Automated techniques for environmental monitoring and change analyses for ultra high resolution remote sensing data

For monitoring environmental changes, new digital remote sensors have become available that allow monitoring and change detection analyses at resolutions and scales that were deemed impossible just a few years ago. The advent of airborne stereo scanners of ultra high spatial resolution offers the possibility of a complete digital remote sensing processing system. Current sensors include the High-resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), the ADS-40, and the Digital Mapping Camera (DMC). For automated analysis, however, the new sensors require also new processing techniques. This paper presents results of change monitoring analyses for areas along the shorelines of the Elbe and Weser rivers in North Germany using integrated HRSC and GIS datasets. An automated procedure for highly accurate mapping was developed which is based on a hierarchical stepwise approach integrating GIS methods and digital surface information in this process. This approach allows the production of GIS maps that are more detailed and accurate than those that were previously produced by conventional means. Within the GIS environment, the multitemporal analysis also allows the exact quantification and location of changes of the protected biotope types.