DIGITAL PICTURE PROCESSING AND ITS IMPACT ON IMAGE INTERPRETATION"
Franz Leberl
Technical University Graz, Austria
Jim Soha
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, USA
Allard Meijerink
International Institute for Aerial Surveys and Earth Sciences, Enschede
The Netherlands
ABSTRACT
The paper reviews digital picture processing as applied to improve the
image for subsequent visual interpretation. This type of image processing
is clearly set apart from automatic image interpretation by methods of spec-
tral or textural classification and recognition of spatial patterns.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Die Arbeit behandelt die digitale Vorverarbeitung von Bildern zur Ver-
besserung der darauffolgenden Bildinterpretation. Diese Art der Bildverar-
beitung unterscheidet sich deutlich von der automatischen Bildinterpretation,
wie sie zum Beispiel durch spektrale oder Texturklassifikation und Erkennung
geometrischer Formen angestrebt wird.
RESUME
Ce papier discute le traitement numérique des images du point de vue d'une
amélioration de l& photo-intérprétation manuelle suivant le procédé numérique.
On présente une révue de méthodes de "pre-processing" et une analyse des
possibilités d'améliorer l'intérprêtation.
1. INTRODUCTION
Digital image processing has evolved from several separate historical
Sources, namely (a) from the computer preparation of panchromatic extra-ter-
restrial images for subsequent visual planetological photo-interpretation,
(b) from the automatic information extraction using multispectral scanning
(MSS-) images, (c) from automatic pattern recognition.
Digital pre-processing of images (area a) began at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL), USA, about 1962 in the planetological environment, using
lunar TV-imagery but no ground truth (Nathan, 1966). At the Laboratory for
Application of Remote Sensing (LARS) of the Purdue University, USA, digital
MSS-classification (area b)began around 1966 (Hoffer, 1967) in the agri-
cultural environment, using aircraft scan imagery. Obviously, agriculturists
are concerned with dynamic phenomena at frequent time intervals and have a
"Part ot this paper presents results oi research carried out at
JPL under contract NAS 1-100, sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, USA.
