Remote sensing for resources development and environmental management: Remote sensing for resources development and environmental management

damen, m. c. j.

Bibliographic data

Multivolume work

Persistent identifier:: 856342815

Title:: Remote sensing for resources development and environmental management

Sub title:: proceedings of the 7th international Symposium, Enschede, 25 - 29 August 1986

Year of publication:: 1986

Place of publication:: Rotterdam; Boston

Publisher of the original:: A. A. Balkema

Identifier (digital):: 856342815

Language:: English

Additional Notes:: Volume 1-3 erschienen von 1986-1988

Editor:: Damen, M. C. J.

Document type:: Multivolume work

Volume

Persistent identifier:: 856662364

Title:: Remote sensing for resources development and environmental management

Sub title:: proceedings of the 7th international Symposium, Enschede, 25 - 29 August 1986

Scope:: VI, Seiten 959-1074

Year of publication:: 2016

Place of publication:: Rotterdam; Boston

Publisher of the original:: A. A. Balkema

Identifier (digital):: 856662364

Signature of the source:: ZS 312(26,7,3)

Language:: English

Usage licence:: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Editor:: Damen, M. C. J.

Publisher of the digital copy:: Technische Informationsbibliothek Hannover

Place of publication of the digital copy:: Hannover

Year of publication of the original:: 2016

Document type:: Volume

Collection:: Earth sciences

Chapter

Title:: Keynote addresses

Document type:: Multivolume work

Structure type:: Chapter

Chapter

Title:: Remote sensing applications: An outlook for the future. Herman Th. Verstappen

Document type:: Multivolume work

Structure type:: Chapter

lagery as a coun- high-resolution, Is fully realised n made no mention al remote sensing is imagery is now r of planets and sf other planets, ^ientific imagin- rticipants while (too) low assess- mineral) resour- of the last few te following main :s that has freed row visible spec- ig in all usable lectrum from the nfrared zone and r iolet. srding altitudes ¡xtra-terrestrial titude of 36,000 ) satellites and 00 km for orbit- .ites to 250-300 ximately 18,000- t include super- onal, low-flying s. relatively short he possibilities rial photographs usually years or biting resource olution of less cloud cover in- tationary satel- t (interval of a course, a trade- on and temporal low resolution Lzation methods telemetering of subsequent data interpretation :s high in this digital methods jh geometric and ast improvement ensity slicing, and for (feature oses by way of likelihood ap- Loing, principal itic information r our heads from e the satellite itized and give : the recordings ng the informa ient classifica- eographical (or îas become feas- r elopment, there for rapid data us GIS/LIS hold ¡ part of a lar- tioned, several ¡ally were using ogy and oceano- graphy, have developed a great interest in satellite remote sensing, particularly in low resolution ima gery. The field of application of aerospace data for resource development and related subjects thus has grown substantially. This, however, is only one and even relatively minor aspect of the matter. Resource surveyors share their interest in aerospace techno logy with photogrammetrists, making and updating topographic maps, with geodesists and geophysicists measuring the shape of the Earth and with astron omers exploring our planetary system and even the universe. The breakthrough of space technology has the effect of rapidly pushing forward the frontiers of science! In fact, although nowadays entire satel lite systems are devoted to resource studies of our planet, very substantial sums are spent on other, quite different, aspects of space research (telecom munications for example). Cynical people will say that governments do not usually spend such vast amounts of money for the sake of pure science and that the military potentials of rockets and space craft are the reasons behind it. These potentials undeniably exist but need not worry us unduly as resource surveyors. There is, in fact, nothing new in this respect: aircraft development has in the past hardly been influenced by considerations of resource surveying, but through the years photogram metrists and photo-interpreters alike have neverthe less greatly benefitted from it. Also, I feel that the military potentials are just a part —and prob ably not even the most crucial part—of the engine pushing space research. A space-industrial complex is developing and technologic breakthroughs in fields such as super computers and micro-chips are triggered. We are moving quickly to the post-indus trial space era with its inherent problems related to advanced technology, economic growth, employment, utilization of human resources, social discrepancies between various parts of the globe, preservation of our cultural heritage, etc. We resource surveyors nowadays are like the small sucker fish that is attached to the skin of a whale (or shark), while being thrust forward by the whale of space technol ogy, we —living in symbiosis with it— have to find applications that are justifiable from an economic, scientific and social point of view. THE CHANGING FACE OF RESOURCE SURVEYING FOR DEVELOPMENT The rise of aerospace technology has affected re source surveying in various ways by making images of different types and scales available. Nevertheless, the same basic methods of image interpretation still apply throughout, —the essence of which is indi cated in Fig. 1. An eye-brain interactive system based on visible image density (greytone, colour) and relief elements leads to an assessment of the (usually) invisible resources, through a reiterative process of observation deduction, induction and verification that generates hypotheses, interpre tations and conclusions. Obviously, technologically perfected data acquisition and scientifically well- trained interpreters are of equal importance for obtaining optimum results, in much the same way as refined equipment and a skilled watchmaker are re quired to produce a good watch. The density can be pictured in grey tones or in colours and relates specifically to the vegetal cover, to surface water, ice and snow and to barren soil or rock. The relief can best be pictured stereoscopically, although also monoscopically some data can be obtained through shadow (density) pat terns. It is particularly important as an indicator of terrain forms. While in stereoscopic photo-inter pretation both density and relief criteria played a rather balanced part, the development of airborne satellite remote sensing during the last decades has strongly enphasised the analysis of density pat Figure 1. The reiterative process of eye-brain interaction in image interpretation. terns. Image interpretation, especially in the fields of the "green" and "blue" sciences (vegeta tion, land use, surface hydrology, oceanography), has benefitted from this. Although "brown" (earth) sciences have also been positively affected by improved density analysis, a stronger impetus for them can be expected in the years to come: With the advent of SPOT and also metric camera/large format camera, etc., stereoscopic relief has been intro duced as a criterion in the interpretation of or bital imagery. When briefly outlining the increased capacity of image interpretation the following picture emerg es: Multi-spectral recordings have considerably im proved both qualitative and quantitative image interpretation methods. The possibilities for re cognition and identification of objects by visual, qualitative means have increased distinctly but the scope in the context of quantitative studies of spectral signatures and digital data processing is enormous. Quantitative relief analysis using satel lite remote sensing is as yet much less advanced and is a promising area of research now that stereoscopic satellite imagery has come on the market. Multi-temporal recordings have given new impetus to the field of dynamic image interpretation. It may relate to monitoring of daily/hourly changes in cloud patterns, of seasonal changes in vegetation patterns, of sea water temperatures and of sudden or gradual changes in the land surface, such as coastlines and river courses. The requirements for spatial and temporal resolution vary with the type of phenomenon concerned and the affected surface area. Generally there is a trade-off between low- resolution images/data obtained at short intervals and high-resolution images taken at larger inter vals. In this respect, there is ample scope for both high and low-resolution satellite data. A special case is the monitoring of sudden and often catastrophic natural disasters, such as floods. Time-specific recordings are then required and the present problem is that low-resolution data are inadequate and high-resolution imagery from orbit ing satellites may not be available either because there is no pass at the required time or because of cloud cover. More frequent satellite passes and/or all-weather (radar) systems are thus badly needed. An often insufficiently understood characteristic of disaster surveying using satellite imagery as a tool is that the hazard zoning usually has to be established in advance on the basis of the terrain configuration visualized on earlier, pre-disaster, images which are then to be matched with the time- critical images taken during the disaster. Multi-phase recording has been advocated as a

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