Full text: Proceedings of the Symposium on Progress in Data Processing and Analysis

(IBM PCs and compatibles) and the 'Macintosh world', respectively. The shift from 
mainframes and minicomputers to inexpensive PCs for image processing in remote 
sensing was a natural consequence of the users' desire to have a dedicated system for 
personal use. 
Image processing in remote sensing, however, is constrained by a number of processing 
requirements, including: (1) image sizes are much larger than standard CCD images 
used in robot vision and automated manufacturing applications and can exceed hundreds 
of megabytes for satellite data; (2) images are usually multispectral and/or have to be 
registered with other images; and (3) remote sensing images are inherently 'fuzzy' and 
image interpretation based on a priori information such as solid geometric models often 
used in computer vision is of limited value (Muller, 1988; Sanz, 1988). Consequently, 
image processing systems for remote sensing have to be capable of large data file 
handling, must make use of color display techniques, and have to enable easy and 
efficient user interaction. 
Full functional image processing systems for PCs usually require the acquisition of an 
additional high resolution graphics board and display (e.g., 1024 x 1024 pixels x 32 
bits) (Sabins, 1986; Richards, 1986). However, progresses in standard color display 
PC technology starting with the introduction of the enhanced graphic adapter (EGA) in 
the early 1980s has made digital image processing of remotely sensed data possible with 
off-the-shelf products (Myers and Bernstein, 1985; Welch, 1989). It must be noted that 
more or less all of these developments were based on IBM compatible computers since 
the Macintosh series of PCs until recently abstained from color. Consequently, image 
processing software for Macintosh PCs could mainly be associated with desktop 
publishing or medical/biological application. With the introduction of the 8-bit graphics 
option for the Macintosh-II, however, the monochrome impediment was removed 
facilitating for the first time multispectral image processing on the MAC-II (Ehlers, 
1990). 
BACKGROUND 
The Department of Surveying Engineering operates successfully a number of 
Macintoshes in its curriculum. Students seem to get easily familiar with the Macintosh 
interface and menu structure and are immediately fascinated by the What you see is 
what you get' display philosophy. It were actually the students that suggested the use 
of Macintoshes for a graduate level course in 'Image Processing in Remote Sensing' to 
be taught in Spring 1989. 
At the start of the course, no commercial image processing system for the analysis of 
remotely sensed data was available for the Macintosh. If we were to use the Macintosh 
computers for programming assignments, we had to design and develop our own image 
processing software. Instead of using existing software or adding specific modules to 
commercial packages, we decided to gain experiences in image processing by designing 
a prototype system on the MAC-II. These practical assignments would accompany the 
lectures and allow a first hand experience in putting into reality classroom concepts and 
theories (Ehlers, 1990).
	        
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