Panchromatic and color imagery is commonly used in land and resource management applications. Information is usually compiled from this imagery using visual interpretation techniques, or imagery is used as a backdrop to GIS and landbase layers. The advent of readily-available multispectral imagery from satellite and airborne collection platforms allows much more information to be extracted from the imagery, thus enabling more sophisticated applications. Multispectral imagery, comprised of blue, green, red and near-infrared spectral bands, contains much more information than panchromatic and color imagery. The near infrared band is particularly valuable for vegetation identification and analysis. Because multispectral imagery is amenable to computer image processing and analysis, detailed and repeatable results permit the production of standard value-added products. Products and applications enabled by multispectral imagery include land use and land cover, fire risk assessment, impervious surface maps for stormwater management, watershed master planning and management, individual tree crown identification for detailed timber inventories, right-of-way management, water quality and mapping of underwater features, precision agriculture, resource inventory and management, and environmental compliance. The presentation will review fundamental image processing techniques, and how products are used to address the applications above.
Jeff has been involved in the geo-technologies for over 15 years. With a background in remote sensing and digital photogrammetry, he has focused on extracting information from imagery to address real-world applications. Providing appropriate products and information to make well-informed land, resource and asset management decisions continues to be his quest.