Interpretability of TerraSAR-X fused data

摘要

Pansharpening is an image fusion technique that combines the spatial structure of a high resolution panchromatic image with the spectral information of a lower resolution multispectral image to produce a high resolution multispectral image. Image data of the new German RADAR satellite TerraSAR-X were used to sharpen optical multispectral data. To assess the advantages and limitations of fusion, the interpretability of terrain features at different image resolutions was determined. We concluded that a resolution ratio of 1:10 (TerraSAR:Multispectral) is optimal to benefit from the synergism of a SAR/multispectral fusion. Q index and an object-based classification were used to assess fusion quality and to compare their efficacy to determine the best fusion algorithms. Both approaches are appropriate methods to asses quality but only on judging some aspects of the fusion products. We conclude that a more comprehensive fusion quality assessment method still needs to be developed.