MONITORING ENVIRONMENTAL

CHANGE WITH REMOTE SENSING

Industry Perspective

Geospatial analytics and artificial intelligence

are transforming environmental consulting
 Floodmap generated using Landsat 8 imagery and ENVI®.

TURN GEOSPATIAL IMAGERY AND DATA INTO

ACCURATE, ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE
Remote sensing technology has been a boon to environmental consultants. Imagery captured by satellites,
aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be used to detect even the most subtle changes to the natural
environment. The relative ease with which valuable information can now be extracted from these image data sets
allows environmental experts to spend more time determining and mitigating the root causes of identified changes.

The value of remote sensing in
environmental preservation and
remediation has multiplied exponentially
in recent years. A proliferation in
commercial imaging platforms makes
it possible to find environmental issues
anywhere on Earth and to monitor their
impacts on habitats and other natural
resources – on a yearly, monthly and
even daily rate. Software automation
supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI)
has put complex image processing and
analysis capabilities within reach of every
environmental scientist.
There are many environmental
applications of remotely sensed data,
but analysis of change – whether good or
bad – in land use and land cover is still
among the most valuable. For example,
environmental consultants are routinely
contracted to monitor large development
projects and energy extraction sites. They
are charged with ensuring regulatory
compliance by spotting anomalies that otherwise unknown and unexpected.
might indicate activities that are causing This information enables environmental
stress to surrounding habitats. scientists to determine the cause of
previously undiscovered problems and
The beauty of modern imaging sensors
trace them back to their sources.
is they can ‘see’ things the naked eye
can’t. Infrared data collected along with
visible bands can uncover anomalies in
vegetation and water before a human
on the ground notices anything. And
imaging sensors aren’t the only things
flying overhead. LiDAR elevation scanners
are now ubiquitous on aircraft and UAVs.
Likewise, radar systems, with the ability
to peer through clouds and darkness,
capture their own valuable data sets from
satellites and aircraft.
In addition to keeping an eye on regulated
activities recognized to negatively impact
the natural landscape, these remote
sensing platforms are cost-effective
methods of finding pollution and other
forms of environmental damage that are
MORE REMOTELY SENSED DATA THAN EVER
For the environmental consultant, this may be considered a Golden Age of remote sensing.
The commercial availability of remotely sensed data has never been greater than it is today
thanks to dramatic technological advances in sensors and the platforms that carry them.

SMALLER SATELLITES ACCESSIBLE RADAR PROFESSIONAL UAVS

The miniaturization of propulsion,
stabilization and power subsystems has
reduced the size of satellites to the point
where entire constellations can be built
and launched for less than the cost of a
single legacy platform like Landsat and
SPOT. These multi-satellite constellations
have become the norm for new commercial
Earth observation systems. The upshot
is that several small satellites can be
configured in orbit to capture repeat data
over a given point on Earth at a rate of at
least once per day. Even the most rapidly
evolving environmental events can be
monitored in near real-time.
ADVANCED SENSORS
Optical imaging sensors have gotten
smaller and more sophisticated. Flying
on small satellites, these digital cameras
are capturing optical images with spatial
resolution below a half meter (50 cm)
and with discrete spectral capabilities
spanning a multitude of visible, near
infrared and shortwave infrared portions of
the spectrum. This means that vegetation
damage or water contamination – whether
visible or not – can be detected in small
areas. And these sensor enhancements
aren’t limited to those on satellites.
Airborne sensors have become more
advanced and affordable, allowing aircraft
to gather larger volumes of data faster and
more economically than ever before.
Unlike passive optical sensors that
can only operate in daylight, synthetic
aperture radar (SAR) systems have their
own power sources allowing them to
capture data day or night, through clouds
and in most weather conditions. The
radar emissions reflect off the Earth’s
surface and return valuable information
to the sensor. This data can be processed
into images that reveal details of the
composition, shape, configuration and
other characteristics of surface features.
For decades the power sources required
to operate these systems limited SAR
systems to use in large satellites or
aircraft. However, recent breakthroughs
have put SAR sensors in small satellites
– most notably Finland’s ICEYE – and in
smaller aircraft. As a result, more SAR
data is becoming available for use in
environmental monitoring.
The cost of unmanned aerial vehicles, or
drones, with the stability and power to
carry mapping-grade imaging sensors and
laser scanners (LiDAR) has transformed
the remote sensing industry. UAVs are
now performing imaging and elevation
mapping missions over small areas of
interest at a cost and speed not possible
for manned aircraft. They can also fly
much closer to surface objects, getting
incredibly detailed views of features.
In addition, some drones are almost
considered disposable, capturing data
in conditions too hazardous for aircraft,
such as volcanic eruptions and wildfires.
Overall, this proliferation of affordable
UAVs is making an enormous volume of
high-resolution image data available for
environmental applications.
SIMPLIFIED WORKFLOWS WITH
ADVANCED ANALYTICS
As a result of the explosion in the availability of sensors and platforms, the challenge facing environmental
consultants has shifted from having too little data to dealing with too much data. Remote sensing files
themselves have grown bigger and more complex as a greater variety of sensors gather more data at finer
granularity. Extracting useful information from Earth observation data sets has become a Big Data challenge.

ROBUST SOFTWARE SOLUTION As noted earlier, change detection is SOPHISTICATED FEATURE

L3Harris Geospatial saw this data tsunami
approaching and developed a solution
in the form of its commercially available
ENVI® software. Once a standard image
processing package, ENVI has been
enhanced and expanded to become a
robust geospatial data analysis software
that allows anyone with minimal training
to extract meaningful information from
all types of imagery – multispectral,
hyperspectral, thermal, LiDAR and SAR.
Leveraging decades of building geospatial
solutions for the Defense and Intelligence
communities, L3Harris has developed
scientifically-proven image analysis
algorithms and integrated them into
automated workflows. This enables
users to derive answers to the most
complicated geospatial queries from
enormous data sets with a few clicks of
the mouse. In addition, ENVI software
gives more experienced users the means
to create algorithms and build customized
automated analysis processes of their own.
among the environmental consultant’s
most powerful tools. Two or more
images acquired over the same area on
different dates are simply loaded into
ENVI, and with the push of a few buttons,
the software identifies change that has
occurred over time. Identified changes
can be spatial, such as the erosion of a
shorelines, or spectral, such as vegetative
stress. Environmental consultants can use
ENVI with a large number of images to
determine the rate of change over time.
To facilitate certain image analysis
applications, L3Harris has bundled
complex workflows into automated
modules. The most popular of these is
the Feature Extraction module (ENVI FX),
which puts the power of the computer
to work identifying features based
on their spatial, spectral and textural
characteristics. For example, rivers,
lakes, fields, trees and coastlines can
automatically be mapped from optical
imagery, freeing up the environmental
consultants to analyze specific objects
of interest.
EXTRACTION
The feature extraction algorithms have
become so sophisticated in ENVI, they
can even differentiate objects by their
condition. Using multispectral imagery,
stressed or diseased plants or trees can
be isolated automatically from healthy
ones in farm fields or forest groves. If
the spatial resolution is sufficient, the
software can then tabulate the number
of healthy or diseased trees in an area
covering thousands of acres – a process
that could take countless hours if
done manually. These capabilities are
automated in the ENVI Crop Science
module. It should be noted the ENVI FX
module works equally well with LiDAR
point clouds, extracting trees, buildings
and power lines from the 3D data.
 Absolute NDVI values generated using
WorldView-2 imagery and ENVI.

MAKING IT EASIER TO EXTRACT

INFORMATION FROM RADAR
SAR data contains rich information that “One of the most common uses of L3Harris SAR technology by
often provides insights on features, land
our environmental clients is to acquire and analyze images when
surfaces, and water bodies different
from those revealed in optical imagery. its cloudy or at night to map the impact of storms or floods while
“As more and more SAR satellites are events are still unfolding.”
launched, this once exclusive monitoring
ability has become accessible for
“One of the most common uses of L3Harris “Oil and gas operators now routinely
everyone,” according to Megan Gallaher,
SAR technology by our environmental acquire SAR data around their hydrocarbon
Senior Solutions Engineer at L3Harris
clients is to acquire and analyze images production activities to ensure subsurface
Geospatial. “These radar data sets,
when its cloudy or at night to map the fluid extraction is not causing the ground
however, are much more complex than
impact of storms or floods while events are to subside,” said Griebel. “Subsidence
either optical or LiDAR and require a
still unfolding,” said Joey Griebel, Account can lead to environmental catastrophes
different processing tools to exploit. ENVI
Manager, L3Harris Geospatial. “That’s a created by broken well bores or
SARscape Analytics enable anyone to
value that only SAR data can provide.” damaged pipelines.”
process and get actionable results from
this data type.”
Another popular application of SAR data
that ENVI SARscape simplifies is the
ENVI SARscape Analytics is an analysis
detection of deformation in land surfaces.
module that integrates multiple processing
A SAR technology called interferometry
functions and algorithms into simplified,
accurately measures elevation points and
and in some cases, automated workflows.
can pinpoint ground movement of a few
As with the other ENVI modules, ENVI
millimeters from one data capture to the
SARscape puts powerful capabilities into
next. Utility operators are increasingly using
the hands of environmental consultants
SAR to monitor geohazards, such as slope
to quickly and easily extract meaningful
creep, near their infrastructure that could
results from SAR data.
signal a destructive landslide is coming.
CUSTOMIZING ANALYTICS WITH DEEP LEARNING
The identification of specific objects in optical imagery, LiDAR point clouds and SAR data sets has been
greatly facilitated by automated recognition and extraction using ENVI FX and other modules. While
manual mapping of certain items, such as roads, rivers, fields and trees has been replaced by automated
methodologies, there are numerous other features that environmental consultants need to find and map.

The ENVI Deep Learning module is a
solution to this challenge. Deep learning is
a form of Artificial Intelligence that enables
the user to ‘teach’ the software how to
recognize nearly any feature or condition
in the data from spatial, spectral or other
characteristics. Whereas Machine Learning
algorithms require a user to ‘show’ the
computer hundreds of examples of the
feature to be identified, Deep Learning
uses iterative algorithms that can learn
from just a dozen examples in some cases.
“As with our other modules, you don’t have
to be an Artificial Intelligence expert to
use the ENVI Deep Learning module,” said
Griebel. “The module has intuitive tools
and workflows that enable users to easily
label data and generate models with the
click of a button.”
For more seasoned imagery experts,
the module gives the option of fusing
information layers from different remote
sensing data sets to create more robust
object classifiers. Griebel explained
that environmental consultants have
embraced the ENVI Deep Learning
module for the significant savings in time
it provides them, compared with manual
processes. One early adopter has taught
the module to find and count certain
species of wildlife – as small as geese
– in high-resolution satellite imagery to
determine if the population is increasing
or decreasing over time.
This task is incredibly time consuming
using manual methods because the
animals may number in the thousands,
and they are never in the exact same
locations from one image collection to
another. Once trained, the algorithms
evaluate the imagery covering a given
study area in a matter of seconds. More
importantly, the same Deep Learning
algorithm can be applied repeatedly
with new images as they are collected.
The time savings of Deep Learning is
an obvious benefit, but Griebel said
this Artificial Intelligence technique
is having another dramatic impact on
environmental consultants and other
L3Harris clients. The ability to identify
and map objects and features has
become so refined that users are
expanding their applications of remotely
sensed data to analyze geographic areas
that are much larger than they would have
ever considered with manual methods in
the past. “They can extract features on a
much bigger scale now,” he said.

Using ENVI’s proven analytics, additional data layers for deep learning can be created to
accentuate features of interest. These data layers aid in the development of more robust and
accurate classifiers by helping neural networks more easily learn where they need to focus.
END-TO-END MONITORING AND ANALYSIS
SERVICES BECOMING POPULAR
If today is the Golden Age of remote sensing thanks to the plethora of data collection platforms and
sensors flying overhead, tomorrow will have to be called the Platinum age. The deployment of new
satellites, aircraft and UAVs is showing no sign of slowing down. In fact, one published source has
estimated the number of small commercial imaging satellites could double in the next two years alone.

While the increase in data variety, volume
and revisit frequency is a net positive for
all consumers of geospatial information,
the negative impacts are starting to be felt
as well. Specifically, the growing variety of
data types and the sheer volume and size
of data sets is stressing out end users.
Environmental consultants don’t have
time to become subject matter experts
on all the different imagery and data sets
available to them. And many environmental
organizations can’t keep up with the
computing power required to process
and archive extremely large data files.
“The majority of our environmental clients
buy ENVI and do the work themselves, but
there are others that contract our services
team, especially for the ongoing monitoring
of specific and larger areas of interest,”
said Griebel.
In response, L3Harris has rolled out
geospatial solutions services customized
to the needs of specific environmental
applications. The client does not have to
know which type of imagery or analysis
algorithms to use. All the client does is
describe what environmental questions
need to be answered, and L3Harris takes
care of the rest – from choosing the
right data set and creating a practical
analytical workflow to providing the
computer horsepower and formatting the
answer in an easy-to-understand format.
“Whether the environmental issue is a
one-off problem or it requires long-term
periodic monitoring, L3Harris provides
accurate and trusted answers for the
client,” said Griebel.

Environmental Remote Sensing

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