Comparing Pan-Sharpening Algorithms to Access an Agriculture Area: A Mississippi Case Study

Abstract

Numerous satellites collect imagery of the Earth’s surface daily, providing information to the public and private sectors. The fusion (pan-sharpening) of high-resolution panchromatic satellite imagery with lower-resolution multispectral satellite imagery has shown promise for monitoring natural resources and farming areas. It results in new imagery with more detail than the original multispectral or panchromatic images. In agricultural areas in Mississippi, landscapes can range from complex mixtures of vegetation and built-up areas to dense vegetative regions. More information is needed on pan-sharpened imagery for assessing landscapes in rural areas of Mississippi. WorldView 3 satellite imagery consisting of landscapes commonly found in rural areas of Mississippi was subjected to 17 pan-sharpening algorithms. The pan-sharpened images were compared qualitatively and quantitatively with three quality indices: 1) Erreur Relative Globale Addimensionelle de Synthese; 2) Universal Image Quality Index; 3) Bias. à trous wavelet transform with the injection model 3 and hyperspherical color spaced fusion methods were ranked among the best for maintaining image integrity for qualitative and quantitative analyses. The optimized high-pass filter method was often ranked last by the quality indices. The smoothing filter-based intensity modulation algorithm and the gaussian modulation transfer function match filtered with high-pass modulation injection model added artifacts to the images. Pan-sharpened satellite imagery has great potential to enhance the survey of Mississippi’s agricultural areas. The key to success is selecting an image fusion process that increases spatial content while not compromising the image integrity.