Resolution
Prepared by
Dr. Sao Hone Pha
RS & GIS Lab
Yangon Technological University
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Resolution
Resolution is defined as the ability of the system to render
the information at the smallest discretely separable quantity in
terms of
(1) Distance (spatial),
(2) Wavelength band of EMR (spectral),
(3) Time (temporal) and/or
(4) Radiation quantity (radiometric)
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Spectral Resolution
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Spectral Resolution
Spectral resolution describes the ability of a sensor to
define fine wavelength intervals. The finer the spectral resolution,
the narrower the wavelength range for a particular channel or
band.
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Spectral Resolution
The area under the curve represents the magnitude of electromagnetic
energy emitted by the Sun at various wavelengths.
Low resolution sensors record energy within relatively wide wavelength
bands (represented by the lighter and thicker purple band). High resolution
sensors record energy within narrow bands (represented by the darker and
thinner band) 5
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
0.4 µm 0.7 µm µm µm µm µm
Blue+Green+Red Blue Green Red
Black & White Film Colour Film
Black and white film records wavelengths extending over much, or all of
the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Its spectral resolution is
fairly coarse, as the various wavelengths of the visible spectrum are not
individually distinguished and the overall reflectance in the entire visible
portion is recorded.
Colour film is also sensitive to the reflected energy over the visible portion
of the spectrum, but has higher spectral resolution, as it is individually
sensitive to the reflected energy at the blue, green, and red wavelengths of
the spectrum. Thus, it can represent features of various colours based on
their reflectance in each of these distinct wavelength ranges. 6
Spectral Resolution
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Spectral
Band 1 (0.45 - 0.52)µm Band 2 (0.52 – 0.59) µm
Resolution
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Band 3 (0.62 - 0.68)µm Band 4 (0.77 - 0.86)µm
0.8
Spectral reflectance
curve for green leaf
Reflectance
0.6
using 224 bands
0.4
0.2
0.0
400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500
Wavelength (nm)
0.8
Spectral reflectance
curve for green leaf
0.7
Reflectance
0.6
0.5 using 6 bands
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500
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Wavelength (nm)
High Spectral Resolution
0.8
Spectral reflectance
curve for green leaf
Reflectance
0.6
using 224 bands
(high spectral
0.4
0.2 resolution)
0.0
400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500
Wavelength (nm)
Low Spectral Resolution
0.8
Spectral reflectance
curve for green leaf
0.7
Reflectance
0.6
0.5 using 6 bands
0.4 (lower spectral
0.3
resolution)
0.2
0.1
0.0
400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500
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Wavelength (nm)
(a) Multispectral Image (b)Panchromatic Image
Which Image has higher
spectral resolution?
?
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Spatial Resolution
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Spatial Resolution
The detail discernible in an image is dependent on the spatial
resolution of the sensor and refers to the size of the smallest
possible feature that can be detected.
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Spatial resolution of passive sensors depends
primarily on their Instantaneous Field of View
(IFOV).
The IFOV is the angular cone of visibility of the
sensor (A) and determines the area on the Earth's
surface which is "seen" from a given altitude at one
particular moment in time (B).
The size of the area viewed is determined by
multiplying the IFOV by the distance from the
ground to the sensor (C).
This area on the ground is called the resolution
cell and determines a sensor's maximum spatial
resolution.
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Spatial Resolution
Spatial Resolution Spatial Resolution Spatial Resolution
(1m) (10 m) (30 m)
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Spatial Resolution and Pixel Size
The image resolution and pixel size are often used interchangeably. In
reality, they are not equivalent. An image sampled at a small pixel size does
not necessarily has a high resolution. The following three images illustrate
this point. The first image is a SPOT image of 10 m pixel size. It was
derived by merging a SPOT panchromatic image of 10 m resolution
with a SPOT multispectral image of 20 m resolution. The merging
procedure "colours" the panchromtic image using the colours derived
from the multispectral image. The effective resolution is thus determined
by the resolution of the panchromatic image, which is 10 m. This image is
further processed to degrade the resolution while maintaining the same
pixel size. The next two images are the blurred versions of the image with
larger resolution size, but still digitized at the same pixel size of 10 m. Even
though they have the same pixel size as the first image, they do not have the
same resolution.
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Spatial Resolution
10 m resolution, 30 m resolution, 80 m resolution,
10 m pixel size 10 m pixel size 10 m pixel size
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Pixel Size = 10 m Pixel Size = 20 m
Image Width = 160 pixels, Height = 160 pixels Image Width = 80 pixels, Height = 80 pixels
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Pixel Size = 40 m Pixel Size = 80 m
Image Width = 40 pixels,Height = 40 pixels Image Width = 20 pixels, Height = 20 pixels
IKONOS
panchromatic image
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IKONOS
colour image
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Spatial Vs. Spectral
IKONOS (Panchromatic Image) IKONOS (Multispectral Image) 21
Radiometric Resolution
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Radiometric Resolution
The radiometric resolution of an imaging system describes its
ability to discriminate very slight differences in energy .
The finer the radiometric resolution of a sensor, the more
sensitive it is to detecting small differences in reflected or
emitted energy .
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Radiometric Resolution
The maximum number of brightness levels available depends
on the number of bits used in representing the energy
recorded
Thus, if a sensor used 8 bits to record the data, there would be
28 = 256 digital values available, ranging from 0 to 255
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Radiometric Resolution
The area under the curve represents the magnitude of electromagnetic
energy emitted by the Sun at various wavelengths.
Sensors with low radiometric resolution are able to detect only relatively
large differences in energy magnitude (as represented by the lighter and
thicker purple band). Sensors with high radiometric resolution are able to
detect relatively small differences (represented by the darker and thinner
band 25
8-bit quantization 6-bit quantization 4-bit quantization
(256 levels) (64 levels) (16 levels)
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3-bit quantization 2-bit quantization 1-bit quantization
(8 levels) (4 levels) (2 levels)
Temporal Resolution
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Temporal Resolution
It is the capability of the satellite to image the exact same
area at the same viewing angle at different periods of time.
Temporal resolution is also called as the repitivity of the
satellite.
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Temporal Resolution
Temporal resolution provides information on the distance
of time between the acquisitions of two images of the
same area
The higher the temporal resolution, the shorter the distance
of time between the acquisitions of images
Many satellites have a medial temporal
resolution of about 14 days. But there are also
satellites with a very high temporal resolution
capable of acquiring images of the same area
every 15 minutes. That is because satellite
sensors with a high temporal resolution such
as weather satellites are geostationary satellite
sensors.
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Temporal Resolution
Temporal resolution of a sensor depends on a variety
of factors, including the satellite/sensor capabilities,
the swath overlap and latitude.
REVISIT, RELOOK is not same as TEMPORAL resolution
refers to looking at the same area from a different view
angle
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The time factor in imaging is important when:
Persistent cloud offer limited clear views of the Earth’s surface
(often in the tropics)
Short-lived phenomena (floods, oil silks, etc.) need to be imaged
Multi-temporal comparisons are required (e.g. the spread of a forest
disease from one year to the next)
The changing appearance of a feature over time can be used to
distinguish it from near-similar features (wheat/maize)
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The distance of time between the two images is ten [Link]
can see the city of Gleebruk (Indonesia) before and after the
tsunami of December 2004, which caused extensive damage.
Before Tsunami After Tsunami
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In terms of the spatial resolution, the satellite imaging systems
can be classified into:
Low resolution systems (approx. 1 km or more)
Medium resolution systems (approx. 100 m to 1 km)
High resolution systems (approx. 5 m to 100 m)
Very high resolution systems (approx. 5 m or less)
In terms of the spectral regions used in data acquisition, the
satellite imaging systems can be classified into:
Optical imaging systems (include visible, near infrared, and
shortwave infrared systems)
Thermal imaging systems
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging systems
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