Analysis of ERS-1 Radar Image Data 
for Land Use Classification 
Manfred Slies 
Stefan Tex 
Institut fuer Photogrammetrie und Fernerkundung (IPF) 
Universitaet Karlsruhe 
Englerstr. 7, D - 7500 Karlsruhe 1 
September 1990 
Abstract 
The RADARMAP project is one of the german contributions to analyse and evaluate 
ERS-1 radar image data: 4 institutions cooperate to produce radar and thematic maps 
of the whole area of the Federal Republic of Germany at a scale of 1 : 200 000. 
After referring to the overall goals of the project, details of the processing steps that 
aim at a large area land use classification are explained. The development of specific 
texture features which are adapted to radar signal properties are presented. Preliminary 
test result using existing radar imagery are presented. 
1 The ERS-1 Satellite 
ERS-1 is a new satellite of the European Space Agency with capabilities not currently availa 
ble on any other satellite. Launch of the satellite is scheduled for spring of 1991. The lifetime 
of the satellite is expected to last 2 to 3 years; a quasi identical satellite ERS-2 is planned to 
follow in due time. General orbital parameters are ([ESA 1986]) • 
• circular, sun synchronous orbit, 
• mean altitude 777km, inclination 98,5°, 
• repeat cycles of 3 or 35 or 176 days to serve different requirements. 
According to [Duchossois 88] the overall scientific objectives of the ERS-1 mission include 
• to increase scientific knowledge of open ocean and coastal zone processes at global and 
regional scales, 
• to monitor polar ice regions, 
• to provide major contributions to the World Climate Research Programme and other 
international large scale experiments, 
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