USING HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION DIGITAL
IMAGERY
MICHAEL V. CAMPBELL, ROBERT L. FISCHER, TIMOTHY PANGBURN,
AND MARK J. HARDENBERG
1
INTRODUCTION
The newest digital airborne remote sensing systems combine the multispec-
tral capabilities of commercial satellite sensors with the temporal and spatial
flexibility of traditional aerial photographic systems. The high spatial resolution
imagery provided by these systems greatly enhances environmental monitoring
strategies. Sub-meter pixel resolutions increase the detail of surface features.
However, too much data can degrade the accuracy and the utility of the final map
product. Therefore, the effective use of high-resolution digital airborne imagery
requires improved processing techniques that ensure accurate representation of
the land cover classes of interest. Post-processing algorithms to remove radiomet-
ric and geometric distortions, which are typically present in all airborne images,
are essential and must be developed.
The Topographic Engineering Center (TEC), part of the U.S. Army Engineer
Research and Development Center (ERDC), has been developing digital multis-
pectral airborne remote sensing capabilities since 1994. The first system used
was the Digital Multispectral Video System (DMSV). Developed by SpecTerra
Systems (Canberra, Australia), DMSV imagery was shown to be successful in a
variety of environmental applications, such as detecting oil spills, characterizing
acid mine drainage, and evaluating wetlands.
In 1998, TEC purchased the Computerized Airborne Multicamera Imaging
System (CAMIS) from Flight Landata, Inc. (Lawrence, Massachusetts). This
system used an enhanced lens design and an improved user interface, resulting in
more efficient data acquisition and improved image quality. The CAMIS system
has acquired imagery for invasive plant species mapping, enhanced vegetation
feature extraction, and ecosystem/ecotone characterization.
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