Image Processing
Offering image processing to meet all your imagery requirements
We ensure that the final image you receive adds value to your projects or business activity. We have an in-house Production Department manned by highly skilled imagery analysts and image processing professionals.
Standard Image Processing
Space Imaging Middle East’s image processing professionals are experts in performing a wide range of processes to enhance the raw image and increase the usability of the image.
Some of the most commonly performed processes include:
Geo-Referencing
Satellite Imagery in digital form represents a grid of numbers. To understand where the imagery fits on the surface of Earth, one has to Geo-reference the image. Geo-referencing is the method by which raw imagery is accurately positioned to the exact location on the earth's surface. SIME’s in-house production team performs this meticulous process by taking references from a number of sources to ensure the highest possible accuracy in the resulting image.
Image to Image Registration
SIME’s production team employs this method by taking the reference from an already accurately registered raster image. An image may also be geo-coded by finding common tie points (such as road intersections) with an image that is already geo-coded.Seamless Countrywide Mosaicks
SIME prides itself in being able to generate country-wide, accurate, color-corrected and seamless mosaicks in-house. The most important factor that contributes to such seamless raster image mosaicks is the accurate scene-to-scene rectification, quality orthorectification, and radiometric balancing. SIME has devoted great time and effort in having an in-house production facility that takes care of all these factors.Projections & Transformations
A geo-referenced image can be placed into any projection that suits the current work environment. SIME also has the capability to generate on-demand customized projection systems based on a client’s unique requirements. For example SIME has generated the projection libraries for Kuwait Utility projection, Qatar National Grid Projection and Lebanon Stereographic projection in ERDAS.Tiling
A country wide imagery data is too large to be accommodated in most image viewing applications and this is a difficult proposition if the client wants only a small area or a part of the image to be viewed. SIME offers a solution to this by tiling the image to manageable image tiles in terms of size and in TIFF, JPG, MrSID and other client specified formats. In this way the management, retrieval and updating of the images will be easy. Each of the tiles will be numbered in a sequential manner and the tile index will also be supplied to understand the layout of the tiles.
Specialized Processing
Along with standard image processes, SIME has some special processes which employ spectral manipulation to derive transformed images to meet the end-user’s requirements.
Some of these processes include:
True Color / Natural Color Generation
An Image that consists of NIR , red, and green bands is what is known as a false color composite (FCC) and this image does not look natural, due to the absence of Blue Band. However, when the intended use is a 3D fly-through of draped terrain models, visual interpretation, or a display, meant for the non-remote sensing professional, this becomes a handicap. To subdue such handicaps, one has to generate natural color images from the given false color composite, which combines the blue band with green and red bands. The final output is the Natural Color Composite image.Pan Sharpening / Image Fusion
Pan Sharpening or Image Fusion refers to the process of combining two or more images into one composite image, which integrates the information contained in the individual images. The two most important quality aspects of Pan Sharpened images are the enhanced spatial resolution and that the spectral features of the images are preserved.Haze Reduction
Earth’s surface properties are captured by all Earth-observing satellite sensors. Under certain circumstances haze from water vapor and aerosol particles influence the recorded signal. Additionally, in high terrain areas, varying illumination conditions due to collection angles and time of capture alter the real spectral behavior of surfaces. The haze reduction process eliminates haze, atmospheric and solar illumination effects.
Orthorectification
Orthorectification of a basic satellite image is the most commonly requested image processing service. SIME’s image processing professionals excel in producing correct and distortion-free satellite and aerial image for its clients.
Orthorectification of Satellite Imagery
Orthorectification of basic satellite images is aimed at correcting and removing scale distortions that may occur at the time of collection due to topographical distortions on the earth’s surface or the angle of imagery collection. Space Imaging Middle East’s in-house Production team ensures that any displacements are removed, and the resulting orthocorrected image is a geographically accurate representation of the Earth’s surface. SIME’s orthorectified imagery can be used to accurately take measurements and calculate feature locations, and can easily be merged with additional data in GIS systems.True Ortho of Aerial Imagery
In addition to performing orthorectification process on satellite imagery, SIME also applies true ortho-correction processes on raw aerial imagery to create a “collected at-nadir” effect. The final true ortho-image that is produced not only displays the most accurate geographical location of surface objects, but also allows so-called hidden areas, such as roads that would otherwise be obstructed by the lean of a building, to be viewed clearly.
Digital Data Generation
One of the most frequently demanded image by-products is a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and SIME’s team of image processing professionals prides itself in producing fully-featured DEMs and highly accurate 3D/2D vector data sets.
Digital Elevation / Terrain Models
A DTM consists of a collection of hard and soft break lines, which are supplemented with a dense grid of accurately placed mass points. The following are types of features that would be usually collected for this purpose: - Hard Break lines
- Soft Break lines
- Ridgelines
- Spot heights
Planimetry Data Generation
Along with Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), highly accurate 3D/2D vector data sets representing the surface features are the most requested products. These 3D/2D vectors can then be overlayed on to Ortho / True Ortho imagery to generate highly presentable and thematic maps. SIME has a long list of satisfied clients who have been offered digital as well as printed versions of maps. City-wide as well as country-wide maps are created with absolute accuracy leveraging results from extreme image processing, geo-referencing and applying specialized process.
