VOLUME 71, NUMBER 3
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE
SENSING
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PHOTOGRAMMETRY
AND REMOTE SENSING
Cover Image
The satellite images on the cover
show the western coast of Sumatra,
Indonesia before and after an earthquake
triggered a massive tsunami
that devastated the region on Dec.
26, 2004.
The larger post-tsunami image,
taken by Space Imaging’s IKONOS® satellite, was acquired and processed
by CRISP at the National University of
Singapore on Dec. 29, 2004. It
shows the village of Lhoknga near
the capital city of Banda Aceh. The
village was completely destroyed by
the tsunami, with the exception of the white mosque in the center of town.
Almost all trees, vegetation, and buildings in the area were washed away.
Behind the town, low-lying agricultural areas remained covered with water
three days after the disaster. In addition, the white sand of nearby beaches
was completely removed. The inset image, also from IKONOS, shows how
the lush green coast and inland looked on Jan. 10, 2003.
In the days following the disaster, remote sensing satellites were tasked
to gather and disseminate imagery of the disaster. Imagery was sent to
U.S.
government agencies, federal civilian agencies, and international aid agencies
to help facilitate and coordinate relief efforts. Significant amounts of
satellite collection capacities were dedicated to acquiring imagery associated
with
the disaster.
A genetic algorithm was used to automatically determine
the optimum term and order of Generic Sensor
Models for geometric correction of satellite imagery.
Texture features derived from first and second order
statistics and edge components in high-resolution
digital color infrared images were tested for their
ability to discriminate Schinus terebinthifolius in multiple
linear logistic regressions.
Three terrain filtering methods for airborne lidar measurements
based on changes of local elevation and
slopes are presented and compared by applying
them to various data sets from urban, coastal, and
mountainous areas.