Remote sensing:Data formats and software packages

Rüdiger Gens

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What is this presentation is about

broad overview about most common data formats used in remote sensingsoftware packages dealing with those formats

starting point for further studies

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esWhat this presentation

is NOT about

the conclusive answer to all the questions about data formats you ever hadan attempt to cover every remote sensing data format under the suna sales pitch for any of the software packagesa tutorial on the different image products

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Common remote sensing data

OpticalLandsat, Aster, AVHRR, MODIS, SPOT

SARRadarsat, ERS, JERS-1

DEMsGTOPO30, SDTS, NED, SRTM

Vector dataESRI shape files

ModelsnetCDF

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Flat binary multi-band formats

most basic form of storing raster datausually accompanied by metadata file (ASCII or XML)three common format

BIL – band interleaved by lineBIP – band interleaved by pixelBSQ – band sequential

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HDF-EOS format

standard data format for all NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) data products

multi-object file format developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)

standard HDF objects: images, tables, text, and data arrays three additional data types based on HDF objects: grid, point, and swathself-describing format

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GeoTIFF format

extension of the regular TIFF formatuses a small set of reserved TIFF tags to store a broad range of georeferencing informationonly commonly used generic image format that can handle geolocation informationavailable in all standard remote sensing and GIS packages

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ERDAS Imagine

.lan formatold ERDAS Imagine 7.5 formataround for long time: most packages can read it

.img formatone of the standard remote sensing formatplays well with ArcGIS (Arc/Info)

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CEOS format

standard data format for radar dataRadarsat, ERS, JERS-1

comes in a large variety of flavorscontents depends on processing facilityusually requires software tools to read and convert into different formatinterface for ASF data available in next version of ERDAS Imagine

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MrSID format

stands for Multi-resolution Seamless Image Databasewavelet based image encoder, viewer and file format: compression efficientmain format of USGS scanning products

topo mapsaerial photographs

regularly used in GIS applications

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Landsat data

available formatsHDF-EOSGeoTIFFFast L7

• each band is self-contained in its own file • header file containing three ASCII metadata records

(administrative, radiometric, and geometric)

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Terra / Aqua data

large variety of productsTerra instruments

ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS, MOPITTAqua instruments

AIRS, AMSR-E, CERES, HSB, MODISnumber of software packages with interfacesavailable formats

HDF-EOS

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AVHRR data

number of software package interfaces availableavailable formats

Level 1b 8-bit/10-bit/16-bit HRPT/LAC Level 1b 8-bit/10-bit/16-bit GACDartcom 16-bit HRPTSatlantic 16-bit HRPT Quorum Qtrack 16-bit HRPT 16-bit HRPT Minor Frame Dundee 16-bit HRPT AVHRR CEOS (Raw AVHRR CCT Image Format)

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SPOT data

SPOT 1-4: CAP formatSPOT 5 and later: DIMAP formatusually requires software package with SPOT data interface

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(DOQ)

computer-generated image of an aerial photograph

image displacement caused by terrain relief and camera tilt has been removedcombines the image characteristics of the original photograph with the georeferenced qualities of a map

available formatsnative (viewer and conversion tools available)GeoTIFF

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GTOPO30

global topographic data (30 arc seconds)format

DEM – digital elevation model data (flat binary)HDR – header file for DEM (ASCII)DMW – world file (ASCII)STX – statistics file (ASCII)PRJ – projection information file (ASCII)GIF – shaded relief image (GIF format)SRC – source map (8-bit binary)SCH – header file for source map (ASCII)

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SDTS format

stands for Spatial Data Transfer Standardused by USGS for providing DEMs

SDTS was ratified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS 173). Compliance with FIPS 173 by federal agencies became mandatory in 1994

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National Elevation Dataset (NED)

provided by USGS using the Seamless Data Distribution Systemavailable formats

ArcGrid (integer data)GeoTIFFGridFloat (Arc floating point data)BIL (flat binary – band interleaved by line)

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SRTM data

distributed by the USGS EROS Data Centeravailable formats

ArcGrid (integer data)BIL (flat binary – band interleaved by line)GeoTIFF

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ESRI shape files

standard for vector databasis of what GIS is all aboutsupport point, line and area featuresattributes stored in dBase format

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netCDF format

stands for network Common Data Forman interface for array-oriented data accessa library that provides an implementation of the interface main format for atmospheric modelsmarine Geophysics data (gravity, magneticsand bathymetry)

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Software packages

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ArcGIS

comprehensive GIS packagegraphical user interface to Arc/Infodeveloped by ESRIruns on Windowshandles raster formats

GRIDGeoTIFFJPEGMrSIDERDAS Imagine

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ENVI 4.1

originally developed for hyperspectral datadeveloped by Research Systems Inc.image processing packageruns on all major platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac, various Unix flavors)handles all major raster and vector formatsinterfaces to all common remote sensing data

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ERDAS Imagine 8.7

full-blown remote sensing packagedeveloped by Leica Geosystemsruns on Windows and Solarishandles all major raster and vector formatsinterfaces to all common remote sensing datanext version supports ASF CEOS format

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ER Mapper 6.4

mapping and image processing packagedeveloped by Earth Resource Mapping runs on Windowshandles most common raster and vector formatsinterfaces for some remote sensing data

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Geomatica 9.1

remote sensing packagedeveloped by PCIruns on Windows, Linux, Solaris and Irixhandles all major raster and vector formatsinterfaces to common remote sensing data

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GeoMedia 5.2

focus on mapping and geospatial solutionsstrong link to Open GIS Consortium (OGC)developed by Intergraphruns on Windows

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GRASS 5.3

Geographic Resources Analysis Support SystemGIS package with image processing functionalityhandles common GIS formats and a few remote sensing formatsruns on Linux, Mac, various flavors of Unixfreeware

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ILWIS 3.2

stands for Integrated Land and Water Information Systemdeveloped at ITC, the Netherlandsremote sensing and GIS packageruns on Windowsshareware

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IDRISI Kilimanjaro

focus on environmental decision making with GISdeveloped by Clark Labs in Worcester, MassachusettsGIS and image processing packagehandles common data formatsinterfaces to selected remote sensing dataruns on Windows

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Nifty little helpers

supports a variety of raster formatsArc/Info BIL, BIP, BSQER MapperERDAS ImagineJPEGMrSID

free viewing tool (ERDAS) providing basic image viewing and manipulation capabilities

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Nifty little helpers

free viewing and mapping tool (ERDAS)

supports raster and vector formatsERDAS Imagine FilesESRI Shape FilesTagged Image File Format (TIFF)MrSIDJPEG

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Nifty little helpers

ExpressView Browser Plug-in (MrSID)for Internet Explorer and Netscapeability to natively display MrSid and JPEG2000

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Nifty little helpers

HDF-EOS toolsHDF-EOS to GeoTIFF converterGeneral Coordinate Transformation Package (GCTP)HDF Explorer – viewer for HDF-EOS and netCDF

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Nifty little helpers

Geomatica FreeViewhandles all common remote sensing data formatsbasic image viewing and analysis functions

free image viewing tool (PCI)

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Nifty little helpers

basic image viewing functionssupports raster formats

ER Mapper (incl. compressed)GeoTIFFESRI BILUSGS Digital Ortho QuadJPEG

free image viewing tool (ER Mapper)

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Take home message

there is a lot of stuff out thereno silver bullet that does it alllook at your needslook around – solutions don't have to be expensive

trend towards data integrationimage processing and enhanced analysisGIS is the keyword

data format of the moment: GeoTIFFgeneric data formatmeets most user's needs

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List of useful URLs

http://www.asf.alaska.edu/~rgens/teaching/data_sw.html