Lauri Markelin

Automatic Detection of Buildings and Changes in Buildings for Updating of Maps

There is currently high interest in developing automated methods to assist the updating of map databases. This study presents methods for automatic detection of buildings and changes in buildings from airborne laser scanner and digital aerial image data and shows the potential usefulness of the methods with thorough experiments in a 5 km2 suburban study area. 96% of buildings larger than 60 m2 were correctly detected in the building detection. The completeness and correctness of the change detection for buildings larger than 60 m2 were about 85% (including five classes). Most of the errors occurred in small or otherwise problematic buildings.

Digital Airborne Photogrammetry—A New Tool for Quantitative Remote Sensing?—A State-of-the-Art Review On Radiometric Aspects of Digital Photogrammetric Images

The transition from film imaging to digital imaging in photogrammetric data capture is opening interesting possibilities for photogrammetric processes. A great advantage of digital sensors is their radiometric potential. This article presents a state-of-the-art review on the radiometric aspects of digital photogrammetric images. The analysis is based on a literature research and a questionnaire submitted to various interest groups related to the photogrammetric process. An important contribution to this paper is a characterization of the photogrammetric image acquisition and image product generation systems. The questionnaire revealed many weaknesses in current processes, but the future prospects of radiometrically quantitative photogrammetry are promising.

A Permanent Test Field for Digital Photogrammetric Systems

Comprehensive field-testing and calibration of digital photogrammetric systems are essential to characterize their performance, to improve them, and to be able to use them for optimal results. The radiometric, spectral, spatial, and geometric properties of digital systems require calibration and testing. The Finnish Geodetic Institute has maintained a permanent test field for geometric, radiometric, and spatial resolution calibration and testing of high-resolution airborne and satellite imaging systems in Sjokulla since 1994. The special features of this test field are permanent resolution and reflectance targets made of gravel. The Sjokulla test field with some supplementary targets is a prototype for a future photogrammetric field calibration site. This article describes the Sjokulla test field and its construction and spectral properties. It goes on to discuss targets and methods for system testing and calibration, and highlights the calibration and testing of digital photogrammetric systems.

Radiometric Calibration and Characterization of Large-format Digital Photogrammetric Sensors in a Test Field

Test field calibration is an attractive approach to calibrating and characterizing the radiometry of airborne imaging instruments. In this study, a method for radiometric test field calibration for digital photogrammetric instruments is developed, and it is used to evaluate the radiometric performance of large-format photogrammetric sensors the ADS40, the DMC, and the UltraCamD. In the study, linearity, dynamic range, sensitivity, and absOlute calibration were evaluated. The results demonstrated the high radiometric quality of the sensors tested. All the sensors were linear in response. The DMC used the 12-bit dynamic range entirely, while the ADS40 and the UltraCamD indicated close to the 13-bit dynamic range. The sensors performed quite differently with respect to sensitivity. With the DMC and the UltraCamD a risk of overexposure appeared, while the color channels of the ADS40 showed low sensitivity. Because the sensors were linear in response, they could be absolutely calibrated using linear models.

Analysis of Properties of Reflectance Reference Targets for Permanent Radiometric Test Sites of High Resolution Airborne Imaging Systems

Reliable and optimal exploitation of rapidly developing airborne imaging methods requires geometric and radiometric quality assurance of production systems in operational conditions. Permanent test sites are the most promising approach for cost-efficient performance assessment. Optimal construction of permanent radiometric test sites for high resolution airborne imaging systems is an unresolved issue. The objective of this study was to assess the performance of commercially available gravels and painted and unpainted concrete targets for permanent, open-air radiometric test sites under sub-optimal climate conditions in Southern Finland. The reflectance spectrum and reflectance anisotropy and their stability were characterized during the summer of 2009. The management of reflectance anisotropy and stability were shown to be the key issues for better than 5% reflectance accuracy.

Assessment of Radiometric Correction Methods for ADS40 Imagery

This article presents the results of an assessment of radiometric correction methods of images taken by the large-format aerial, photogrammetric, multispectral pushbroom camera Leica Geosystems ADS40. The investigation was carried out in the context of the multi-site EuroSDR project “Radiometric aspects of digital photogrammetric images”. Images were collected at the forestry research test site Hyytiala, Finland in August, 2008. Two processing workflows were evaluated: one based on the photogrammetric software Leica XPro, which in radiometric processes relies on physical modeling and information collected from the imagery only, and one based on ATCOR-4, which is software dedicated to physical atmospheric correction of airborne multi-, hyperspectral and thermal scanner data, and can be operated either with or without in-situ reflectance and atmospheric observations. Outputs of these processes are reflectance images. Three participants processed the data with several processing options which resulted in a total of 12 different radiometrically corrected reflectance images. The data analysis was based on field and laboratory reflectance measurements of reference reflectance targets and field measurements of permanent targets (asphalt, grass, gravel). Leica XPro provided up to 5 % reflectance accuracy without any ground reference and ATCOR-4 provided reflectance accuracy better than 5 % with vicarious inflight radiometric calibration of the sensor. The results show that the radiometric correction of multispectral aerial images is possible in an efficient way in the photogrammetric production environment.

Atmospheric Correction Performance of Hyperspectral Airborne Imagery over a Small Eutrophic Lake under Changing Cloud Cover

Atmospheric correction of remotely sensed imagery of inland water bodies is essential to interpret water-leaving radiance signals and for the accurate retrieval of water quality variables. Atmospheric correction is particularly challenging over inhomogeneous water bodies surrounded by comparatively bright land surface. We present results of AisaFENIX airborne hyperspectral imagery collected over a small inland water body under changing cloud cover, presenting challenging but common conditions for atmospheric correction. This is the first evaluation of the performance of the FENIX sensor over water bodies. ATCOR4, which is not specifically designed for atmospheric correction over water and does not make any assumptions on water type, was used to obtain atmospherically corrected reflectance values, which were compared to in situ water-leaving reflectance collected at six stations. Three different atmospheric correction strategies in ATCOR4 was tested. The strategy using fully image-derived and spatially varying atmospheric parameters produced a reflectance accuracy of ±0.002, i.e., a difference of less than 15% compared to the in situ reference reflectance. Amplitude and shape of the remotely sensed reflectance spectra were in general accordance with the in situ data. The spectral angle was better than 4.1° for the best cases, in the spectral range of 450–750 nm. The retrieval of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration using a popular semi-analytical band ratio algorithm for turbid inland waters gave an accuracy of ~16% or 4.4 mg/m3 compared to retrieval of Chl-a from reflectance measured in situ. Using fixed ATCOR4 processing parameters for whole images improved Chl-a retrieval results from ~6 mg/m3 difference to reference to approximately 2 mg/m3. We conclude that the AisaFENIX sensor, in combination with ATCOR4 in image-driven parametrization, can be successfully used for inland water quality observations. This implies that the need for in situ reference measurements is not as strict as has been assumed and a high degree of automation in processing is possible.

Direct Reflectance Measurements from Drones: Sensor Absolute Radiometric Calibration and System Tests for Forest Reflectance Characterization

Drone-based remote sensing has evolved rapidly in recent years. Miniaturized hyperspectral imaging sensors are becoming more common as they provide more abundant information of the object compared to traditional cameras. Reflectance is a physically defined object property and therefore often preferred output of the remote sensing data capture to be used in the further processes. Absolute calibration of the sensor provides a possibility for physical modelling of the imaging process and enables efficient procedures for reflectance correction. Our objective is to develop a method for direct reflectance measurements for drone-based remote sensing. It is based on an imaging spectrometer and irradiance spectrometer. This approach is highly attractive for many practical applications as it does not require in situ reflectance panels for converting the sensor radiance to ground reflectance factors. We performed SI-traceable spectral and radiance calibration of a tuneable Fabry-Pérot Interferometer -based (FPI) hyperspectral camera at the National Physical Laboratory NPL (Teddington, UK). The camera represents novel technology by collecting 2D format hyperspectral image cubes using time sequential spectral scanning principle. The radiance accuracy of different channels varied between ±4% when evaluated using independent test data, and linearity of the camera response was on average 0.9994. The spectral response calibration showed side peaks on several channels that were due to the multiple orders of interference of the FPI. The drone-based direct reflectance measurement system showed promising results with imagery collected over Wytham Forest (Oxford, UK).

Hemispherical directional reflectance factor using UAV and a hyperspectral camera, validation and crop field test

Small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a prototype hyperspectral imaging camera (HSI) was used to measure the hemispherical directional reflectance factor (HDRF) of a test field with known light scattering properties. The HSI acquires a burst of 24 images within two seconds and all of these images are acquired with different spectral content. By using the autopilot of the UAV, the flight can be preplanned so that the target area is optimally covered with overlapping images from multiple view angles. Structure from motion (SFM) algorithm is used to accurately determine the view angles for each image. The HDRF is calculated for each ground pixel by determining view directions from all of the images for that particular pixel. The pixel intensity values are then processed to reflectance by using a reference panel, which has been measured in laboratory with Finnish Geodetic Institute Field Goniospectrometer (FIGIFIGO). The UAV flight was performed over a test field with different gravel targets. The targets have known HDRF and this allows us to validate the UAV results. Another test was performed over a crop field to display the potential of this method for crop monitoring.

UAV-based hyperspectral monitoring of small freshwater area

Recent development in compact, lightweight hyperspectral imagers have enabled UAV-based remote sensing with reasonable costs. We used small hyperspectral imager based on Fabry-Perot interferometer for monitoring small freshwater area in southern Finland. In this study we shortly describe the utilized technology and the field studies performed. We explain processing pipeline for gathered spectral data and introduce target detection-based algorithm for estimating levels of algae, aquatic chlorophyll and turbidity in freshwater. Certain challenges we faced are pointed out.