segmentation

Abstract

According to the features of high-resolution panchromatic imagery of Beijing-1 small satellite, an approach to extracting information of residential areas is proposed in this paper based on Gabor texture segmentation. The algorithm extracts the features in different directions and different scales by building the Gabor filter, uses cluster analysis of multiple features to segment the image, and performs the fusion processing based on morphological scale space. It solves the problems in image processing resulting from low contrast between remote sensing objects and background, the blurring of image edges and high noise. It has the benefits of direction selection and frequency selection with strong self-adaptive ability. Our experiments prove the effectiveness of the approach for extracting information of residential areas from Beijing-1 high-resolution imagery.