REMOTE SENSING

(GLS612/SUG656/SUG556)

LECTURE 5:
INTERPRETATING LAND SURFACE
FEATURES DIGITALLY
How does image looks like?
Digital images are grids of numbers

In a digitized image, the area on the

ground represented by each digital
number (pixels are tiny squares that
make up each image)

These numbers correspond to the

amount of light received by the sensor

Assign shades of gray to these

numbers
Different kinds of image

 Panchromatic image
 True-color image
 False-color image
Sensors record intensity of
reflected energy numerically
The amount of the reflected energy or intensity is
recorded for each pixel, in each band or
wavelength, on a scale of 0-255.
 Visible Infrared

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3,2,1

Green
BlueData
Red Dataare
is shown
shownas
asBlue
Green
Red
 Band interleaved Band interleaved Band sequential
by pixel (BIP) by line (BIL) (BSQ)
Each row of data grid Each row of data grid Digital numbers for
contains the digital contains the digital each band are stored in
number value for each number value for each their entire grid
pixel and for each band band followed by the next
sequentially band
Activity 1:
 View the object from different angle
 Describe the object from different angle
 Identify ‘description’ used to describe the
observation
(a) (b) (c)
Summary of Activity 1:
 Object character/position/arrangement/area/size
will be different from different angle
 What we experimented was from horizontal view
 Imagine if you look object from an eye bird view
 Suggest what would the object look like?
Activity 2:

 Choose only one of any earth features.

 Describe the features you have chosen to your

friend.
 Suggest the easiest way to describe earth

features.
Summary of Exercise 1
 Earth features can be categorized as natural or
man-made
 Interpretation can be subjective
 Every earth features have their own characteristic
 Why interpretation is needed?

• The examination of images for the purpose

of identifying objects

• To evaluate their significance

Image Interpretation Elements

Location
Association Size

Height
and The Shape
depth elements
are:

Pattern Shadow

Textur Tone and

e color
Tone and Color

Jensen (2000)

- amount of energy reflected/emitted from the scene in a

given wavelength/band
- each wavelength/band of EMR recorded by the sensor
can be displayed in shades of grey from black to white
- these shades are called “tones” – dark, light,
intermediate
- human eye can see 40-50 tones
•Color-combining techniques can be used to create color composite
images from individual bands.
•Humans can distinguish the difference between thousands of subtle
colors
•variations in tone and colour results in all of the other visual
elements
Texture

Jensen (2000)
Cont’

uniform,
homogeneous

coarse, heterogeneous

Texture refers to the arrangement of tone or color in

an image.
Useful because Earth features that exhibit similar
tones often exhibit different textures.
Texture and Pattern

 varies with image resolution

 often noted by roughness or smoothness

 influenced by shadows
Pattern

Gregory Vandenberg
Cont’

Specific descriptions

Curvilinea
Circular Oval Linear Radiating Rectangular etc
r

Pattern is the spatial arrangement of objects on the

landscape.
General descriptions include:
random and systematic
natural and human-made.
Shape

Jensen (2000)
Cont’

Many natural and human-made features have unique

shapes.
Often used are adjectives like:
linear rectangular
curvilinear triangular
circular hexagonal
elliptical star
radial elongated
square amorphous

Jensen (2000)
 Cont’

 Rectangular features often

indicate human influence such
as agriculture

 Size and shape information

greatly influenced by image
resolution

 Knowing the scale of the

image helps to convert feature
dimensions on the image to
actual dimensions
 Relative and Absolute Location
 the location of a feature
narrows the list of
possible cover types

 relative location
particularly useful to
determine land use
 Shadows

 often considered a contaminant

but can be very useful to identify
features on an image

 helpful to accentuate relief

 shadow effects change

throughout the day and
throughout the year

 shadows can give an indication

to the size of a particular feature
Jensen (2000)
Shadow reduction is of concern in remote
sensing because shadows tend to obscure
objects that might otherwise be detected.

However, the shadow cast by an object may be

the only real clue to its identity.

Shadows can also provide information on the

height of an object either qualitatively or
quantitatively.
Jensen (2000)
Jensen (2000)
Elements of Image Interpretation
i- Location
i- Where is the object (x,y) ?

ii- Survey or Global Positioning System (GPS)

• Most air photo systems now use GPS to locate the precise
coordinate of the principal point.
iii- “Rectify” image to a base map or GPS coordinates collected on
the ground.
• If relief displacement is also corrected for, result is an
orthophoto.
Elements of Image Interpretation

ii- Size
Often an object’s distinguishing characteristic.
Can make measurements
like length, width, perimeter,
and area (this risky unless
photography is rectified).
Size - Objects of known area can
be used to judge the size of
the other objects.
- Thus, we can easily make
qualitative descriptioms like
small, medium and large
Jensen (2000)
 Elements of Image Interpretation

vii- Height and

depth
As discussed, shadows can often offer clues to
the height of objects.
In turn, relative heights can be used to interpret
objects.
In a similar fashion, relative depths can often be
interpreted.
Descriptions include:
tall, intermediate, and short
deep, intermediate, and shallow
 Elements of Image Interpretation

viii- Association
This is very important when trying to interpret an
object or activity.
Association
refers to the fact that certain features and activities are almost always
related to the presence of certain other features and activities.
Exercise 3:
 Using suitable image elements, interpret earth
features that you can observe from picture (a) and
(b) and (c).
 Identify which land use it might be?
(a) (b) (c)
 Landsat Thematic Mapper Imagery

Band Wavelength Applications

1 0.45 to 0.52 Blue Distinguishing soil from vegetation, water penetration,

deciduous vs. conifers

2 0.52 to 0.60 Green Determining plant vigor (reflectance peak)

3 0.63 to 0.69 Red Matches chlorophyll absorption-used for discriminating

vegetation types.

4 0.76 to 0.90 Near IR Refl IR - biomass content.

5 1.55 to 1.75 Short Wave IR Refl IR - Indicates moisture content of soil and veg.,
cloud/smoke penetration, veg. mapping.

6 10.40 to 12.50 Thermal IR Geological mapping, soil moisture, thermal

pollution monitoring, ocean current studies.

7 2.08 to 2.35 Short Wave IR Ratios of bands 5 & 7 used to map

mineral deposits.
RGB Band Composite
 Pixel color and brightness is
determined by the pixel value
 True Color composite
RGB = 3,2,1

Visible bands are selected and assigned to their

corresponding color guns to obtain an image that
approximates true color.

Tends to appear flat and have low contrast due to

scattering of the EM radiation in the blue visible
region.
 Palm Springs, CA

Bands 3,2,1 (red, green, blue)

Landsat ETM+ bands 3,2,1 – Landsat ETM+ bands 4,3,2 –
Penetrates shallow water and Peak chlorophyll, land/water
shows submerged shelf, water boundary, urban areas
turbidity
Near Infra Red Composite
RGB = 4,3,2

 Blue visible band is not used and the bands are shifted;
 Visible green sensor band to the blue color gun
 Visible red sensor band to the green color gun
 NIR band to the red color gun.

 results in the familiar NIR composite with vegetation

portrayed in red.
Digital Image Display

Band 4 (0.7-0.9 m)

Band 3 (0.55-0.7 m)

RGB:432 (False Color Composite)

Band 2 (0.45-0.55 m)
 Palm Springs, CA

Bands 4, 3, 2 (NIR, red, green)

IKONOS (1m) – 29 April 2002
Identifying vegetation

conifers stress
deciduous
 Depending upon the band combination and colors
assigned, land cover appears in various colors.

True Color False Color SWIR

(GeoCover)
Red: Band 3 Red: Band 4 Red: Band 7
Green: Band 2 Green: Band 3 Green: Band 4
Blue: Band 1 Blue: Band 2 Blue: Band 2
Trees and Olive Green Red Shades of green
bushes
Crops Medium to light Pink to red Shades of green
green
Wetland Dark green to Dark red Shades of green
Vegetation black
Water Shades of blue Shades of blue Black to dark blue
and green
Urban areas White to light blue Blue to gray Lavender

Bare soil White to light gray Blue to gray Magenta,

Lavender, or pale
pink
 Monitoring Ecosystem Changes

Gradual changes require long-term, repeat

satellite coverage

Landsat data are used to:

• Precisely assess the area affected
• Separate human from natural causes
• Bridge the gap between field observations and
global monitoring 1973-76

Loss of wetlands in
Mesopotamia (dark
red areas) since 1973
from Landsat.
Courtesy Hassan
Partow, UNEP 2000
 Quantifying Water and Energy Budgets
Will future water supplies meet human
ARAL SEA 1973
needs?
• By 2025, 48% of global population will live
in “water stressed” basins (<1700 m3/pers/yr)

1987

2000

Water flux into the Aral Sea

Courtesy WRI is being diverted for human use
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-
2177202/The-changing-face-Earth-Dramatic-high-
resolution-satellite-images-world-changed-
decades.html#v-1750701050001
 Depending upon the band combination and colors
assigned, land cover appears in various colors.

True Color False Color SWIR

(GeoCover)
Red: Band 3 Red: Band 4 Red: Band 7
Green: Band 2 Green: Band 3 Green: Band 4
Blue: Band 1 Blue: Band 2 Blue: Band 2
Trees and Olive Green Red Shades of green
bushes
Crops Medium to light Pink to red Shades of green
green
Wetland Dark green to Dark red Shades of green
Vegetation black
Water Shades of blue Shades of blue Black to dark blue
and green
Urban areas White to light blue Blue to gray Lavender

Bare soil White to light gray Blue to gray Magenta,

Lavender, or pale
pink