Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

GIS AND REMOTE SENSING

Course Code: CIEG 302

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

• The extraction of information depends upon

– Image analyst’s experience,
– Power of observation and imagination,
– Understanding of the basic principles of remote sensing &
image,
– Nature of the objects as well as the purpose of
interpretation.

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

Basic Characteristics of Photographic Images

• Shape
– It relates to the general form, configuration or outline of an
object
– An objects geometric characteristics:
• Linear
• Curvilinear
• Circular
• Elliptical
• Radial
• Square
• Rectangular

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

Basic Characteristics of Photographic Images

• Shape
– An objects geometric characteristics:
• Triangular
• Hexagonal
• Pentagonal
• Star etc.
• Shape is probably the most important single factor in
recognizing objects from their images.
• Example, railroad & highway, Long straight tangent &
gentle curves, tree canopy etc.

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

Basic Characteristics of Photographic Images

• Shape

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

Basic Characteristics of Photographic Images

• Size
– Size of objects on photographs will vary with photographic
scale.
– Objects can be misinterpreted if their sizes are not evaluated
properly

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

Basic Characteristics of Photographic Images

• Pattern
– Pattern relates to the spatial arrangement of objects.
• Systematic, unsystematic, linear, curvilinear, rectangular,
circular, elliptical, parallel, etc.
• The repetition of certain general forms or relationship is
characteristics of many objects both natural and man-made and
gives objects a pattern which aids the visual interpretation.
– Eg. Pattern of delta, cultivated land

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

• Shadows
– Shadows cast by objects are sometimes important clues to
their identification and interpretation.
– For example, circular shadows are indicative of coniferous
trees.
– Tall buildings and chimneys and towers etc. can easily be
identified from their characteristic shadows.
– It gives an idea of the profile and relative height of an
object, hence making identification easier.
– Shadows on the other hand can sometimes render
interpretation difficult i.e. dark slope shadows covering
important detail.

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

• Tone
– A band of electromagnetic spectrum recorded by a remote
sensing system may be displayed in shades of grey ranging
from black to white.
– The continuous greyscale varying from white to black is
called tone.
– Tone refers to the relative brightness or colour intensity of
objects in an image.
– We often say, ‘ this part of an image has a ‘bright’ tone, this
area has a ‘dark’ tone, and this feature has an intermediate
‘grey’ tone.
– The degree of darkness or brightness is a function of the
amount of light reflected from the scene within the specific
wavelength interval.

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

• Tone
– Generally, tone is the fundamental element for
distinguishing between different targets or features.
– Difference in tone may vary in different bands of multi-
spectral images.
– For example, in blue band, the reflectance of vegetation is
approximately same for all green vegetation.
– But if we consider NIR band, we may notice that there is a
tonal difference for different types of vegetation depending
on the concentration of chlorophyll in leaves.

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

• Colour
– Colour images can be obtained by using colour film.
– We may use colour combining techniques to create colour
composite images from the individual bands of multi-
spectral digital image data.
– Much more visual information is present in the colour
composites.
– For example, vegetation appears green in normal colour
composite and red in infrared colour composite.
– Other features show other type of colour appearances and
thus, colour is helpful to identify the objects.

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

• Texture
– Texture is referred to as the frequency of tonal changes in
particular areas of an image.
– Texture is qualitative characteristics and is normally
categorized as rough or smooth.
– An area of dry sand will appear on an image having smooth
texture, since the variation of tone for long stretches in not
present.
– Similarly, the area covered with forest having a variety of
tree species with varying canopy size, shape and density will
appear with a rough texture, as tone will be changing very
rapidly.

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017
Image Interpretation Lecture GIS & RS

• Site
– Site elevation, slope, aspect, adjacency to water bodies will
help the interpretation.
– Site or locations of objects in relation to other features may
be very helpful in identification.
• Eg. Dates tree may be interpreted as coconut if the site is not
taken care.

Er. Santosh Chaudhary Faculty of Civil & Geomatics Engineering Kathmandu University 24/12/2017