Early results of investigations of Landsat 4 Thematic Mapper and Multispectral Scanner applications
No abstract available.
Technical Report↗
Geology topics
F. A. Waltz
Publications and source records attributed to F. A. Waltz.
Objective procedures for lineament enhancement and extraction
A longterm research goal at EROS Data Center is to develop automated, objective procedures for lineament mapping. In support of this goal, a five-step digital convolution procedure has been used to produce directionally enhanced images, which contain few artifacts and little noise. The main limitation of this procedure is that little enhancement of lineaments occurs in dissected terrain, in shadowed areas, and in flat areas with a uniform land cover. The directional enhancement procedure can be modified to extract edge and line segments from an image. Any of various decision rules can then be used to connect the line segments and to produce a final lineament map. The result is an interpretive map, but one that is based on an objective extraction of lineament components by digital processing. -from Authors
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing↗
Evaluation of thematic mapper data for natural resource assessment
The U.S. Geological Survey EROS Data Center evaluated the utility of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) date for natural resource assessment, emphasizing manual interpretation and digital classification of the data for U.S. Department of the Interior applications. Substantially more information was derived from TM data than from Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) data. Greater resolution of TM data aided in locating roads, small stock ponds, and many other land features that could be used as landmarks. The improved spatial resolution of TM data also permitted more efficient visual interpretations of land use, better identification of resource types, and improved assessment of ecological status of natural vegetation. TM data also provided a new source of spectral information that was useful for natural resource assessment. New mid-infrared spectral bands, TM band 5 and band 7, aided in distinguishing water resources, wetland vegetation resources, and other important terrain features. The added information was useful for both manual interpretation and digital data classification of vegetation resources and land features. Results from the analyses of both TM and TM simulator (TMS) spectral data suggest that the coefficient of variation for major land cover types is generally less for TM data than for MSS data taken from the same area. This reduction in variance should contribute to an improved multispectral analysis, contributing new information about vegetation in natural ecosystems. Although the amount of new information in TM bands 5 and 7 is mall, it is unique in that the same information cannot be derived from four-band Landsat MSS spectral data.
Conference Paper↗