The use of high resolution satellite data (IKONOS) in the establishment and maintenance of an urban Geographical Information System. Masters of Engineering (Surveying and Spatial Information Systems) Eric W Richards January 2009 Originality Statement ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed………………………………………………….. Date…………………………………………………….. i Acknowledgements For an activity lasting this long it is needless to say there are a number of people who have played a part in its final completion, some of whom may or may not know they played a part. I must first thank the staff at the University of NSW such as Brian Donnelly and Helve who accommodated my arrivals, stays and departures to and from Canberra. A major vote of appreciation goes to my supervisor Dr John Trinder who has shown significant patience and has always provided timely and well needed feedback and advice by correspondence, particularly after the unfortunate passing of Dr Ewan Masters early in my starting of this study. Next comes all the industry participates who replied to my questionnaire in particular Graham Boler from the Sutherland Shire Council and Chris Comer at ACT Urban Services, also Noel Ward and Neil Fraser at SKM who provided access to their practical experience. Finally the staff at Hobart City Council, Glenorchy City Council, Mackay City Council and at the Tasmanian Governments’ “The LIST” office who cheerfully supplied me with reference data and answered my questions. The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the scholarship support of the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRC-SI). I would like to thank in particular Graham Kernich and Michael Ridout for their support. In the same light Dr Clive Fraser of the University of Melbourne who suggested I apply for the CRC-SI scholarship and when he heard of my problems sourcing stereo high resolution commercial satellite imagery supplied the control point data over Hobart and facilitated access to the IKONOS sample imagery kindly supplied by Mr Gene Dial at Space Imaging. The final person in this administrative loop to thank is Ms Elizabeth Milne from the Department of Defence who on finding no previous precedence on allowing a Defence staff member to accept such a scholarship gave me permission. On a personal front I would also like to thank and acknowledge a range of friends, family and work colleagues such as Dan Carmody, Richard Stanaway, Rae Absolom, Neil ii Sparks, Mel Clark, Owen Moss, John Gregs, Graham McCloy and my brother Adrian who either allowed me to take time off or gave me quiet encouragement as well as the occasional “Man, are you still doing that?”. Finally the last paragraph goes to my wife Louise for her love, patience and unbelievable tolerance; no words can ever describe or thank you for this devotion. I promise I will finish the house renovations now that you are no longer a “Masters widow”. But first we are going on a picnic. To Thomas and Lydia, you can now use the Dell. iii Abstract The past years has seen the advent of the availability of high resolution commercial satellite imagery. This study shows that whilst high resolution commercial satellite imagery is capable of producing reasonable spatial data both in quality and cost for use in an urban GIS the challenges of supplying this data commercially is not limited to simply the provision of the imagery. Since a significant amount of work has been done by others to examine and quantify the technical suitability and limitations of high resolution commercial satellite imagery, this study examines the practical limitations and opportunities presented with the arrival of this new spatial data source. In order to do this a number of areas are examined; the historical development of the satellite systems themselves, the business evolution of the owning commercial ventures, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data and service requirements for a diverse range of spatial data applications and finally the evaluation and comparison of the imagery as a spatial data source. The study shows that high resolution commercial satellite imagery is capable of providing spatial data and imagery for a variety of uses at different levels of accuracy as well as opening up a new era in the supply and application of metric imagery. From a technical approach high resolution commercial satellite imagery provides remote access, one metre or better resolution, 11 bit imagery and a multispectral capability not previously available from space. Equally as challenging is the process or achievement in making the technical capability a reality in a commercial world requiring a financial return at all levels; from the image vendors to the spatial science professional providing a service to a paying customer. The imagery must be financially viable for all concerned. iv Contents Chapter 1 - Introduction………………………………………………………….. 1 1.1 - Background…………….…………………………………………………….. 1 1.2 - The Usability of High Resolution Commercial Satellite Imagery……........ 2 1.3 - What Data and Source are required?............................................................. 4 1.4 - Selection of Collection Method..…………………………………….............. 5 1.5 - Objectives of the Research…………..………………………………………. 6 1.6 - Overview of the Thesis………….…………………………………………… 7 Chapter 2 - High Resolution Commercial Satellite Imagery – Development and Characteristics………………………………………………………………... 9 2.1 - Available Satellite Sourced Data (1.0m resolution or better)…....………... 9 2.1.1 - Satellite Imagery Collection Technique…………………….............. 9 2.1.2 - Distortions……….…………………………………………………... 12 2.1.2.1 - Observer Distortions………….……………........................ 13 2.1.2.2 - Observed Distortions……………………………………… 14 2.1.3 - Accuracy……….……………………………………………………. 17 2.2 - Emergence of Commercial High Resolution Satellite Imagery….…........... 20 2.2.1 - Business Ventures………………………….………………………... 22 2.2.1.1 - ClearView and NextView Contracts………........................ 22 2.2.1.2 - Digital Globe……………………………………................ 24 2.2.1.3 - Space Imaging…………………………………………….. 28 2.2.1.4 - OrbImage……….…………………………………………. 30 2.2.1.5 - Geoeye Inc………….……………………………………... 32 2.2.1.6 - ImageSat…………………………………………………... 33 2.2.1.7 - Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)……................. 36 2.3 - Satellite Systems…………….………………………………………………... 39 2.3.1 - IKONOS…………………………………………………………….. 39 2.3.2 - EROS A……………………………………………………………... 40 2.3.3 - EROS B…………………………...….…....………………………... 41 2.3.4 - Quickbird…………….……………………………............................ 42 2.3.5 - WorldView 1………………………………………………………... 43 2.3.6 - OrbView – 3………………………………………............................ 44 2.4 - Terrestrial Based Methods…………………………………………………... 45 2.4.1 - Ground Survey………………………………………………………. 46 2.4.2 - Aerial Photogrammetry……………………………………………... 48 2.4.3 - Airborne Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR)………. 51 2.4.4 - Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)………….………………….. 52 2.5 - Summary……………………………………………………………………... 55 v Chapter 3 - Imagery Applications in a Geographical Information System (GIS)………………………………………………………………………………... 57 3.1 - Introduction – Composition of a Geographical Information System (GIS)……………………………………………………………………………….. 57 3.1.1 - GIS Data Acquisition………………..………………………………. 60 3.1.2 - GIS Preprocessing…………………………………………………... 62 3.1.3 - GIS Data Management……………………….................................... 62 3.1.4 - GIS Manipulation and Analysis……………………………………... 63 3.1.5 - Product Generation………………………………………………….. 64 3.2 - Imagery in Data Maintenance………………………………….................... 65 3.3 - Satellite Imagery versus Aerial Photography (Imagery)………………….. 65 3.3.1 - Cost of High Resolution Commercial Satellite Imagery..................... 67 3.3.2 - Application of Imagery………………………….…………………... 68 3.3.3 - Processing Tools Required………………………………………….. 70 3.4 - Imagery Applications and Considerations…….……………........................ 72 3.4.1 - Local Council Requirements………………………………………... 73 3.4.2 - Emergency Services…………….………………................................ 79 3.4.3 - Public Information (Street Directories, Mapping, General Spatial Data, Analytical Applications)…………………….. 82 3.4.4 - Land Use Identification………………..……………………………. 85 3.5 - Summary……………………………………………………………………... 87 Chapter 4 - The Suitability of High Resolution Commercial Satellite Imagery as a Spatial Data Source……………………………………………....................... 89 4.1 - Introduction….………………………………………………………………. 89 4.1.1 - Imagery and Study Area………………..…………………………… 90 4.2 - Ground Control Points Comparison…………..……………………………. 96 4.2.1 - Methodology………..……………………………………………….. 96 4.2.2 - Comparison of GPS RTK Coordinate Values to IKONOS Stereo Model Values……………….……………………………….. 96 vi 4.3 - Feature Interpretation and Extraction…………..…………………………. 104 4.3.1 - Development of a Civil NIIRS