IMAGE RECTIFICATION AND RESTORATION

These operations aim to correct distorted or degraded image data to create more faithful representation of the original scene This t!picall! in"ol"es the initial processing of ra# image data to correct for geometric distortions$ to cali%rate the data radiometricall!$ and to eliminate noise present in the data GEOMETRIC CORRECTION Ra# digital image usuall! contain geometric distortions so significant that the! cannot %e used directl! as a map %ase #ithout su%se&uent processing The sources of these distortions range from "ariations in the altitude$ attitude$ and "elocit! of the sensor platform to factors such as earth cur"ature$ atmospheric refraction$ relief displacement$ and nonlinearities in the s#eep of sensor's IFO( The intent of geometric correction is to compensate for the distortions introduced %! these factors so that the corrected image #ill ha"e the highest practical geometric integrit! The geometric correction process is normall! implemented as a t#o)step procedure First$ those distortions that are systematic$ or predicta%le$ are considered Second$ those distortions that are essentiall! random$ or unpredicta%le$ are considered S!stematic distortions are #ell understood and easil! corrected %! appl!ing formulas deri"ed %! modeling the sources of the distortions mathematicall! Random distortions and residual un*no#n s!stematic distortions are corrected %! anal!+ing #ell)distri%uted ground control points ,GC-s. occurring in an image GC-s are features of *no#n ground location that can %e accuratel! located on the digital imager! In the correction process numerous GC-s are located %oth in terms of their t#o image coordinates ,column$ ro# num%ers. on the distorted image and in terms of their ground coordinates ,t!picall! measured from a map$ or G-S located in the field. These "alues are then su%mitted to a least s&uares regression anal!sis to determine coefficients for t#o coordinate transformation e&uations that can %e used to interrelate the geometricall! correct ,map. coordinates and the distorted)image coordinates

Once the coefficients for these e&uations are determined$ the distorted)image coordinates for an! map position can %e precisel! estimated E/pressing this mathematic notation$ where (x, y)=distorted)image coordinates ,column$ ro#. (X, Y)= correct ,map. coordinates 0 transformation functions

Figure 1 Image geometric correction

After producing the transformation function$ a process called resampling is used to determine the pi/el "alues to fill into the output matri/ from the original image matri/ This process is performed as follo#s2 1 The coordinates of each element in the undistorted output matri/ are transformed to determine their corresponding location in the original input ,distorted) image. matri/ 3 In general$ a cell in the output matri/ #ill not directl! o"erla! a pi/el in the input matri/ Accordingl!$ the intensit! "alue or digital num%er ,DN. e"entuall! assigned to a cell in the output matri/ is determined on the %asis of the pi/el "alues that surround its transformed position in the original input matri/

A num%er of different resampling schemes can %e used to assign the appropriate DN to an output cell or pi/el The DN for the pi/el could %e assigned simpl! on the %asis of the DN of the closest pi/el in the input matri/ disregarding the slight offset This approach is called nearest neighbor resampling, Figure 3. It offers the ad"antage of computational simplicit! and a"oids ha"ing to alter the original input pi/el "alues 4o#e"er$ features in the output matri/ ma! %e offset spatiall! %! up to one)half pi/el This can cause a dis5ointed appearance in the output image product

Figure 3 Nearest neigh%or resampling

More sophisticated methods of resampling e"aluate the "alues of se"eral pi/els surrounding a gi"en pi/el in the input image to esta%lish a 6synthetic" DN to %e assigned to its corresponding pi/el in the output image The %ilinear interpolation techni&ue ta*es a distance)#eighted a"erage of the DNs of the four nearest pi/els ,Figure 7. This process is simpl! the t#o)dimentional e&ui"alent to linear interpolation This techni&ue generates a smoother appearing resampled image 4o#e"er$ %ecause the process alters the gra! le"els of the original image$ pro%lems ma! %e encountered in su%se&uent spectral pattern recognition anal!ses of the data ,8ecause of this$ resampling is often performed after$ rather than prior to$ image classification procedures .

Figure 7 8ilinear resampling

An impro"ed restoration of the image is pro"ided %! the bicubic interpolation or cubic convolution method of resampling ,Figure 9. In this approach$ the transferred s!nthetic pi/el "alues are determined %! e"aluating the %loc* of 1: pi/els in the input matri/ that surrounds each output pi/el Cu%ic con"olution resampling a"oids the dis5ointed appearance of the nearest neigh%or method and pro"ides a slightl! sharper image than the %ilinear interpolation method

Figure 9 Cu%ic con"olution

RADIOMETRIC CORRECTION The radiance measured %! an! gi"en s!stem o"er a gi"en o%5ect is influenced %! such factors as changes in scene illumination$ atmospheric conditions$ "ie#ing geometr!$ and instrument response characteristics

The need to perform correction for an! or all of these influences depends directl! upon the particular application at hand Some t!pes of these corrections are sun ele"ation correction$ earth) sun distance correction$ atmospheric effect$ and con"ersion of DNs to a%solute radiance "alues 1 Sun ele"ation correction2 Sun ele"ation correction accounts for the seasonal position of the sun relati"e to the earth Through this process$ image data ac&uired under different solar illumination angles are normali+ed %! calculating pi/el %rightness "alues assuming the sun #as at the +enith on each data of sensing The correction is usuall! applied %! di"iding each pi/el "alue in a scene %! the sine of the solar ele"ation angle for particular time and location of imaging 3 Earth sun distance correction2 The earth sun correction is applied to normali+e the seasonal changes in the distance %et#een the earth and the sun The earth) sun distance is usuall! e/pressed in astronomical units ,An astronomical unit is e&ui"alent to the mean distance %et#een the earth and the sun$ appro/imatel! 19; :<1=: *m. The irradiance from the sun decreases as the s&uare of the earth)sun distance The com%ined influence of solar +enith angle and earth)sun distance on the radiance incident on the earth's surface can %e e/pressed as2

>here2 E 0 normali+ed solar irradiance 0 solar irradiance at mean earth)sun distance 0sun angle from +enith d0 earth)sun distance in astronomical units 7 Atmospheric effect correction2 The atmosphere affects the radiance measured at an! point in the scene in t#o contradictor! #a!s First$ it reduces the energ! illuminating a ground o%5ect Second$ it acts as a reflector itself$ adding a scattered$ e/traneous 6path radiance6 to the signal detected %! a sensor Thus$ the composite signal o%ser"ed at an! gi"en pi/el location can %e e/pressed %!2 >here2 0 total spectral radiance measured %! sensor 0 reflectance of the o%5ect

T0 transmission of the atmosphere 0 path radiance 9 Con"ersion of DNs to a%solute radiance "alues2 The operation accounts for the e/act form of the A)to)D response functions for a gi"en sensor and is essential in applications #here measurement of a%solute radiances is re&uired