Why Radar is Not Used More in the Study of UK Environments

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Why Radar is Not Used More in the Study of UK
Environments?

• Dr Kamie Kitmitto Miss Gail Millin
• Manchester InforMation and Associated Services
  (MIMAS)
• Satellite Image Data Service (SIDS) AKA Landmap

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Whats coming up!

• Review Satellite Image Data Service
• Talk about ASAR data acquisition process
• Speculate about reluctance of use of radar data
• Discuss how we are trying to remove barriers to
  use
• Offer free data!
• Suggest future work we might do
• Ah and yes try and sell you something

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MIMAS Organisation
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Satellite Image Data Service (SIDS)

• Supports a large geographic data resource
• Available to academics only attending institute
  that has paid a JISC data hosting charge.
• Static web-based access to a range of satellite
  imagery for the British Isles for research and
  teaching purposes
• Landsat 5 (late 80s early 90s) Landsat 7
  (1999 2000)
• Mediterranean data (Landsat imagery only)
• SPOT (mid 1990s)
• ERS 1 2 (1995 1999)
• Raw Satellite Data Archive of the above
• ENVISAT ASAR AP, IM WS (2005 2006)
• Landmap 25m DEM (derived from ERS) and Projected
  SRTM

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Landsat 5 7

• Orthorectified and Projected to British National
  Grid
• 64 Scenes - Landsat 5 and Landsat 7
• Formats JPEG, GeoTiff, Imagine

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SPOT

• Projected to British National Grid
• 150 Panchromatic images available
• 10m resolution 60km x 60km coverage
• ECW GeoTIFF format

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Landmap ERS DEM
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ASAR Acquisition Justification or why should we
bother

• Facilitate ASAR availability to UK academia
• Advanced SAR imagery valuable due to
• Different polarization combinations
• Range of incidence angles
• Different modes of operation
• SAR imagery can be obtained
• During periods of cloud cover
• At a much higher temporal frequency then optical
  data
• At night due to ENVISAT and ERS being active
  sensors

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Objectives of ENVISAT Acquisition

• Provide ASAR data on Landmap website for download
  in GeoTIFF format and in British National Grid
• Derive further products from ASAR colour
  composites
• To this effect
• Assess Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) software
  packages for image processing
• Roi_Pac
• Gamma Remote Sensing
• PulSAR
• SarScape
• Create educational materials to support ASAR and
  provide on Landmap website

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Data Aquisition
http//eoli.esa.int/geteolisa/WebInstallers/instal
l.htm
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SARScape

• Chosen due to
• Ease of Use GUI
• Good user support
• Instructor led course
• Plugs into ENVI 4.1
• View orthorectified product directly
• Supports all three ASAR modes

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ASAR Products Produced Processing

• 32 bit and 8 bit Greyscale imagery
• 8 bit Multi Difference Colour Composite
• 8 bit Unsigned Coherence Colour Composites
• 16 bit to be produced Using PCI Geomatica

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Greyscale ENVISAT ASAR
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Colour Composite ASAR

• ASAR imagery, British Isles coverage, GB National
  Grid and Irish Grid Coordinates.
• Provided in WMS and WCS services for
• Image Mode (IS2 Swath),
• Alternating Polarisation,
• Wide Swath

Image Mode Coherence Colour Composite
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Viewing and Accessing Radar Data

• 3 Methods of Viewing
• Image Streaming via Landmap Image Streaming
  Viewer OR via free downloadable heavy clients
  such as ESRI ArcExplorer or Cadcorp
• Web Mapping Service (WMS) via OGC Landmap Viewer
• Screenshots of the Data provided in Point Click
  Download Service
• 2 Methods of Downloading Data
• Landmap Point and Click (via drop down menus)
  service
• Landmap Web Coverage Service (WCS) (still in
  development)

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1. View Landmap Image Streaming Client
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2. View Heavy Client e.g. ArcExplorer
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3. View Download Landmap OGC Client (WMS/WCS)
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4. View Download Landmap Point Click Area
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Radar Usability Issues

• Limited Support of Radar processing in mainstream
  image processing packages
• ENVI 4.1, ERDAS Imagine 8.7, ER Mapper 7.0, PCI
  Geomatica 10 (some changes since paper was
  written)
• Reluctance to use Radar in academia compared to
  optical imagery
• Visual fixation
• Radar Applications always related to optical
  sensors
• Radar expertise clubs
• High expense specialists Radar software

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SIDS Improve Radar Usability 1

• Import data from RAW using SARScape
• Filter speckle using SAR specific filters
• Provide the data in GeoTIFF format both 8 bit and
  32 bit
• Provide the data already orthorectified easy to
  use with other datasets e.g. Ordnance Survey
• Provide colour composites fro interferometric
  ASAR Image Mode pairs
• Provide supporting materials on the Landmap
  website

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SIDS Improve Radar Usability 2

• Provide wall to wall coverage of ASAR, ERS 1 and
  ERS 2 imagery
• Allows users to put in a request to the service
  for specific radar data needs
• Must be from ESA data archive (check EoLiSA)
• No programming requests
• Number of images requested must not exceed 5 per
  request
• SIDS cannot provide intermediate products from
  the raw to orthorectified process all images
  provided by SIDS must be orthorectified

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Future Work!

• SIDS provide case study examples on Landmap
  website where ASAR and ERS data have been used in
  environmental research.
• Acquire further ASAR data from ESA to provide
  contrasts in seasonality (autumn 2006)
• Provide more detailed support material on the
  Landmap website
• Highlight to remote sensing community the
  benefits of using radar oppose to optical
• No issues with cloud cover
• Can acquire both day and night hence greater
  temporal coverage
• Can be used for a range of environmental
  applications

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How to Register to the SIDS!

• Academics Must Attend a Subscribed institution!
• Institute must pay an annual subscription fee and
  sign a licensing agreement form
• Further information at http//landmap.mimas.ac.uk
  
• Academics Require an Athens Username and Password
• Allows access to download all SIDS datasets
• Access to the online learning materials e.g.
  Image Processing Course
• Access to some restricted interactive mapping
  sites

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Thanks for Listening ?
Enquiries spatial_at_mimas.ac.uk Website
http//landmap.mimas.ac.uk