The application of an illumination model to a mountainous LANDSAT scene

The multispectral scanners (MSS) of the LANDSAT satellites collect solar radiation of different wavelengths reflected from the earth's surface. While the different greytone values of a given band of a LANDSAT image of simple terrain are due almost entirely to the various reflectivity values of the features of the earth's surface (such as vegetation, mineral deposits, or bodies of water), the same is not true of areas of complex topography. In mountainous areas, the mixture of light and dark regions in a LANDSAT image may be due to shadow effects as well as the reflectivity values for those wavelengths of light of the various surface features. In this research, an illumination model is developed to help understand features observed in a LANDSAT scene of a mountainous area. The illumination model is defined and its implementation in the GIPSY (General Image Processing System) system is discussed. The application of the model to a particular LANDSAT scene is described including the development of an elevation model from the LANDSAT data. Finally, the illumination model image is compared with the LANDSAT scene and the results are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Computer Science

Department dc:contributor.department

Computer Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1982

Author dc:creator

• Elliott, David B.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/87108

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/87108