REMOVAL OF THEMATIC MAPPER STREAKING AND STRIPING ARTIFACTS 
Ellis Freedman 
Jennifer Byrne 
Martin Marietta Corporation 
Management and Data Systems 
1825, Washington Lane 
Meadwbrook, Pennsylvania 19046, USA 
ISPRS Commission VII / Working Group 1 
ABSTRACT 
Some images produced by the Thematic Mappers on Landsat 4 and 5 have displayed a variety of imaging 
artifacts, including streaking and striping. Various techniques have been employed to remove these 
artifacts, but many of these have limitations and will occasionally induce artifacts of their own. As part of 
the planned radiometric calibration and correction process being designed for Landsat 7, a diffuse 
reflective surface which will obscure the entire aperture will be used as a uniform calibration target to 
equalize the output of the detectors in each of the reflective spectral bands. Early analyses of this 
procedure with Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper imagery have provided encouraging results indicating not 
only that the potential exists for eliminating virtually all visible streaking and striping in Landsat 7, but 
that correction factors can be generated which may eliminate much of the streaking and striping in 
Landsat 5 as well. This paper provides a description of the assumptions made and analyses performed in 
evaluating the proposed equalization algorithms for Landsat 7, the results of the study, and the correction 
factors derived for the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper. 
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